March 25, 1999 - Thursday Watching Grouse Went up alone. Trapper Steve and Cliff couldn't come and I had to get out of Dodge. SLB was very upset with me this morning about screwing around too much up in the mountains. Mentally, I felt real bad. Shouldn't have gone, it was cold, overcast and misting almost all the way to Ripplebrook area. When I got past Three Lynx, it turned to rain. When I got out of the truck to try and walk a ways, I felt the intense cold. The rain could turn to freezing rain anytime. This was a bad day to be up there. Near Frog Pond lake, two grouse were right next to the road doing whatever it is grouse do. I turned off the truck and coasted up to them and rolled the window down. They were oblivious to me and it was a genuine and major treat to watch them. It was a long time before they finally went out of sight into the brush. They were beautiful birds. Went for about a 100 yard walk through the rain saturated snow. It was very soft and my parka was already getting wet enough for me to feel moisture. To put it bluntly, this was the shits. I went back to the truck and had a beer and some summer sausage. I was very hungry, but it didn't taste good at all. Lately, I hadn't been eating right. I had stopped in Estacada and fooled around there for 45 minutes going to the bakery and the grocery and gas station. The coffee and the muffins did not taste good at all today and only ate one and dumped the coffee when it got cold. The rain was starting to freeze in the gravel. The truck was very light in the rear, so I tossed some rocks in the back for ballast. Up there, many rocks rolled down the slopes and onto the roads. These rocks became the base of Mt. Beelart on my driveway, another source of marital strife. A bad attitude means no or bad Bigfooting. I believe that. I must also say that I heard Henry Franzoni talk about just that at a WBS meeting one night. It is really too bad Franzoni and Kyle M. got out of Bigfoot. Major loss. Tonight was another monthly WBS meeting. It would be the third one I had missed in a row. It was generally not a good day. Roads: 224, 4630, 4635/120. All website content is © Copyright 2000, Joseph Hector Beelart, Jr. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Pages created and maintained by