May was a very good month for escaping the city for some R&R in the woods (or whats left of the woods anyways). Two camping trips on the property plus a nearby Airbnb for a third visit and each time it took me a couple days to come down from the mountain high.
Round 1 - This was a trip of important milestones for experiencing the property: first balsamroot explosion (above), first two game cameras installed, the little man's first night screaming himself to sleep, first attempt at playing forester by thinning out some younger tree stands, etc, etc... I was a little intimidated about camping with a little one and zero amenities (no water, no table, no toilet) but the anxiety was unwarranted. I think the bigger battles are coming when he gets older and realizes there is no wifi or cell service.
Exploring with the family was all well and good but my mission for the weekend was installing the new trail cameras. Camera #1 was bolted to a tree, inside of a metal security box along what looked like a very promising elk/bear highway. Both elk and bears are rumored to be hard on unsecured game cameras.
Camera #2 was a more speculative installation where a couple skid roads intersected around some decent cover. Felt obligated to pick a more remote location with no sign of bear or trespassers as I only had the one lock box. Initially, I planned to utilize a salt block at this spot to generate deer/elk traffic but I found there were some negative implications of salting due to the concentrating of critters promoting disease and the predators learn to camp the location. I'm guessing this is for a scale well beyond what I was considering but probably going to wait a year to ponder the pros/cons before trying it out.
Round 2 - What a difference two weeks make. The temps were 25°F below our last visit and it was sopping wet with the main road being too slippery for the little Forester. Instead we set up camp in a new location closer to the neighbor's quarry. This worked out pretty well as the tent was within 30 yards of a nice mule deer shed that I walked right past, twice. Luckily, Kat and Oak were paying attention and get simultaneous spotting credit:
We took a break from the wet to join the Camas Meadow folk's annual BBQ. Its a community almost entirely made up of Seattlites and they have some nice views looking across at our two hills and the mountains behind (just not on this day).
Between downpours, I was able to install Camera #3 (couldn't help myself) on a saddle and check Camera #2's card after two weeks. I was blown away by the traffic in that short span. No elk on this round but the deer were thick and the coyotes were on the prowl. The three point buck passed the camera just 20 minutes before Oak/I got there but we never saw him:
Round 3 - One week later and it was back to 90°F again. Good time to be hanging out at the Airbnb with the in-laws. We had gathered to witness a dual sport dirt bike event that would cross through the property (I felt guilty about not renewing the lease they had previously had on the land). They had an impressive day in store with a track of approximately 100 miles starting down at the Wenatchee river, running up through the mountains and back. Only two bikes laid it down crossing the slash pile but everybody made it through eventually.
Installed Camera #4 in a lock box near the wetlands for what should be a good shot at bears when the service berries get ripe. This trip resulted in three SD cards worth of photos. Some of my favorites:
Camera #1 (3 week soak):
Camera #2 (1 week soak): My favorite was the three elk at the top of the post. Got 40+ pictures of this bull elk around midnight.
Camera #3 (1 week soak): Thought this was a dog but my Grays Harbor mentors all voted bear!
Tried playing forester again for about 4 hours on Saturday in the densest thicket I could find. When I checked my progress on google maps I think I covered a whole 0.2 acres... Starting to look like a life-long project if I don't pick up the pace.