Grandjean v6.0

For the 6th year running, we headed into the Grandjean area for our annual early season overnighter.

Date: April 28-29, 2018.

Partners: Deez and Harold B. Otter aka Harry Otter (silly story for another time).

Objective: Do it.

Stats: 1.7 miles one way from Grandjean trailhead to Baron Creek. 3.4 miles round trip with minimal gain. Strava - Hike in. Hike out.

Gear notes: Testing new pack - Black Diamond Speed 40.

Links: 2017.

Packed up.

Every spring we like to head out for an easy overnight hike. Two and a half hours from our driveway we were at the trailhead and headed into Baron Creek.

Trailhead.

Otter in tow.

The otter is a silly story that I won't bore you with... We passed another couple that warned us of all the ticks. "I had like seventeen on me" was the statement, I believe. The trail was in pretty good shape, other than one short section that ran right though the middle of a large downed tree.

Deez on the trail.

We had a pretty good weather forecast, but we were expecting showers sometime overnight and into the next afternoon.

Trail Beer.

We had mild temps, scattered clouds an occasional breeze. Really quite pleasant.

View in camp.

It doesn't take long to get to our normal camp site, so we roll kinda lux. Beers, fresh sandwiches, camp chairs and what not.

Beer thirty!

We were hanging around camp, playing a few games of Uno when we noticed a really odd sound coming from the forest. It was really low-pitched and had the rhythm of a basketball being dropped. Or a tennis ball bouncing on a Bongo drum but on a much lower register. Its hard to explain, but trust me, it was weird!

I could't place it and I really don't think I've heard/noticed it before until recently. The mystery sound continued though the night and into the next morning. I was sure this wan't some kind of new phenomenon and that there had to be a perfectly logical explanation. Any guesses? Stay tuned for the answer. 

Harry otter not drink so much.

Fireside music, Uno, drinks and chit-chat until the sun went down. Maybe a half dozen mosquito's buzzed the tower. The rain came in sometime overnight and switched to a wet, sloppy rain-snow mix just before sunrise. Fortunately it had stopped around 9 and we were able to pack up in mostly dry conditions. There were just a few sprinkles on the hike out.

Hiking out.

We expected to encounter a tick or two, but in the end the tick count was not-a-one.
Back at home, I went to the Google machine to try to figure out what the heck that strange noise was. Turns out it was a Ruffed Grouse drumming. And now we know.

Happy trails!