Go Burn in Hittle

On one of our three-day Cisco river trips, we were cleaning up after dinner at Hittle Bottom, when all of a sudden we notice a 30-ft flame coming right at us and boys yelling, "Fire!" We threw all the propane into the truck and slammed the trailer doors, then drove it out of the way. A wild wind whipped up, bearing down right on camp. All the campers jumped up and grabbed everything we could find- every jerry can, Gott cooler, bowl, ice cream bucket, and even wash buckets (our scrubbies were lost in the flames- someone forgot to get them out before tossing the water ;). We ran back and forth from the river and got it out pretty quickly. The lucky break came when the wind stopped, and then we just dug around and dumped water on the charred remains. After we finished it up, we found out that a boy from our group was playing with a lighter with some of his friends. Kinda reminds me of what happened to Dewey Bridge, a kid burned it down. Later a park ranger and other officials came out to investigate and everything turned out alright.

The firefighting crew

Hittle Bottom lives on to provide riverway camping for more passengers.

Climbing

I climbed some routes at Mill Creek today with some river guide friends; Karen, Scott, Lauren, and Ivy. I learned a couple things... one of them is that I'm addicted. I had climbed a couple times before, but it was mostly just with my scout troop a long time ago and with mediocre gear. I started bouldering at Big Bend, but that's more technical and difficult. I get a bigger sense of satisfaction when I finish a hard climb. I need to work out more and get better on my form and technique. I need a new pair of shoes and a harness, and then I'll begin to slowly acquire my own gear. If anybody has used gear they don't use, I might be willing to buy it from them. I'm learning how to belay pretty well, so if anybody out there wants a climbing partner or if you'll just let me tag along, I'd love to go!