A big thank you to everyone who attended the NWOR with us this year. It was really nice to see some old friends and make some new ones. We had a great turnout this year and Michelle and I enjoyed visiting and spending time with all of you. With the exception of it being a bit on the hot side for us, we had a great time relaxing around camp. For the first time we managed to keep our wallet in our pocket in vender alley, (well except for the taco truck and shaved ice stand...lol). The nightly raffle blessed a few of our first time attendees with goodness, one of them more than once! We left empty handed this time, but there is always next year:) Most found a class to attend or a trail ride to go on at some point over the weekend. I enjoyed the advanced winch class and learned a thing or two to add to my bag of tricks. One of the highlights of the weekend was the Potluck on Saturday night! an impressive feast was prepared with all kinds of goodness. We had 24 folks in the circle enjoying dinner and conversation. There was a few jealous looks from folks not in our group passing by.. A big thanks to Marianne and Ray for putting on another great event and setting aside space for our group.
Sunday morning Michelle and I packed up and took the long way home as usual. We headed into the woods and did sections 4 & 5 of the WABDR before heading back over hwy 20 and getting home somewhere near 1am. It was a beautiful day and we had the trails pretty much to ourselves other than a Bronco and a couple of dual sports. We have run all of the WABDR in the past, leaving only one short section not completed - The infamous Jungle on section 4. Well check that one off the list, been there done that and don't plan on doing it again...lol definitely lives up to its name. The wrap on Eeyore stood up to the abusive brush far better than expected, but still plenty of pinstripes added. There was a new wildland fire that started up near Carlton, DNR had closed all the main roads, but neglected to close the forest service roads from Chelan, so we popped out right in the middle of the activities. They were pounding on the fire with at least 5 helos and about 10 aircraft. We did spend some time taking photos from a safe location before finishing our adventure.
A dark trip back over Hwy 20 full of deer in the road and one black bear that we were fortunate to not hit..
We look forward to seeing y'all again soon.
Overland Bound Base Camp
One of the few places where showing up wearing the same shirt is totally acceptable.
NWOR had graciously set aside as much space as we need for our group camp for the past couple of years.
Saturday Night Overland Bound Potluck Dinner
Nightly Raffle
Three helos doing water drops on the Gold Creek Fire alongside the WA Backcountry Discovery Route.
Tanker drop over the fire, or perhaps a super sized gender reveal party....
