24 June: Day-17, Total-18; Miles-14, Total-593
- Chuck
Eagle is a beautiful little village of about 150 year
round residents. Everyone we have met has been very friendly and helpful.
Kay at the Post Office and Betty Borg at the Eagle Trading Company,
gave us the mail that had been forwarded to us. I received a re-supply
package that I had sent to myself via UPS when I was in Iowa about a
month ago. It has 25 dinner meals, 12 breakfasts, 12 lunches and my
.44 magnum revolver. Bill also sent his .44 but it wasn't here so he
is checking.
We had dinner at the Trading Company restaurant, hot showers
and clean sheets. Neither of us slept well, Bill thinks it was because
he misses his tent, I think it was because it was a "dry"
town.
Yesterday, we learned there was an historical walking tour of the older
parts of Eagle and we planned to go on it. Since it didn't start until
9am we had some free time this morning. I went for a run and did some
push-ups, sit-ups, and stretching. Bill worked on his new PocketMail
and we met at the restaurant for a big breakfast.
The tour started at the old courthouse which is now a museum. Betty
Borg greeted us. She said that yesterday she had her Trading Company
hat on and today she has her volunteer hat. The tour was excellent.
It was given by Carl Stapler, a National Park Service Ranger. The Eagle
Historical Society has really done a good job preserving the buildings
and this important part of their history. Also on the tour were Ron
& Marge McElfresh, Marge is the new Principal/Teacher (K-4) at the
Eagle school. The tour lasted a little over two hours, so we had lunch
at the restaurant before we packed our gear for departure.
On the way out of town, we stopped by the NPS Visitors Center to get
more information from Carl and to file a float plan. It was almost 3pm
before we floated away.
The wind was in our teeth at about 20 kts but it was a warm, sunny day,
the views like a postcard and we were still on a high from the great
experience we had in Eagle. After 14 miles, we pitched near Calico Bluff.
This is a huge rock formation, which the river has cut away leaving
a beautiful cross-section and exposing wavy sedimentary lines. Within
a few feet of where we pulled our canoes to shore we saw three different
sets of fresh tracks in the sand. They were made by a large moose, a
porcupine and a wolf. Just as we finished with the tents, dark clouds
were sending rain showers our way. I try to keep a couple meals available
that do not require cooking and are fast to fix. I inhaled some cheese
and crackers and a large carrot then got in the tent as the rain started.
It was a good time to write this journal entry and answer some email.