All members of Crew 4 attended this shakedown: Marshall, Travis, Sarah, Rhys, Branden, Sofie, Shane, Robin, Elmer, and Robert.

We met at the Scout shed at 1pm on Friday along with Crew 2. We loaded packs and crew gear into my truck and Robert’s van, and carried some of Crew 2’s gear also. Elmer drove my truck in the lead position again and we pulled out of the church parking lot at 1:30pm. Traffic on I-35 was a nightmare – we should have taken 820 around instead. We got to the Alliance area at 2:30pm. Once we got north of Denton, Elmer was able to let his foot down and we made good time. The drive up to Atoka was uneventful.

We stopped for an early dinner at the little café in Atoka at 4:45pm. There was much speculation as to why Hampton had marked a waypoint at this café on a previous trip through. We also had some laughs at his expense about his physical the day before.  I had breakfast and Sarah had her usual chicken fried steak. The food was as good as last time. As we were leaving, Branden won a Homer Simpson doll in the toy-crane quarter eater. Homer became a fixture on Branden’s pack thereafter.

We stopped for gas in Springtown. While waiting for a pump, Robert was backed into by a guy in a truck. Luckily, he just hit Robert’s tire. The guy got mad at Robert and started cussing at us. This was just the first of many “just missed” moments. Along Hwy 43, while traveling at a high rate of speed, Elmer spotted a huge turkey walking down the middle of the road and almost caused the first four-car pile up when he slammed on the brakes to admire the bird. On Hwy 63, he did it again for a box turtle crossing the highway.  We survived, arriving at the Pushabee trailhead at 7:30pm.

We set up camp quickly. Elmer Jewell and three of his crew members drove up while we were setting up. They found a nice camping spot back down the gravel road about 200 yards away. Once camp was set up, the adults left to move cars into position for the next two days while Crew 4 was to begin a couple of Dutch oven cobblers (apple crisp and cherry oatmeal crunch). We drove Keith’s truck and Robert’s van up to the Winding Stair trailhead, then we took my truck to the Big Cedar trailhead parking area. We left water jugs (and my hiking poles…) there for a water break during tomorrow’s hike. We returned to Pushabee in Bill’s van. The cobblers were almost done and it was getting quite dark when we returned. Once the cobblers were ready, everyone feasted. We tried to pop some Jiffy Pop popcorn over a camp stove, but the stove was just too hot, and burned both attempts. We hit the sack around 10pm. It was so warm that I left the sleeping bag in the stuff sack. I got to sleep fairly quickly, but was awakened when Crew 1 drove up and began walking through our camp trying to find a place to set up. They went back down the road and found a spot. I also thought I heard Johnny when he came through looking for Elmer J. The moon came out after 1am, and was near full and bright. It finally got cool enough around 4am that I got the bag out and used it as a blanket.

We got up at 4:45am and got things going very quickly. At 5am, I realized I had left my hiking poles (and Sarah’s hiking poles) in my truck that is now parked at Big Cedar. This will be the first backpacking miles I’ve walked without them in almost 4 years. Everyone got around and worked well together and we probably could have hiked at 5:30am, but it was too dark. We began walking at 5:45am. It was not cool and not warm and very humid. I was soaked in sweat within a quarter-mile. The trail was much greener and much more overgrown than the other two times I had hiked here. Poison ivy was thick, as were the flies and ticks.

We stopped for breakfast along the trail a little less than 2 miles into the hike. We had another Phil-breakfast: Lucky charms, power bar bites, gorp, raisins, and a turkey stick. About the time everyone got seated, a very large dead tree fell just down the trail from us. Did it know we were there? Would it have made a sound if we hadn’t been there? Yeti? Our breakfast stop lasted about 45 minutes (about 10 minutes too long…) and Crew 2 walked up as we were preparing to leave. They stopped for a pack break there as we hiked on.

We pushed on, caterpillaring when needed, and arrived at my truck parked at Big Cedar at 8:30am. We topped off everyone’s water, and I grabbed an extra gallon to put in my pack. I also got out the hiking poles for Sarah and myself. Johnny, Elmer J, and David drove up while we were there. They had been trying to find the Kiamichi trailhead for over an hour, never found it, and changed their hiking plans on the fly to follow us, so were dropping Johnny’s truck there with water. Again, Crew 2 caught us just as we were ready to hike on.

We hiked on at 9am, facing the long climb up to Red Spring. The hike was beautiful, but pushed some of the crew very hard. We arrived at Red Spring around 10:15am. By then it had become quite hot. We got camp set up Phil-style, then talked about purifying water and washing clothes on the trail. We put together my filter, went down to the spring, and everyone got a turn pumping about 4 liters of water to use for clothes washing. Crew 2 hiked up while we were pumping water, and set up camp just down the trail from us. We washed shirts in a zip-lock bag with a little camp suds, then hung them on clothes lines to dry.

We ate lunch at 11:45am. After lunch we all tried to nap. I had carried my hammock, and hung it between a couple of trees I thought would provide some shade. As Rhys would later describe it, it was “the worst sleep ever.” I think I got about 10 minutes of good sleep in the hour and a half I lay in the hammock. Sarah got up around 2pm and came over where I was. The rest of the crew got up over the next half hour, all complaining of sleeping in pools of their own sweat and “filth.” We talked some more with Crew 2. Marshall & I went down to the spring to pump some extra water for supper and canteens. The water had much rust in it, causing the red coloration on the ground around the shallow pool, but never stopped up the pump. The water coming from the spring was very cold and felt very good on a dipped bandana hung over the head or around the neck.

The crew began dinner prep at about 5pm. Sofie and Sarah were the firemen, Travis and Branden were the watermen, Rhys and Marshall were cooks, and Marshall and Elmer did KP. Dinner was chicken with rice and peas, chicken ramen, apple rings, and vanilla yogurt. It turned out to be pretty good when seasoned correctly with our new crew spice kit. KP was done quickly – the turkey bag technique really does take 15 to 20 minutes off of KP time. We did the evening chores – personal smellables, tear down the crew fly, pack all non-smellable crew gear – then the kids began playing various card games. It was fun to watch them.

We had our TB&R around 8:30pm. Everyone is very excited about the trip and is very pleased with our crew. I had no thorn. My bud was again getting the jobs done in a timely manner (might just be me?), and my rose was my crew. Some of crew 2 came over and we talked a while, and I got into the tent to journal at around 9:15pm when it was finally cool enough to get into the tent without sweating. The kids went down to the crew 2 site to hang out a little longer. I journalled for about 15 minutes, then rolled over and went to sleep. Sarah returned to camp and got in the tent a little after 10pm. Another night with a brilliant moon and warm temperatures. Again, I didn’t get the bag out till about 4am to use as a cover. I didn’t sleep nearly as well tonight as last night, but got enough sleep to feel rested when the alarm went off.

Robert woke me at 4:45am. Sarah had bear bag duty, and got out of the tent quickly. I did my stuff then stuffed her sleeping bag for her before getting out of the tent. When she got back we broke down our stuff quickly. The crew was in high gear this morning and again we were ready to hike just as it got light enough to see. Our first stretch was over a mile of continuous, leg-burning uphill. I love to start the day’s hikes this way because it warms up the legs much faster and better than flat or downhill walking. The crew did great. From the top of this climb the trail went downhill to the saddle campsite. The crew stopped for breakfast about 400 yards from the bottom. We heated water for oatmeal and coffee, and also had Clif bars and jerky. Our breakfast stop was shorter this morning and crew 2 did not pass us.

The first of the 33 switchbacks up to the Winding Stair fire tower site began at the edge of the saddle campsite. I’ve walked down these twice, but never up them. Some of the switchbacks are long, others are very short, but all are uphill. The kids took off and left the four adults in their dust. The beat us to the top by 5 or 10 minutes. We stopped at the tower site for a crew photo. Crew 2 caught us while we were stopped, and they continued on down towards the Winding Stair trailhead. We loaded back up and followed closely behind. The trail from the site is all downhill to the trailhead, and we arrived at the trailhead at 9:10am.

We emptied our packs of crew gear, then the drivers took first turns in the showers before going to pick up the other vehicles. Crew 3 was just finishing their showers and packing when we arrived and we chatted a bit. The showers did not have hot water, but the shower was refreshing none the less. There is no bad shower after a backpack. Crew 3 departed as we drove off to get the vehicles. We stopped at Big Cedar first, so I got out and took the truck back up towards Winding Stair, stopping for water at the pipe spring. It was cold and good. Most were finished showering when the other three vehicles returned. As showers were being completed, we packed the crew gear in its tote, and packed backpacks and crew gear in the truck for the return trip home. Once the crew was all present we had a snack lunch and hit the road at 11:10am.

We decided to try a new way home. We took Hwy 259 all the way down south to I-30. 259 hits I-30 about 15 miles east of Mt. Pleasant. The first stretch of 259 is “scenic highway” meaning much up and down and many curves. After about 20 miles, the road allowed for a more “aggressive” style of driving – fitting in with Elmer’s likes just fine. We stopped in Mt. Pleasant for gas and lunch (Burger King or McDonalds – ho hum…) then pushed on home. We arrived at the church at 4:15pm. This way home seems to be about a half-hour faster than the other route.

journal of Shane Hoffman