We reached the Chamberlain Airstrip sometime in the afternoon and it suddenly seemed there was tons to do. The Forest Service had flown in a re-supply for us a few days earlier, along with about 75 pounds of camera gear (so we didn’t have to carry it all in, we couldn’t have, we were already at our limits!) We retrieved those boxes from the “warehouse” (one of the old buildings at the guard station), and made ourselves a nice meal of pesto rice-pasta, and ate while soaking our sore feet in the cool creek that runs by the station. It was time to make plans for what to do next.
It just so happened that we had converged on Chamberlain about the same time as a group of Forest Service and Fish and Game Bigwigs who were having a meeting on the neighboring Stonebreaker Ranch (just over the hill from Chamberlain), about certain issues involving monitoring wolves in the wilderness. Though we have no intentions of making a “talking heads” type of film, we thought this opportunity, to run into these people talking about those particular issues, right smack in the middle of the wilderness, was just too good to pass up.
The next couple days were spent walking back and forth from Chamberlain, where we were camped, to Stonebreaker, where we were generously given ample time to talk with everyone there, as well as invited to stay for various meals (a huge treat in the middle of the wilderness!). This all happened after a brief, initial meeting where we let ourselves onto the property through an open gate, and were eyed rather coolly by the caretakers (as, we later found out, they were rushing to get dinner ready for the soon returning meeting participants) and told, on our inquirey, that, yes, there was a meeting going on, but, no, it was certainly not public. As soon as we had explained what we were up to, our project, and that we had already met with some of these people, the environment warmed up considerably.
Though they would not let us film anything, the issues were too sensitive, they were very gracious and willing to talk freely with us. The last day we left Stonebreaker, they plied us with all their leftover food (apples, potatoes, onions, bread, melons) and, most unusual of all, a sourdough starter. What were we going to do with a sourdough starter while backpacking around the wilderness? We still have no idea… but we’re still trying to work it out. The story goes something like this. At lunch on the first day, we had been fed sandwiches on homemade sourdough bread, which was commented on by several people, including me. The proud bread-maker mentioned that it was from a starter he had in the family for 25 years, and would divide and give away if anyone was interested, he had more at home. My ears perked up, but I also realized the difficulty of keeping a starter going while hiking around the backcountry for a year. However, the next night, after we had stayed for dinner and everyone was in an especially congenial mood due to generously poured gin and tonics, a good fire pit, and the end of the meetings, the bread maker (Dennis) managed to persuade me into taking some starter, exclaiming that it would be no problem at all to backpack with. He then persuaded us into taking not only the starter, in a rather large jar, but also a ten pound bag of flour (to feed it with of course!) and a jug of maple syrup (to pour over the flapjacks we would make the next morning for ourselves and the trail crew staying also at Chamberlain)…
We laughed our way back to our camp at Chamberlain, me proudly clutching my new acquisition (which we named “Denny” so we’d always remember who gave it to us), and trying to figure out the logistics of backpacking with something only slightly less needy than an infant, or so it seemed. To make a long story short, Denny had a rough first day. As Isaac and I scouted for wolf sign and where to go next, Denny fended for himself alone back at camp, slightly less than successfully. We returned to find a bold squirrel (who hopefully had a tummy ache by then) had knocked over the loosely-lidded jar, spilling more than half Denny’s bulk all over the ground cloth of our tent. We managed to save a little bit, fed him some more flour and fresh creek water, but were unable to make pancakes for the trail crew, and instead pacified them with a big skillet of potatoes and onions and zuccini. We left them with the excess flour and the syrup, as they would be out there all summer and certainly could use it. I think we’ll have to find a caretaker for Denny until we return for good in the spring of next year…
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