Then: May 18, 2008
I peek out from under the familiar weight of the elk hide to an early morning sun and forest, crisp and cold. To the wild. To the sense of belonging that I haven't known since childhood Christmases at my Grandmother's. After a journey of 61 years, I am home. For good.
I spent yesterday, my 61st birthday, moving into my temporary lodging for the next four months - a pop-up camping trailer. And last night for the very first time, with all the camping I've done in my life, I did it alone. With no trepidation, no fear, just the awareness that I am where and when I am supposed to be.
Twenty years ago we purchased 40 mountain acres on the east slopes of the Cascade mountains in Washington state for camping vacations and eventually a home for when we retired. And that is why I am here, to begin bringing our plans into reality while my husband puts in his last four months before retiring.
Our building site is at an altitude of 3800 ft. Our 40 acres run from about 3500 to 4000 ft, and access is a 4 mile dirt canyon road. A former logging road that climbs about 2000 ft. From our south ridge we can see Mission Ridge which rises to 6000 ft. To the west the snowcapped peaks of the Cascade Mountains rise above all else, and to the north we see the Columbia River. A hike to the top of our south ridge gives another view of the river and the beginnings of the Columbia Plateau. It just doesn't get any better than this!
Now: June 1, 2011
Three years later, and as I write this I am sitting in the loft of our mountain home, looking west into the canyon and the Cascade peaks beyond. Fog sits in the valley and is slowly moving towards us. Our solar power system is running my computer, the two water pumps to and from the cistern, and the few other things for which we need electricity. We have a propane stove, refrigerator, and flash hot water heater. We have a wood stove to heat the house, with a Y off the propane line for a future propane heater. And as I remember back to that Spring of 2008, I think once again, "Holy Crap! I did all that?!!" Yep, and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. I have come home. This is where we belong. And this blog is the story of how we managed to build Rose Camp and continue to live up here. Ours certainly isn't a typical retirement life, and it's not easy. But it is an adventure. And I have learned the truth in the statement, "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I have changed the names of a couple local places and every person's name in order to protect their privacy and ours. My name? Wild Rose.
