When Leon departed on Wednesday morning (June 2), we thought we had an agreement that he would at least temporarily open the gates to Forest Service Roads 161 (parking), 168 (Welcome Home/shuttle drop-off point) and 393 (bus village) to facilitate speedier scouting. Two days later, all three gates remained locked.

Leon explained that there had been a misunderstanding due to what he said were his "poor communication skills". Eyes began to roll. Is Leon a cautious steward of the land proceeding slowly, step-by-by step to make sure that the forest won't be trampled by hordes of hippies? Or is he delaying and taking the family for a ride? We wanted to believe the former. But past history made us wary.

Leon announced that as soon as the meeting ended he would open up FS 161 and that it was very likely he would open FS 168 in the near future as our stated intention was to use it only as a trailhead. As for FS 393, he had serious reservations.

Gated Forest Service roads tend to be more poorly constructed, Leon said. And while exploring FS 393 yesterday in his Ford Bronco, he discovered that he had carved some deep ruts in the road. How, he asked, could we hope to bring in hundreds of busses and campers over the next month?

It was then explained that the family only wished to use certain parts of FS 393, which preceded the area where the ruts had occurred. Leon was doubtful but he agreed to walk the site with an engineer and one of the Rainbow scouts.

"When Leon?" T.C. asked.

Situated a few feet outside the circle, T.C. herded the meeting like an impatient sheepdog. He was as annoyed with the scattered hippie energy as he was with Leon's unclear promises. T.C. has thick, graying dredlocks and he would alternately sit on a stump or pace around with a burning nub of a cigarette in hand. Throughout the meeting he would say things like, "Leon, I've got a problem", or "Leon, we've gotta talk about something".

A taut silence would hold for a second as T.C. leaned forward. And then zing! he would release his question or comment and it would always land dead-on target. T.C. was insistent and demanding. He teetered on the brink of being rude but never crossed it. It was effective. If Leon had any intention of backsliding or leaving things in a bureaucratic muddle, T.C. was blocking it.

Leon said that he would summon an engineer as soon as he could. And, he would keep us posted. Because it's Friday, it was important that the weekend not become another excuse for inaction. There was more bantering back and forth. Finally, Leon said that he would let us know by late in the afternoon whether or not he would have an engineer lined up for the following day.

That was OK by us. And after Leon left, we briefly counciled and discussed whether or not we should move camp over to FS 161. There wasn't much enthusiasm for the idea. Warm, blue skies returned this morning after three days of rain. And, the majority is content to stay a little while longer here at the campground off of FS 129, where there's a public outhouse stocked with toilet paper, a creek to splash around in and a kitchen that occasionally feeds people.

A-Camp is just down the road. They are a magnet for locals who want to party. They make a lot of noise at night. But, they haven't been disruptive enough to scare people away.

So far, no atrocities.

Be Good to Yourselves, johnny appleseed