In which we are still on the trail: Ewan and Malden (which burnt last year)

June 12, 2021

In which we are still on the trail: Ewan and Malden (which burnt last year)

Up early again! Time to go to Ewan.

47°08'30.8"N 117°43'54.5"W Revere to Ewan

directions:

Head northeast on Davis Rd (Wagner Rd) toward John Wayne Pioneer Trail/Milwaukee Rd (railroad grade) 0.6 mi
Stay left at the Y to continue on Davis Rd.
Go right at the Y to Bowen Rd.
Go left on Wagner Rd.
Turn right onto WA-23 South 4.0 mi
Turn left Rock Lake Rd, go past lake and boat ramp, up the hill.
Destination will be on the right.

Fee and I both felt fitter by this point in the trail, and new shoes definitely improved our comfort level. So trotting was on our menu for the remainder of the trip, hooray!

We are both so much more comfortable at a trot!

We didn't trot every step, of course. With beautiful scenery all around, it's good to slow down and look. Plus, of course, we wanted to watch for "hazards" (and date nails).

Revere to Ewan is 14 miles of trail--by now, all the riders considered this a "short day." But it was still nice to see the Coyote ahead, with licorice and water (and porta-potties).

If Gaylord is present, there will be something raucous afoot, but he is also a
damn fine horseman.

There's a practically-mandatory photo stop on this stretch of trail in front of Castle Rock--and the photo that Andrea took of Fiddle and me in 2019 is now part of the kiosk display in Renslow.

Coming into Ewan, the town is clearly built in good proximity to water.

Chance thinks the Dragon is AWESOME. The Dragon is pretty sure he's right.

The last 3 miles of the "trail" to camp is on pavement, on a "highway." Fortunately, the "highways" in this part of the world are not nearly as busy as roads here (although we were passed by a large number of heavy rigs, plus a smaller number of folk in pickup trucks).

They don't mind traffic

About a mile from camp is Rock Lake, a picturesque stop to slake the thirst and cool the hooves of our hard-working steeds.

She drank deeply before looking around at the people doing various watery-things.

Another thing that my horse doesn't worry about: canoes.

At camp in Ewan. The green stuff is some kind of prickly weed that the horses wouldn't eat, but the brown stuff is bunch grass, which they will eat.

Under the bunch grass is more of that volcanic silt.
You already know she rolled herself to filthiness in that.

I was a bit tense in this camp, because last time we were here, Fiddle had a choke episode.

With that in mind (and on the advice of my veterinary friends), I was doubly-cautious on this trip, making sure the beet pulp soaked for at least two hours, and using electrolytes on her every day to ensure she stayed hydrated.

She was fine.

I swear, Clarence knows the place in every camp where his rig will look prettiest
while he untacks.

When I was satisfied (mostly) that my horse (probably) wouldn't die without me staring at her in camp, I went with a few friends into St. John, where I was promised the best ice cream in the world.

I admit that I was skeptical. I love ice cream, and have had lots of good ice cream. How was this stuff going to be significantly better?

They were right. OMG the best ice cream ever.

The secret, I learned later, was that the ice cream comes from Ferdinand's, the student-run creamery at Washington State University--the same place that brings us the annual cans of much-coveted Cougar Cheese.

I almost didn't post the link to Cougar Cheese, because it will seriously wreck your palate for ordinary cheese, and the last thing the world needs is more people trying to buy it , LOL.

Here's the video tour of Ewan.

We had a special treat before loading up to head to Malden in the morning:

The group hires these food trucks for a flat rate (a very welcome thing, even in non-pandemic times)
and they make extra $$$ by putting out a tip jar. Result: everybody wins.

After breakfast, it's on to Malden!

47°14'09.0"N 117°28'33.4"W Ewan to Malden
directions:
Head southeast on Rock Lake Rd toward John Wayne Pioneer Trail/Milwaukee Rd (railroad grade) 2.1 mi
Turn left to stay on Rock Lake Rd 0.2 mi
Turn left onto WA-23 S 7.1 mi
Turn left onto Pine City-Malden Rd
Destination will be on the left

We had to portage to Malden this year, because the town (literally) burned down last year, along with parts of our trail. Here's more information about the fire, and about their recovery.

Photos and narrative from the 2019 trip through Malden are HERE. There's a photo of Fiddle standing under a tree at that link...the tree, along with many neighboring trees, is completely gone now.

The town marked "trees to save" with flagging tape. None of the trees in this photo
are deemed save-able.

I wanted to see the burned trail outside of town, so even though we had a designated rest day in Malden, I saddled up and took the camera out to take a look.

It was pretty bleak.

Of course I also went to see my friend Vanessa at the Malden Public Library, which is currently located in half of a job-trailer (the food bank is housed in the other half of the building).

She gave a tour, and notes several items that the library currently lacks, notably storytime puppets and craft supplies. Their books are supplied by the Whitman County Library System, so that part is well-covered. If you want to help with donations to support the Malden Library, please call Vanessa!

Her phone number is (509) 569-3350, and the library is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 2-6pm.

The club held a pie auction at dinner that evening, to benefit the town of Malden. Last I heard, we raised more than $2,000, with some pies going for more than $300 each. They were mighty tasty too.

As part of the dinner, live music!

Live music is a treat for me anytime, but coming out of the pandemic I realized that I haven't attended a concert in at least a year and a half. Hank Cramer is leading the tunes, and donated proceeds from CD sales to the recovery effort--he worked in Malden as an emergency responder during the early days after the fire, and made many friends in town.

We needed to ride out early the next day, as the temps were forecasted to be in the 90's. But before we could leave, the citizens insisted on feeding us one last time!

The church sustained fire damage to the north and west faces, but its heart is still strong.

One of the citizens serving breakfast assured me that he had a huge stack of vinyl LPs queued up on the record player so that the sounds of the Sons of the Pioneers would serenade us all morning as we got ready to leave.

After breakfast, it was time to tack up and head east again.