The Picket Line. From the President. Okanogan Valley Chapter Back Country Horsemen of Washington Volume 27, Number 4 April 2013

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1 The Picket Line Okanogan Valley Chapter Back Country Horsemen of Washington Volume 27, Number 4 April 2013 From the President Hi guys, Stan Kvistad Let s see.. That was March (in like a lion and out like a lamb). I even parted with my long johns last week! Busy kinda sums it up. I am sad to report our Wilcox Trailhead display did not win the Chapter Display award at the Rendezvous but it sure did look good! Thanks Sandra & Ernie. Cathy Kvistad received the desk jockey award so that was cool, (brought a tear to my eye)! And a big thanks to Dave and Gail for putting the slide presentation together to run alongside the display. The meeting at the Caribou was too noisy so we will look some more for a place to meet here in the central valley area. By my count there were about 28 members there so that was good. Jodi Curry won the 50/50 drawing - $32 - so that seems to be working well! Lastly, our trailer seminar, it went well for the first time out. We had seven trailers show up and some good tips were given and well received. And the trailer inspection was probably the best part of the whole deal - we found one broken frame and a few minor things but gave people a better feeling of what they had. Luke from Koehn trailer sales was doing most of the inspecting and it seemed to work out well. And guess what? Nobody went home hungry - corn beef and cabbage with hot dogs for the Norwegians President Stan Kvistad with two of his traveling companions. and other non-irishmen! Thanks to all! April is looking busy as well so get that tack oiled up and we ll see ya out there! Take care and God bless. Koehn Trailer Sales and Service 94 South State Frontage Road Tonasket, WA (509) C&B, Charmac, 4Star and Maverick trailers. Hitches. Trailer repair and service. Winston Churchill once said: No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle! 1

2 Minutes of the March Business Meeting Meeting was called to 7:10 by Treasurer, Cathy Kvistad. There were 26 people in attendance, including 2 guests, Elmer Rappe and Ernie Walters. A motion was made by Dave Sunde and seconded by Gail Sunde to approve the January minutes as printed in the newsletter and posted on the Web site. Approved. Treasurer s Report: Cathy Kvistad gave the Treasurer s Report and stated that the Chapter is solvent. A motion was made by Tryg Culp to accept the report as presented, seconded by Tom Tugaw. Approved. Director s Report: Dave Sunde s report will be in the April newsletter and posted on the website. Trail Boss: Dave Sunde s report will be in the April newsletter and posted on the website. Legislative Report: Dave Sunde had nothing to report. Website: Dave Sunde said that he could use photos of Rendezvous for the website. Volunteer Hours Report: Nora is our VH person but Peg attended the VH Rendezvous and gave us an update on the Leadership Class. When the new spreadsheets are available in April she will bring them to the April meeting and discuss the minor changes. There will be an article in the newsletter from the new communication person. Newsletter: Tryg says he needs information and photos to put in newsletter, also, if you have anything for sale via a Classified Ad please send it to him. Social Director: Gail Sunde said that if you didn t attend Rendezvous this year, you missed a good time, best one of all. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Budget A motion was made by Tryg Culp and seconded by Dave Sunde to approve the budget as presented by Cathy Kvistad. Approved. Haney Meadows Dave Sunde made a motion to table discussion until Arpil s meeting, seconded by Tryg Culp. Aapproved. Rendezvous Report Dave Swanberg gave a report on the highlights of Rendezvous weekend and said it was a great event. Dave Taylor won the over-all best in the Dutch oven cooking contest. Cathy received a Desk Jockey award. A big thank you to Sandra Walters for her Whistler Canyon display - which was wonderful - and to Ernie for his support and help. Also, thank you to Dave Sunde for the great photo slide show. There was a DVD presentation on Chapter accomplishments in 2012, which will be on the State s website if anyone s interested in viewing it. Cookbook sales went well with several entries from our Chapter. He announced who won awards which will be in the next issue of your Trailhead News along with information about the income from the auctions, etc. Calendar Sales Dave Swanberg reported that our Chapter sold 94 calendars with 1360 being sold to date with 3 Chapters refusing to sell them. Sweetheart Auction Cathy reported that we made $940 and wants to thank everyone who provided a dessert and to our bidders thanks again. Trailer backing clinic Stan said that he will have a mechanic there to check the trailers and Linda said that she would try and get the information in the paper next week. We will be serving corned beef & cabbage and will have a donation can for the public. See Business Meeting Minutes continued on page 11. Eden Valley Guest Ranch 31 Eden Valley Lane Oroville, WA Patrick and Robin Stice (509)

3 Chainsaw Certification Trygve Culp, BCHW Lead Saw Certifier for eastern Washington will conduct a chainsaw certification session for Chapter members and other BCHW members who have previously been certified by the U.S. Forest Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources or other land management agency. This session is not for individuals who have not been previously certified. Sawyers will be evaluated on safe sawing technique, situational awareness, appropriate use of personal protective equipment and knowledge of chainsaw operation and maintenance. The session will take place on Saturday, April 20th at Smith Lake on the Chiliwist Wildlife Area. To get to the certification site go up the Chiliwist county road about 4 miles to the Olema Road. Turn right on Olema Road and go about 1 mile to the cattleguard. We will meet there. All sawyers will need PPE to include: hard hat, hearing protection, eye protection, long sleeved shirt, gloves, UL certified saw chaps and leather work boots. People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news. -- A. J. Liebling Tip of the Month The Tipster received some feedback regarding last month s Tip of the Month concerning cooking temperature inside of a Dutch oven. We failed to mention that if all of the charcoal briquettes are left below (underneath) the Dutch oven the temperature within the oven will not be uniform. So, if you are baking with the oven - as a rule of thumb - 2/3 of the briquettes should be placed on the top and 1/3 of the briquettes should remain beneath the oven. If you are browning a food item or frying in the oven, all of the briquettes can be left underneath the oven. Clear as water in a mud puddle? For more information check out the new BCHW Cookin for Campin cookbook. Not only are there lots of super Dutch oven recipes, there are a whole lot of other recipes that look like they would make great Chapter potluck fare. 3

4 What's Happening on Trails in the Okanogan Dave Sunde, OVC Trail Boss As I mentioned in the February report, I planned to ride the WDFW Horse Spring Coulee property. Well Stan and I did just that on the 5th. This is a very good conditioning ride. The terrain is varied enough to provide an excellent workout for both man and beast. May came back with a very wet saddle blanket. As an encore, Trygve and I rode the Carter Mountain area a week or so ago. We looked for dogs that have been reported chasing deer. We saw no dogs, but I did speak with Justin at the WDFW and he is going to inform their enforcement officer. Dogs in packs that attack deer are just as likely to attack horses or hikers. The BCHW Rendezvous has come and gone for another year. Our catered dinner on Friday night was excellent and worth every penny. We bid on and won the same dinner for next year. We sat at the head table this year and the food was outstanding. We even had lobster (big tail each). It was so nice to be served while the common folk stood in line. But alas we were outbid for the table next year. Our pockets were just not deep enough. I was impressed with the number and quality of vendors there this year. The classes were excellent and I hope anyone who went to Ellensburg was able to attend some. Overall I think Jason Ridlon and Lori Lennox did a good job putting this together. On Saturday the 30th we had our Trailer Event. Several unknown mechanical problems were detected including a broken trailer frame, defective lights and plugs, and a possible rear axle alignment problem. Many thanks to Lute from Koehn Trailers for doing the mechanical inspections. Everyone with a trailer also got to participate in the backing exercises. I m happy to report that there See Trail Boss Report continued on page 11 4

5 From My Spot on the Picket Line An Editorial Trygve Culp, Newsletter Editor I d like to start out this month s column with a short quote from BCHW s Public Lands Committee Chair, Jeff Chapman: It always gets me how horses are not good enough to be treated the same as mechanized vehicles, and they aren't good enough to be treated as wildlife. We owe our entire civilization to an animal that is scorned today because it just doesn't fit the modern urban view of appropriate. That may not say anything about horses, but it does say something about our lack of depth in our cultural values. Emphasis added. Jeff was discussing BCHW s ongoing opposition to the position of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to eliminate the use of recreational saddle and pack stock on National Wildlife Refuge lands on the Dungeness Spit near Port Angeles. I believe, though, that he could well have been talking about the outlook of most of the Federal Department of Interior and some of the State land management agencies administering public lands in the State of Washington. He might also have been talking about the vociferous, antiequine factions of the hiking and mountain biking communities that resort to misinformation campaigns and bogus science to eliminate equine use of public lands. My point is this: There are a lot of folks within and outside of government that want us off of our lands and they will figuratively sell their souls to see that happen. It is time for BCHW to draw a line in the sand and say, Enough is enough - we ll see you people in court! Elected Officers for 2013 President: Stan Kvistad Vice President: Steve McKinney Secretary: Cher Bower Treasurer: Cathy Kvistad Trail Boss: Dave Sunde Director: Dave Sunde Immediate Past President: Vacant this year Appointed Officers for 2013 Volunteer Hours Coordinator: Nora Rappe Leave No Trace Coordinator: Vacant Newsletter Editor: Trygve Culp Publicity Chair: Linda Oborne Alternate Trail Boss: Trygve Culp DO NOT FORGET Please turn your volunteer hours in monthly to Nora Rappe. You can e- mail Nora at: nrappe@wildblue.net or telephone her at (509) Please patronize the businesses that advertise in the Picket Line. While you are shopping in their businesses or utilizing their services remember to thank them for supporting our efforts to keep trails open on public lands in the Okanogan. 5

6 Director s Report Dave Sunde, Chapter Director and Legislative Chair The BCHW first quarter director meeting was held on Friday March 15 in conjunction with the Rendezvous weekend in Ellensburg. As Director meetings go, this one seemed rather uneventful. Here are the highlights: Public Lands - Jeff Chapman: BCHW s Payment for Letter by Attorneys was ratified by the Board. More money is needed in the Legal Defense Fund. Education - Saw Certification - Trygve Culp: There are 20 certifiers around the state now. BCHA - Lori Lennox: BCH CA got agreement with PCT. Things are shaking up in Yellowstone re: Packer Issue. The Olympics are currently under review and our member s comments are needed. Unfinished Business: June Board of Directors Meeting Date - Darrell Wallace Ken Carmichael moved to have the Board of Directors Meeting on the 22nd of June 2013 (instead of June 8th). Second. Motion carried. Dave Swanberg reported on the 2013 Calendar Raffle. A motion was made to hold another raffle in That motion carried on a voice vote. Wilcox Horse Camp Rebuild Project - Jason Ridlon - Jason reported that Tim Foss from the Forest Service is here and plans are being processed to rebuild the bridges, etc. Checks should go to the Alpine Lakes Trail Riders Chapter for the project. They will get in on the trails and start bucking them out to see what they look like. New Business: Jason Ridlon thanked Louise Caywood for preparing a BCHW accomplishments DVD and gave copies to Directors. If there is anything wrong with the DVD, Louise and she will send a new copy. I have a copy of the DVD and will make additional copies for anyone who wants one. Good of the Order: Jim Hudkins, Northeast, announced that his Chapter has voted to donate up to $ to the legal defense fund, if at least 2 other chapters match that donation. Northeast Chapter agreed to give $ to the BCHW Legal Defense Fund, if it were matched by other BCHW members or chapters. Louise Caywood presented a check for $ from Pierce County Chapter to the BCHW Legal Defense Fund. Darrell Wallace, BCHW Executive Director, explained the recent usage of the BCHW Legal Defense Fund and thanked President Bob Gish for negotiating a huge discount on legal fees. Whatcom Chapter donated $ to BCHW from their fundraising efforts.our own Kathy Kvistad received one of the Desk Jocky awards during the membership meeting. VOLUNTEER HOURS!! It's that time again, time to give credit to yourselves for all the hard earned hours you put in. It makes my job easier if you send them in monthly. Remember, we all do things that count, if you are not sure about where your hours count give me a call or and I can help. nrappe@wildblue.net or THANK YOU Peg Swanberg for being such a great trainer. This can be an intricate job, but with Peg s help and promise of continued assistance, "WE" can do it... the "WE" is you and I when you send in your hours...happy Easter Nora Rappe 6

7 Out on the Trail Wilderness Survival By Tom Windsor It won t be long before the weather is good enough to start riding regularly and in just a short time we will be able to get into the high country and Wilderness areas for day trips and overnight pack trips. The single most important consideration in any survival situation is ATTITUDE. It is important to believe and to be able to convince those people with you in a survival situation that any adversity can be overcome with proper attitude and motivation. A calm, rational approach to any emergency situation will result in people getting back to camp or home with little or no lasting effects on those involved. On the other hand, panic or a negative attitude during an emergency situation will usually result in suffering for those involved and in a worst case scenario can lead to serious injury or death. Everyone needs to be prepared for a survival situation, even if going on a day ride or short overnight pack trip. There is a saying while using automobiles, don t be caught dead sitting on your seat belt. While using horses and pack horses you should not be caught in a survival situation with your survival gear at home or in your vehicle back at the trailhead. See Survival on page 10 Driving Directions to Packing Clinic The Ferry County/Okanogan Valley joint packing clinic will be held April , at Dolly Watkins arena at 103 West Trout Creek Road near Republic. To get there from Tonasket go east on State Route 20 to Republic. At the stop sign where SR 20 intersects Clark Avenue, turn left on Clark Avenue. Go 2 blocks and turn left onto Knob Hill Road. Stay on Knob Hill Road for about 3 and 1/2 miles. Bear right onto Trout Creek Road. Stay on Trout Ck Road for just over a mile. Turn left onto the West Trout Creek Road. Go about 3/4 mile up the hill on West Trout Creek Road to Dolly s. For the more adventurous, turn off of SR 20 at the Swamp Creek/Sheridan Intersection west of Republic. About 3/4 mile up the Sheridan Road bear right onto Trout Creek/ Barret Creek Road. Go about 5 miles on this road. The road can be real soft in the spring as it is right in the bottom - frequently there is standing water on the road. Anyway, turn left on the West Trout Creek road and go up the hill to Dolly s. And good luck! 7

8 Monthly Business Meeting Dessert Schedule April: Peggy & Dave Swanburg May: Cher Bower June: Gail & Dave Sunde July: Ice Cream Social August: Sandra Walters September: Nora Rappe October: Lu and George Young November: Gail and Gerry Downs December: Christmas Party Cathy Kvistad receives the Desk Jockey award from President Bob Gish at the BCHW 2013 Rendezvous. Humor? Do you know what they call an equine trainer with a bad cold? A hoarse whisperer From Andy Goulding, the singing cowboy and retired architect. Dave Taylor, 2013 BCHW Rendezvous Dutch Oven cooking champion working on Cowboy Quiche his breakfast entry. It was mighty tasty! 2013 BCHW Rendezvous The 2031 BCHW Rendezvous is in the books. Boy, it was a real shindig. There were record crowds, a whole bunch of vendors, some super Chapter displays and this year saw the return of member contests and live packing clinics. Cathy Kvistad won a Desk Jockey award and Dave Taylor was the overall champion in the Dutch Oven competition. Congratulations to them both! 8

9 Classified Ads (Contact Editor for rates; free to members) FOR SALE: Spike Harrow -10-foot pull behind, $350 obo; Disc- 60-inch, 3 point hitch, $300 obo; Sprayer-150 gallon, vertical, 3 point hitch, $295 obo. Call (509) , for more information. FOR SALE: 17 YO pack horse. On winter pasture right now - available on or after 6/1/13. This big, strong, 15.2 hand registered Quarterhorse gelding has been packing since he was a 2 YO. There is not much that he has not packed including wild game. He has not been broken to ride, but he is gentle as a pet pig and has ponied grand kids all over creation. Easy to catch, load, shoe and saddle. $300 obo. Will deliver anywhere in Okanogan or Ferry counties. Photos available on request. Call (509) for more info or photos. Reminder Our first formal work party of 2013 will be Friday, April 26th at the Sinlehekin Wildlife Area south of Loomis. We will be clearing the trail from Headquarters to Blue Lake and on south to Hunters Camp. Bring drinking water, a jacket and rain gear - it has rained or snowed on us during this work party in years past. The Chapter will furnish hot dogs and coffee bring something to share for lunch. Realism...has no more to do with reality than anything else. -- Hob Broun 9

10 Survival continued from page 7 The first consideration in preparation for backcountry and wilderness travel is proper choice of clothing. The rule of thumb is to dress properly for the weather expected and then plan for the weather being worse than expected and/or predicted. As you all know, weather in the high country is subject to rapid, unexpected changes in temperature, wind and precipitation. Therefore, your clothing should be layered to meet any and all weather situations. The type of clothing you wear is crucial. Wool has been an excellent choice for hundreds of years. We all like to wear cotton jeans. However, you need to remember that under the best of circumstances wet cotton can make you miserable and under the worst of circumstances it can kill you. If you wear cotton, be sure to keep it dry with chaps and a slicker. Polar fleece shirts, vests and jackets are excellent choices because they are about as warm as wool and fleece absorbs only about 5-10 percent of its weight in water. Wool, on the other hand, will absorb about 400 percent of its weight in water, but will retain much of its insulating properties even when wet. Cotton loses 100 percent of its insulating capability when wet and conducts heat away from your body very rapidly. In addition to the clothing you wear there is a list of survival items called the ten essentials which everyone should carry while engaged in horse riding or horse packing. There are other things that are nice to have in an emergency or survival situation, but are not absolutely essential to your survival. You should know how to construct a makeshift shelter of poles and boughs and whatever else is available plus whatever you may have on your horse or packhorse. The ten essentials are map, compass, flashlight, food, water, extra clothing, knife, first aid supplies, waterproof matches and/or (windproof lighter) and fire starter. All of these items will fit into your saddlebags and some of them should be routinely carried on your person. I always carry my knife, compass, windproof lighter and fire starter on my person. A dozen cotton balls coated liberally with Vaseline and stuffed into a film canister fits into a shirt pocket and makes an excellent fire starter. If you have not ever tried to build a fire in wind, rain or snow, you should practice this. It makes things a lot easier if you should have to get a fire going in an emergency situation during adverse weather. Remember, in an emergency you will not rise to meet the level of the situation. You will rise only to the level of your knowledge, practice and training. The Okanogan Trail Rider Says Young cowhands look forward; old cowhands look back; middle aged cowhands look just plain tired! 10

11 Business Meeting Minutes continued from page 2. NEW BUSINESS: BCHW Legal Fund - Dave Sunde stated that the Legal Fund for the state is nearly depleted and one Chapter challenged that if 2 others gave $500 each to the legal defense fund that they would too. Sandra asked to have an explanation of the purpose of the Legal Fund. Tryg said the bottom line would be no equestrian use. An example is Peninsula Chapter who built and maintains trails on the Dungeness Spit. US Fish & Wildlife says that we are disrupting the wild life and want to close it to all equestrian use. Tryg stated that 80,000 people used the Spit compared to only 300 horses, do the math! Dave Sunde said that if people want to know what happens without the Legal Fund, look what happened at Mt Rainer National Park we were locked out. Dave Sunde make a motion to approve sending $500 to the State for the Legal Fund, it was seconded by Tryg and approved. COMING EVENTS/GOOD OF THE ORDER: April 6 th - WOGA Wild Game 5:30 Red Barn in Winthrop, tickets $25 ea. April 13 th Packing Dolly s check with Ferry Co. for details. April 20 th Chain Saw Certification & Smith Lake work party April 17 th General meeting in Tonasket at the Senior 7pm. Respectfully submitted: Cathy Kvistad, Acting Secretary Your Help Is Needed I hope that you have enjoyed the first four issues of the Chapter newsletter, Picket Line. I need your help with stories or articles, Tip of the Month features, photos, commentaries, recipes, letters to the Editor, or whatever comes to mind. Please submissions to: trygveculp@gmail.com Trail Boss Report continued from page 4 were no husband-wife fights or divorces caused by this event. Everyone, especially the ladies who participated did very well. Gail and Cathy put on a good spread with corned beef and cabbage as well as hot dogs. The latest reports from Whistler Canyon indicate that there is still snow in the canyons and there is water over the trail in places. Our bridges survived and drew favorable comments from several users. From the reports there seems to be more trees down than usual. I just had May shod and I hope to get up there in a few weeks to assess the damage as soon as the snow lets me ride clear through. If anyone wants to come along, please give me a call and we can arrange a date. The weather is warming up so if you have not wormed your horses now is the time to Git-R-Done. So far, this spring has been dry but remember that in past years we ve had some wet springs. If your horses or mules are in a small space that gets muddy, be on the lookout for thrush. Our next big event is going to be the chainsaw certification and trail clearing work party at Smith Lake. Those of you with pack stock can bring them along for the ride. It is a short ride in and will get them used to being tied up for long periods of time while you are working. Along with that is my recommendation to empty any used gas out of your saw now and replace it with fresh gas. While you re at it, take a few minutes to clean the air cleaner and replace the spark plug. The gas we buy now contains Ethanol and is murder on plugs and gas goes bad much quicker than it did in the old days, even though it is mixed with oil. I m still looking into access to the recently purchased WDFW property adjacent to McLoughlin Falls on the East side of the Okanogan. I m presently working with the WDFW and trying to partner with Trout Unlimited and the Okanogan Fly Fishermen to see if there is some way we can get the property owners on either the north or south end of the road to let us have access. 11

12 Okanogan Valley Chapter Calendar of Upcoming Activities April 13, 2013: Packing Clinic with Ferry County Chapter, Dolly Watkins Arena, Republic, WA. Time: 9:00 AM April 17, 2013: Chapter Business Meeting - Tonasket Senior Center. Board Meeting at 6:00 PM; Business Meeting at 7:00 PM April 20, 2013: Saw Certification and work party, Smith Lake in the Chiliwist. Meet approximately 1 miles northwest of the Olema/Chiliwist intersection on the Olema Road. Time: Meet at 9:00 AM. April 26, 2013: Sinlehekin Wildlife Area work party. Meet at the north end Blue Lake Campground. Time: Meet at 9:00 AM. May 4, 2013: Scotch Creek Wildlife Area Ride. Level 1 ride. Linda Oborne, Trail Guide. Info at Meet at 9:00 AM ride at 10:00 AM. May 15, 2013: Chapter Business Meeting - Location TBA in central valley; Board meeting at 5:00 PM; Dinner/social hour at 6:00 PM; Business Meeting at 7:00 PM May 18, 2013: Firearms safe handling and practice. County Sheriff s Range. Time TBA. Okanogan Valley Chapter, BCHW P.O. Box 812 Tonasket, WA