4/10-12/18 I went up to Camp Serendipity for 3 days: Tuesday through Thursday.

It rained all the way over the mountains, but it stopped just as I arrived at Camp Serendipity at noon. Before I brought my gear up to the cabin, I took a look at the rhubarb and saw that it was still under snow. After hoisting the flag and building a fire in the wood stove, I had my lunch and my usual nap.

I was awakened after an hour by a phone call from Robert. He filled me in on what he has been doing and said he would not be over to Camp Serendipity this week. When we hung up, I went out and burned brush in the fire pit on the bluff. It rained lightly most of the time and I made a sizeable dent in the very jumbled pile of brush, logs, and snow.

Before I went in for the night, I checked on some of the giant sequoias. Paul was drooping more than I liked, but its color was good. I hope it perks up. Poor Dan is in a droop [palindrome intended] too, but it had just emerged from the snow. I propped it up against the sign to get it standing upright.

There was still a foot or two of snow in the valley where most of the sequoias are and I didn't have my Sorel boots on, so I didn't go in too far. From where I was, I could see that Ellen and Brian were out of the snow and standing upright. I didn't have a shovel with me, but I dug Bill and Dave out from under the snow anyway. The rest of the trees were still buried.

On Wednesday I was out at 8:00 burning more brush on the bluff. While I was working, Bill called, and we had a short but fun conversation. Then I went in for my lunch and a nap. When I got up I went back out and burned brush until 4:30. I was really tired when I went in for the night.

On Thursday morning I didn't want to burn brush because I was going to leave at noon. Instead I went to work on the sequoias, bringing a shovel and wearing my Sorel boots. I dug Earl, John, and Cam out from under the snow and got them standing up. Then I checked on all the rest of the trees. Larry was out of the snow and standing up. It looked a little scrawny but healthy. Andrew was a different story. It was snow-free and standing up, but in addition to being scrawny, about half of its leaves were brown. I am afraid it is not going to survive.

I went back to the cabin and got two fertilizer spikes. I drove one in next to Paul and the other one next to Andrew. Those are the two weakest looking trees. I also carried a big six-gallon bucket of snow up to Andrew to give it a little water. One problem with Andrew is that it is higher in elevation than the springbox, so I can't irrigate it with a hose like I can with Brian and Paul. I think I will just have to carry water up there on a regular basis if there is to be any hope of a recovery for the tree.

In my trips through the woods, I cut several fairly big vine maples that had fallen across the trails. Next week is the customary time for me to measure and record the progress of the sequoia trees so they will all have at least a week to perk up until I come back.

Before I left for home a little after noon, I took another look at the rhubarb and saw that the snow was gone and there were some cute little red buds just peeking up out of the ground. They looked healthy. I appreciated another delightful three days in the mountains.