9/19-22/22 I went up to Camp Serendipity for four days: Monday through Thursday.

Highway 2 was still closed so I drove over Blewett Pass. I was very happy that there were no traffic delays to speak of. I arrived at Camp Serendipity at 10:45. The air was smoky but not too bad.

The first thing I noticed was that the new tank and hoses and sprayers that had been set up we're completely gone. There was a work crew whacking bushes in the ditch, but I think they had nothing to do with fire suppression. I later figured out they were installing a fiber optic conduit in the ditch.

I made two trips with my gear: one of them using the wheelbarrow. Next, I hoisted the flag, moved in, and listened to the radio. Then I had my lunch and a nap.

Ellen called while I was lying on my back doing stretching exercises and I got up off the floor too fast; I got dizzy. The dizziness lasted into the night and a little bit into the morning, but it finally went away.

On Tuesday I decided to take videos of my piano practice which I did until the camera maxed out and quit. Then I listened to the radio while I mixed up a batch of mud and mudded about 1/3 of the corner in the bedroom.

After lunch and a nap, the workers down at the road brought in some big heavy machinery and began cutting through the bedrock. They had reached the world-famous gneiss outcrop and evidently had to use drastic measures to dig their trench through it.

Robert had suggested that the tree that fell over a couple weeks ago, and lifted up a big root ball, had exposed dirt that looks like it might be gold-bearing. So, I got out a gold pan and a bucket and filled the bucket with paydirt and tried panning a little. I didn't have the first idea about how to go about panning so I quit and decided to learn from YouTube. I put the pan of dirt in the truck to take it home with me.

On Wednesday it was smoky and hazy. I practiced the piano but didn't record anything. I listened to the radio while I mudded about 1/2 more of the corner in the bedroom there's only about 8 inches left to do.

After lunch and a nap, I went into the woods and checked all 11 Sequoia trees plus Runty. I brought 5 gallons of water to Andrew. All the trees seem to be thriving. Before I went in for the night, I tried panning the dirt again, but I had no idea what I was doing so I gave up.

On Thursday morning it was smoky, and I practiced the piano early. I called Robert and left a message telling him that I was going home today because of a doctor's appointment I had to be at on Friday. Then I called Earl and gave him the same information. We had a nice conversation. Then I packed up and left for home at 10:20 driving over Blewett Pass again. There were some minor delays, but it wasn't too bad.