Forum Index > Trip Reports > Melakwa Lake, Lower Tuscohatchie Lake 8/15/02 - 8/17/02
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Vine Maple Victim
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Location: Shoreline, WA
Vine Maple Victim
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PostSat Aug 17, 2002 9:21 pm 
Thurs, 9 AM @ the Denny Creek Trailhead: 2 Toyota's (1 Rav-4 and my 87 Tercel) and an Earth Corps van. Quite a nice morning for hiking. But the steep denny creek trail heated up very soon, and my camping/fishing buddy and I were thoroughly drenched in sweat. The bugs weren't too bad, plus we were moving so it was no problem. On arrival to the lake we found another group had taken the first campsite, so we hiked around and claimed a beautiful spot on the "peninsula" of the lake. After ditching the packs, Colin began fishing and I scrambled up to Melakwa pass. It's a really tough stretch of boulders and some snowfields, and wearing sandals and not having any water made it worse. But the views at the top were incredible. To the north there was glacier peak, plus a nice gander onto the still-frozen chair peak lake and picturesque gem lake, to the south, rainier (which is invisible with my stupid digi cam) On the north side of Melakwa pass there's a steep snowfield, which was good for me to see because earlier I was planning on taking this route to snow lake. Not anymore. The fishing at Melakwa was decent, Colin caught our dinner on powerbait, and we both missed a few fish on dry flys. After a lazy friday morning we packed up camp and got on the trail to Lower Tuscohatchie Lake. What a hill! Even the switchbacks felt like they were going straight down the mountain. But after the steep section the trail follows the northwestern side of a ride, so there's tons of berries. The most amazing thing is that the salmonberries aren't even ripe yet at that altitude (something like 3500). At the lake we found a shady camp. We hiked around the lake, picking blueberries and billberries (there were few true huckleberries), until we found a downed cedar tree with the bark falling off, where I showed Colin how to make cordage from the inner bark as the natives did. Back at camp, the fish were really small. We kept a few of the largest we could hook but they were still small. One rainbow and 3 cutthroat. Though small, they were tasty. This morning we hiked out. It was a good climb, and then a good knee banging, but not too bad. Sweaty, but not buggy, except for a little bit by melakwa lake. Sat. Afternoon @ the Denny Creek trailhead: 5 bazillion cars, backed up all the way across the river! Brian
Up close of Glacier Peak from Melakwa Pass
Up close of Glacier Peak from Melakwa Pass
Full view from melakwa pass looking north
Full view from melakwa pass looking north
Full view from melakwa pass looking south
Full view from melakwa pass looking south
From camp at Melakwa lake looking north to melakwa pass
From camp at Melakwa lake looking north to melakwa pass

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Dave Weyrick
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Location: Poulsbo, WA
Dave Weyrick
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PostMon Aug 19, 2002 8:49 am 
Vine Maple Victim wrote:
At the lake we found a shady camp. We hiked around the lake, picking blueberries and billberries (there were few true huckleberries), until we found a downed cedar tree with the bark falling off, where I showed Colin how to make cordage from the inner bark as the natives did.
What's cordage? Rope? Might you be willing to expound so I could try this sometime? Great photos and report!

If I'd known ya was gonna use bait I wouldn't a brought ya!
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Vine Maple Victim
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PostMon Aug 19, 2002 11:02 am 
Cordage is just a generic word for any kind of twine, string, or rope. As you may or may not know, the natives here practically lived off the western red cedar tree. They valued it not only because the wood is light, strong, straight grained, and rot-resistant, but because the inner bark of the tree (the layer right next to the wood of the tree...the stuff sandwiched between the bark you can see and the wood) is very fibrous and can be pounded and twisted or woven into anything from water resistant clothing to fishing nets and rope that can support a persons weight. Enough with the history, this is how you make it: First, obviously, you need a cedar tree. In the springtime and early summer, when the sap is running, you can make an 6-12 inch wide incision (or wider if you really wanted to), pry the inner bark off the tree with a stout knife, and walk backwards holding on to it and it will peel off the tree for 15 or more feet vertically. But, because it's summer, and to be nice to the trees (it would rarely actually kill a tree, but still is not nice especially if you don't cut it down and use the rest of it), it's easier to find some bark peeling off the tree like I did. About the actually twisting process: it's very simple, but takes a lot of practice to get proficient. I recommend you start reverse twisting any little peices of cordage around the house, then move to hemp twine and something similar. These processed, even, long materials are easier to learn on. The whole idea is to have a two ply string- twist one ply clockwise, while you twist the two around each other counter clockwise. After a couple of twists, the un-twisting nature of the plys will actually hold themselves together, and you have durable, flexible cordage. Obviously this is something easier to show than tell, but i have a digi cam and am posting some pictures of my hand positions. My method of doing this is as follows: Pinch the two plys between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand (i dont' care if your not right handed smile.gif ). Pinch the top ply between thumb and forefinger of your right hand, and roll/twist the ply away from you. Keeping it there... Rotate your right hand so you can pinch the lower ply between your middle finger and outside of your forefinger. Rotate your right hand back toward you, bringing the bottom ply to the top. Move your left "pinch" hand up a 1/4 inch to cover the twist that was just created. Now, do it again and again and again and again until your fingers hurt. Remember, no matter how confusing my instructions are, that the bottom line is to twist the individual plys clockwise, and twist them counter clockwise around each other. If you somehow accomplish this, you're going to have cordage. Another method I just remembered from the first time I did this might be a bit easier, though it's slower and less practical. You won't be able to do this with cedar bark, and you'll learn why later. But to gain an understanding of reverse twisting, try this: tie two peices of cord (preferably thicker than twine so you can see what you're doing, but if you use twine, just put 3 or 4 plys on each ply) to a table leg or something. Twist the right ply clockwise then hand it to your left hand over the other ply. Take the left hands ply under the right one so now it's the right ply, and twist it. Continue. The motion is kind of akward with exchanging all these fingers and such, and this is why it's slower. Now, to answer the real question- how to make cordage from the inner bark of a western red cedar tree. Other than obtaining the bark which I already covered, the only thing left is putting it together. There are a couple of fundamental differences between cedar bark and hemp twine. 1. Bark does not come in infinite lengths. To soleve this problem, every time one ply is getting shorter than say 2 inches, you need to splice in some more material. To do this, simply pinch the new material in with the short ply. After a couple twists, the new will be locked in with the old, and ready to take it's place when the old runs out. Depending on the quality of the raw cedar fibers, or it you use diferent material to make the cordage (say animal sinew) you may have to splice in new material every four inches. After a while it becomes no problem. In the picture of the entire cedar cord, it looks ratty because I have not trimmed off the splices. That twelve foot cord took about an hour. 2. Bark is not round, nor is it supple...it comes off the tree in stiff, rectangular lengths. To solve this problem, you'll need to first strip the inner bark into a reasonable diameter (probably 1/4-3/8 inch strips), then pound or chew it. Yes, chew it. It doesn't taste bad. If you're making cordage en masse definetly invest the time to find one large smooth rock, and a palm sized pounder rock....it's faster and leaves your lips in a condition that someone may still want to kiss. But for a quick cord in the woods, just run it through your molars. Plus I'm sure it cleans teeth pretty well. The idea is not to pound the hell out of it, but just soften it up. In the 6th picture you can see the strips of raw inner bark being turned into soft, fuzzy, strong cordage. The PNW is really covered with plants for making cordage. Below is a stinging nettle cord (yes, urtica dioica). The bark of the nettle is used for the cord, same with our favorite wildflower, fireweed. Nettle cordage is as strong as hemp, some say stronger. Between these three plants (cedar, nettle, fireweed) you can make cordage anywhere in western washington, without walking too far (provided you are in a natural environment). Email me with any questions. That goes for anyone out there who wants to know more. Dave, How's the above for a short expoundation? smile.gif Brian
cedar bark
cedar bark
grab the lower ply...
grab the lower ply...
and rotate back toward you.  the magic is in this step.
and rotate back toward you. the magic is in this step.
a six foot hemp bowstring, and a 12 foot cedar cord.
a six foot hemp bowstring, and a 12 foot cedar cord.
if you really want to know i can show you a loop
if you really want to know i can show you a loop
you can see the raw cedar and finished cord right there
you can see the raw cedar and finished cord right there
You can make cordage from the stinging nettle as well!
You can make cordage from the stinging nettle as well!

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Odonata
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PostMon Aug 19, 2002 11:04 am 
Dave, here's a link to making cordage, http://www.abotech.com/Articles/Kidder01.htm. There's a good book by Tom Brown called "Tom Brown's Field Guide To Wilderness Survival" that goes into more detail about cordage. Probably not everyones cup of tea but theres alot of cool stuff in it. -DH

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Odonata
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PostMon Aug 19, 2002 11:09 am 
Thank's for the cool pics VMV ! -DH

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C Dog
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PostMon Aug 19, 2002 1:56 pm 
Cars, cars, cars is right! smile.gif Went to Melakwa as a day hike on Sunday... good report, I'll have to venture further in the future! Pics @ http://www.washingtonhikes.com/2002/melakwa

// Chris Duval // WashingtonHikes.com //
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