A week later and we were out at THF to pick shiitakes and rescue some of our missing logs. They are calling for rain today at 11 am so we were ready to go just before 7.  Shiitakes were the priority so Jo and Ron headed over there. I stopped to check on our lavender and elderberries.

So excited to see the ripening berries, but I need to get busy not only covering these bushes to keep the birds away but also figuring out some kind of support.  There are more than a few branches resting on or near the ground.

I did a bit of weeding and then headed across the stream to help with the shiitakes.  Once they were all picked and safely stashed in the tent, we girded ourselves for the trip out to get the found logs.  All three of us had on hip waders so we should stay dry this time.  But this adventure was going to be tricky.  Ron would be driving the 4 wheeler while I walked in front of him guiding  him to the more shallow areas.  Jo would follow behind to keep an eye on both of us.    Right away thing got a bit dicey.  Ron had to drive faster than I could walk.  Remember I was not only walking in the stream but dealing with the rocks too.  He had to keep going in order to prevent getting bogged down.    There were tree branches hanging low over the stream that we had to dodge and even more of them in the stream itself.  We hit the deeper spots and I had Ron stop to make the decision about which way to go.  He made the choice and then gunned it.  I had to scramble to get out of his way.  Jo was freaking out, sure that I was going to be hit.  Sliding on the rocks in my boots, I managed to get up on the bank and Ron flew by me.  Huge relief when he got up onto the bank of rocks and brought the machine to a stop.

Jo and Ron loaded the logs already piled up into the wagon and planned their way back.   I headed down the right side of the stream.  I am still determined to search as much as I can for our sled.  I found 9 more logs and a few seriously deep pools.  Up to my knees deep.  I made my way back to Ron and Jo to see if the plan was now to gather up these logs too.   Delighted to hear that they had also been log hunting and had 15 more pulled out of the brush.   Jo and Ron headed back to THF and I headed back upstream to start bringing my found logs out.  That was some seriously hard work.  Carrying logs while walking through deep water burned off a lot of calories.  I had to watch where I was putting my feet as I did not want to fall, but was also keeping one ear open for a bellow from Ron.  Thank goodness all I heard was the engine of the 4 wheeler getting fainter as they safely moved down stream.

They were back before I had all 9 logs corralled.  Jo was soaking wet.  As she had struggled to hold a branch out of Ron’s way the back wash had gotten her.  She lost her balance and went down.  Once again she had boots full of water.   She helped me with the last few logs and they headed back out again.  It was best that I wasn’t going with Ron.  My nerves aren’t as young as Jo’s are.  There were spots on his trip where he could have easily tipped himself over.  He was trying to stay in the shallow ends, but sometimes that meant having one side up on the rocks and the other side in the deep.  I was doing myself better by hauling more logs out of the brush.

Last load of logs and pallets.  Did I mention we needed to get them back to the farm too?  We need them to stack the logs on.  They headed out again and I grabbed the 8 foot long board I found to follow.  But then decided to go back another way, exploring a bit.  Except for one patch of serious bog, it might have been a better way for Ron and the 4 wheeler too.

I got back safely, grabbed the camera and headed out to the south end to find Ron and Jo.  They had decided to take the logs all the way out there right now.  This will save us work later on.  I hadn’t been out there since we moved all of our new logs out there.

All told, we found 50 logs.  Go us.   We aren’t sure that we will actually get shiitakes from them next year, and we are going to tag them, keeping them separate from the others.   You can see that some of them already have while spots on the ends, confirming they have been full inoculated.  Who knows, they may be end up being our best producers.

I might search for the missing sled again tomorrow.