Colockum Wildlife Refuge
Near the Columbia River

© 2005 Clint Hollingsworth

A few weeks ago, I took a hike about 15 miles South of my house (on the opposite side of the Columbia River) to the Colockum Wildlife Rec. Area. The Columbia is not quite a mile across...



One of the things amazing me most since I moved here, are the clear skies and interesting cliffs.


I always used to call these Sunflowers, but more specifially, they are ARROWLEAF BALSAMROOT (Balsamorhize sagittata) flowers.



For those of you who like tracking, the shores were covered with different animal tracks.




A shot of the gear...

I know someone will ask about the knife. It's a Buckmaster LT I bought on Ebay for $40 (The seller had called it a "Buke" knife) The seller was in Hawaii, and the knife had obviously been used as a dive knife. All the webbing and metal had come off the thermoplastic sheath, and the the Kraton covering on the handle had split and not been cleaned out well. There was a light coating of rust, which I later steel-wooled out.

Oh, and I couldn't even cut paracord with it it was so dull. IT took a bit of careful sharpening to get a half decent edge back on it.



This is just after cutting away the Kraton, but before I did any other work on it. The Sheath still works pretty good!
Here it is after fixing it up a little and "survivalizing" with a small knife on the back, a pocket on the front and as you can see, lots of cordage. I have it on a shoulder strap secured by wire, which in a pinch, can be used for snares.

Hopefully, everyone will realize I'm a knife nut, and make allowances... :)

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