Warm here!

6:00 pm

It is warm here at Cascading Waters.
The Lodge is a toasty 85 degrees indoors!
We So need the trees (particularly the ash) to fully leaf out and air condition things for us.
Go tree go!

Presently it is 84 degrees F outside the Lodge;
The barometric pressure is 28.97" and steady;
There is a persistent gentle breeze;
There is a mix of high haziness in the sky, some clouds and some blue skies;
The USFS Fire Danger Class is NONE;
The Cascades Brook is at 4.6" with decent flow.

General notes:

* Pulling up invasive plants in the glen such as garlic mustard, Norway maple, Multiflora rose, barberry, etc. (I am beginning to believe I am becoming part goat as I do this. There must be a fairy tale in this somewhere.)

* Today there were a small tribe of boys walking the length of the Cascades Brook. That part is cool. The part that is tricky is that they were ripping apart the banks of the brook in order to throw rocks into the water. They are not alone. Lots of folks who come here to hike come and rip up the ground to pull stones to throw in the brook. Clearly directly and physically engaging nature is very very good. Yet, doing so in a fashion that leaves the site continually and progressively degraded is not. How to help folks think this through in a sentence is my current quandary. Suggestions are welcome. I toy with ideas like: "Each rock torn from this small parcel leaves less for the next person and nothing for the next generation" but I am not entirely happy with that. If only they all wanted to find a small stick and a cue from Winnie the Pooh and chased them as they went down stream instead. Alas, not so much.

* Last night there was a party up at the top of the Cascades. I haven't been up there to see the damage. I did hear them spinning out of here on Cataract Street at 2am with the headlights off though. I am hopeful, until it is proven otherwise, that they wish to not spoil the site and enjoying it for others and that they took their stuff with them. It is funny, as a land manager I am not averse to some level of mischief, but part of the bargain I wish to strike would be if folks left no trace, and thus no reason for anyone to chase them off in the future. (If you must have a beer party bring cups and a keg or cans, it takes hours and hours to deal with broken glass that can hurt toddlers.)

Well, enough of that.
Off to tend grill.