Coming back into town

It's that time of year, when the trappers come back to town, after a long winter up country. Right about now, the ice is coming off the moving water of the streams and rivers. So the trappers are loading up their canoes and heading into town to sell their furs, stock up on supplies, and get themselves a beer. The latter is particularly important, because spring travel is about as difficult as it gets. And there's nothing worse than pulling your canoe upstream, through the icy spring water, over rotten ice and slippery rocks.

This morning we had a pleasant surprise, two of our old friends, Bill Dahl and Jimmy Fidler, stopped by for a coffee and some fresh bread. They're on their way into Graebers Landing, and their canoe was filled with the fruits of their winter labors. Bill saw us admiring them, and being Bill, he gave us one of the finest beaver pelts we've ever seen. 

We had to say thank you, so we sent them on their way with a new elk skin gloves, a thermos of coffee, and two bomber caps.