4/23 Saturday. Cloudy with rain. PCTA organizes Trail Skill College for current and future volunteers to learn about trail construction and maintenance. Every year, various locations provide this weekend long learning opportunity. I participated last year at Cascade Lock for both Saturday and Sunday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. This year, however, my request for the Sunday class was full, so I only did one day of class. Hard hat is provided by WTA, working gloves and safety goggle are also provide. Breakfast 7-8am (scramble egg, ham, pancake), 8:30 announcement and instructor briefing. 8:45 class gathering on the lawn. Each class is marked by a small red flag on the lawn with class name on it. Food, if donated, is of good quality (New Seasons donated bread, Stumptown donated coffee, Yerba Mate donated a few cases of cans, and Ninkasi Brewing donated two types of beer. If purchased, you may want to stay away from.
Introduction to Chainsaw (class 104), my class, has only 6 students, the smallest of all. This class has no saw practice, and is taught entirely in the tent. Perfect for a rainy day. But it didn't rain outside either. Well, it didn't rain, as long as we were in the class. We learnt to handle the break, hold the saw, open/close, tighten the chains to proper tension. Then we cleaned a few saws. Had lunch (self-packed during breakfast time: chopped tomato, lettuce, onion, pickel, ham, cheese, celery, carrot, apple, orange) in the pavilion, with heat and bathroom access. After lunch, we filed the blades of a few chains, understand why and how to file the blades. This is a good course. 
When our class ended at about 2:45pm, the rain started. I was planning on going to Dry Creek Falls close by. Then I was told a rock class wanted some able body to move rocks, so I went. It's on the island a few steps away. The heavy rocks are moved by a clothes basket. It has 8 handles, can be lifted by 4 people, often easily. Moving 4 pairs of feet on uneven ground proves to be non trivial. It requires clear instructions and one and only person to call them. The cable pulley system was an overkill. But it's fun to watch. I saw it used once only. 
Dinner was served at 6pm. Hamburger, hotdog, veggie burger, chili, beer. 7pm, announcement and raffle drawing. Walked over to Thunder Island and setup camp. Saw many people fishing on the boat ramp. None of them wanted to stand on the other side. They were quite close to each other, and sometimes their lines got entangled. The island is grassy, but full of gifts from Canadian Geese. A few baby geese, very cute. Good view, and not many tents. Very noisy: trains go by on both sides of Columbia River. Rain overnight.
