May 8th: Hike Tour of Suicide Creek and McKenzie Creek

Day 2 and we're in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve hiking and touring the trails. Bob Muckle lead the crew to the various Japanese logging camps during the early 1900's. We were also able to get a close look at the artifacts from the previous field school excavations.

Horseshoes are a common find on site. At one of the sites, there appears to be a specific area where a metal shop was located. The horses on these sites were large and strong, capable of hauling big cargo.

 These cedar planks are what remains of the camp mess halls and various roadways built and used by the Japanese. Cedar typically preserves quite well compared to other types of wood, therefore it is common to find the remnants of cedar roadways and bridges built in this area in the early 1900's.

 Lots of wildlife to see: the deer we encountered didn't seem to care much at all that we were less than 10 feet away from them.

This is a Japanese ofuro or bathhouse foundation located on one of the previous excavations at the McKenzie Creek site. This is the only of it's kind known to be excavated in North America. The bottom of the bathhouse would have been originally made of metal and then heated by burning wood underneath it.