THE SEARCH FOR A B-17 CRASH SITE
by Randy Duncan
In the summer of '98, I was fortunate to be invited to travel with the Confederate Air Force aboard their B-17 "The Sentimental Journey" as they traveled over Washington State. I was on the leg of the journey that took us from the Air station flying museum in Arlington to Hoquiam . At the airport in Hoquiam, I met a gentlemen displaying an incredible collection of war bird art. After an enjoyable look through the art works and a great conversation with Van (H. F. Vanairsdale -the gentleman in question), I went to sign his guest book on my way out. That's when I spied his open photo album and what appeared to be a B-17 crash site. I asked Van about it and, yes, he had been there several years before. He was only to happy to tell me about the site and give me directions to the crash site. The elusive crash site had raised it's head once again. Okay, I thought, we're off to the races now.
When I returned home from Hoquiam, I called my friend (my fellow
man of action and adventure) Ed Nelson. We had talked several times about
making a trip to this site, if we ever received some good information on
its location. We made plans to go to the crash site the next weekend in
the Big White Boat (Ed's cadillac). 
As usual, I spent the next week packing and unpacking my backpack.
This ritual consists of putting everything I might need on the expedition
into a large pile in the middle of the living room that usually trails
off from there to the garage, to my office, and of course, who can forget
the bedroom and the kitchen. Having been a commercial diver most of my
adult life, no, having been a commercial diver long before my adult life
(who's an adult?). Anyway, having worked as a commercial diver for many
years (often in remote and inaccessible areas -where wiser and smarter
men feared to tread -or just knew better), you learn to pack for the worst
case scenario or dive jobs can go bad in a hurry. Thus, I have never
learned
to pack light. 
Hmm, had to have summer clothes because it's summer, had to have winter clothes 'cause we were going to the mountains. Sleeping bag, tent, climbing gear, still camera, video camera, and all the little things you need for them. Fire starter, cooking gear, food and water for 4 days, even though we were going for 2 (best to be prepared), and of course, being a emergency medical technician I'd look real silly without a much more than adequate first aid kit. Also, tools and lots of them, just in case this became a salvage operation. Hmm, should toss in a survival kit and of course my lucky swiss army knife with its incredible 5000 features, almost as useful as duct tape. DUCT TAPE!!!!!!! How did I forget to pack the amazing NASA duct tape? The Swiss army knife is a present from my girlfriend. I told her that if I ever were to go down in an air crash I would have no problem surviving in the wilds, she responded that with a knife like that I should be able to climb out on the wing and fix the damn plane. I arranged all this gear in my pack several different ways -based first on the philosophy that gear should be placed opposite the way it will be used (putting the things you will use first closer to the top of the pack) then, of course, coming to the the realization that this is only a theory and that Murphy's Law clearly states that whatever ITEM you need on the trail will definitely be the most inaccessible item at the bottom of the pack at the time it is needed. You then change your philosophy, because the trick is making Murphy's Law work for you! So you pack the items you think you will need first at the bottom and the things you think you'll use later on top. However, this is where you begin to get into a bit of an alternate reality and trying to outfox Murphy can definitely lead to amazing paradoxes and should only be attempted by experts. I put my now bulging pack on the bathroom scale. It seemed to be weighing in at a hefty 65-75 lbs. Ed arrived early in the a.m. on Saturday. Grabbing my pack to load, I realized that it was a struggle to get it from my living room to the car. I must need more coffee, I thought, it can't be that my pack's too heavy. Not satisfied that we hadn't missed something, I made one more round of the house and the garage. Big mistake! I found more tools that I couldn't live without! Leaving the general area that our bodies could be recovered from with my girl friend, I gave her a good-bye kiss and we were on our way.
The trail head to the crash site is about 2 hours from my home. We coffee'd up on the way, eagerly speculating on what we would find in the mountains. When we reached the closest small town to the trail head we stopped at a diner for breakfast (seasoned campaigners always stop for breakfast). During breakfast, we talked to some locals who new of the crash site. The old-timers said that when they had been up there years ago -the wreck was quite intact and it was still very recognizable as an aircraft and the controls and much of the gear was still there. Of course, that had been at the time they had been to it. We were all ears. They also told us of a abandoned mine shaft in the general area of the crash site. Resisting the temptation to stay for lunch, it was time to resume our adventure (seasoned campaigners sometimes stay for lunch, however, never dinner. That would be considered lazy and weak).
Armed with this new knowledge and excited that the B-17 may not be as picked over as we had feared, we resumed our journey to the trail head. Driving on a one lane dirt and gravel logging road, we made our way into the mountains. As we wound higher and higher, we passed by huge precipices . The views of Puget Sound and the cascade mountains as the sun streaked the sky were incredible! Finally we reached the trail head. Now the fun was about to start.......................