Return to Rivendell

Last week marked another adventure up to the Seattle area to retrieve historic Rivendell Mountain Works materials. After a lovely weekend in Bellingham with a longtime friend, I picked up a cargo van and headed up into the hills. I was happy to be back at Eric and Diane’s cabin- a place that always seems so peaceful. We started by loading up the van with original 1970s backpack patterns and other materials. Marking the end of an era (and beginning of a new one), the original sign came down to return to Utah with me

Eric and I spent some time in the shop where I shared the long list of questions I had for him. The Jensen is a weird pack to construct, after all, and I wanted to be sure I get it rig

Diane was kind to share some of her vintage backpacking gear that will be much appreciated in my small vintage gear library. In the end, I was a little worried by how much stuff was in my van, but I think Eric was pleased with my decluttering help.

Earlier in the trip, I stopped by to see Don, the former owner of RMW, to pick up the original patterns for the Bombshelter tent among a mysterious amount of other stuff. He shared stories and ideas for improving RMW products as we loaded the van.

I couldn’t help myself and had to take a quick peak in each box. It felt a bit like Christmas as I discovered all kinds of treasures, some not seen for decades. I have a nice stack of customer letters to read through, and it seems I’ll need to brush up on my elvish a little.

The most intriguing box was the one labeled “Original Jensen”. Hmm, I wonder what could be in there…