North Fork Skokomish

The baby woke me up at 5 am and wanted milk. I could not fall back to sleep after that so I decided to get up and get ready for my hike. I left my house at 7:15 am and was on the trail by 8:15. I love living so close to the Olympic Mountains!

Trail head sign post

I saw a small raccoon crossing the road about a mile from the trail head and three deer at the trail head. That was all the wildlife I saw. I could hear the elk calling to each other in the distance and I saw lots of elk tracks but I did not see the elk. It is unusual for me to not see elk there this time of year.

Usually on the weekdays in the Fall I have the trail all to myself but there were other people on the trail today, maybe that is why I did not see the elk. I think it was lack of rain that drew the people out on this day.

I felt good and was hiking in fine form, 2.5 miles an hour while stopping to take pictures and look at mushrooms. I stopped for lunch at big log camp and spent a relaxing hour and fifteen minutes cooking and eating lunch and taking picture of the area. Lunch was bean thread noodles with sausage, eggs and shaggy mane mushrooms. I tossed in two chanterelles that I picked on the trail down to the campground. I sipped on hot cocoa while I was waiting for lunch to finish cooking.

Big log is the campground with the sheltering cedar tree that I posted about a week or two ago. You can see it in the background of my "picnic table". While I was big log something told me I was not alone on the trail.

I was feeling really good on the hike back, in my own head space, looking at mushrooms and enjoying the day when I was startled by two backpackers about three miles from the trail head. They had spent the night at camp pleasant and they were wanting a ride to Hoodsport tomorrow or Big Creek campground that day. I offered them a ride if "we were at the trail head at the same time". I wish I had not offered them a ride though, it changed my head space. I went from gathering mushrooms and looking at mushrooms to thinking about meeting them and re-running my conversation with them over and over and over in my mind.

In the end they decided they did not want a ride. They were time and headspace wasters.

Not a drop of rain all day and almost no water was running down the trail. My new rain gear only went a long for the ride as dead weight in my pack. There were several dayhikers on the trail near the trail head. I missed my solitude but I still got to be alone for a few hours so it was an ok hike.

I'm glad that I started off so early in the morning. I got home before my oldest got home from school so my husband did not have to babysit her at all. I was also off the trail early enough that I could drink coffee. I can't drink coffee after 6pm if I want to sleep at night. I'm going to try to get an early start on my next hike too. I already know where I am going, it's not as nice as the North Fork of the Skok but it is in the national forest where the mushroom picking limit is much higher and it's closer to home.

Bolete buttons in the snow

I'm not going to make the mistake of stopping at the 76 station on 101 just north of Shelton. The first time I went there the clerk was not at all friendly but I gave them another chance on this trip. They were just as unfriendly and they charge an astronomical $1.79 for a cliff bar.

I might start buying them by the case. I'd be better of preparing stuff to eat at home but I never have high calorie food just sitting around the house and I do need a lot of calories when I am hiking. I burn about 400 calories per hour when I am day hiking and even more when I am backpacking.