Skokomish Upper South Fork

My last hike of the summer.


Today is the Fall Equinox. I've got a cold, my knees hurt, hunters are lurking in the woods, the wildlife gates are about to slam shut, the bugs are gone, there is a chill in the air and the mushrooms are blooming.

After hurting my knee on the Church Creek Trail I had to take it easy this week and do a level hike. Deciding where to do my level hike was easy. Next week the wild life gate will close and access to the Upper South Fork Skok, Church Creek, The Dry Creek Extension and the upper end of the Dry Creek Trail will be shut down for six months. It was time to rescue that travel bug from my Upper South Fork Geocache to prevent it from being stranded there until next May!

There were more cars at the trailhead then I have ever seen here before and I soon learned why. A WTA trail crew was on the trail. They cleared the trail all the way up to six ridge pass. Thank you! Two members of the WTA crew recognized me as "Pest" on the NW Hikers forum.

I started my hike at around 9am and finished up at about 2pm. I forgot my lunch at home so I was good and hungry by the time I got home.

I hiked to startup creek then brewed my tea and turned around. Today's mileage was 8 with only 1,100 feet elevation gain. My knee did quite well and I intend to go on a tougher hike next week.

I did not see as many mushrooms as I had hoped to see but I did find a really nice "Bears head" that I took a few pictures of. I intended to pick half of it when I passed it again on the way back to the car. I was going to leave the other half so it could continue growing and sporulating.

But on my way back to my car I was horrified to discover that someone picked it. I know who must have picked it, I passed the offender just after I finished lunch. I guess she was desperate for chanterelles as every orange mushroom near the trail had been pulled up or kicked over. It was rather disappointing to see the damage she caused. But in spite of her efforts I did find some chanterelles that she missed.


My husband cooked dinner and fried up the chanterelles the moment I walked in the door. The chanterelles were nice but I really wanted to eat that bears head. Lesson learned, pick all mushrooms the first time through. I've never had this happen before so I felt safe leaving it to pick on my way back.

I had a great summer, I went on lots of fun hikes and I really got to explore the South Flank. My $1,400 Christmas Jeep ran like a top. I had a blast driving all the back roads in the Skokomish Drainage. I went on some long tough hikes and I got into really good shape.

But fall is here the high country is about to close down for the winter and the wild-life gates are about to slam shut.

Next week I go back to college. I'm going to take a course called "Temperate Rainforests" and I'll get to play in the woods every Friday as part my class work. I've already done some of the reading and I see that all my experiences hiking and cutting firewood (when I was a child) will give me an edge at the start. I already know a lot of the stuff we are going to learn the first week.

I hope you all had a nice summer too!








Chicken of the Woods



Old Growth Canopy




The Skok is small up here in the fall



Giant Red Russula
(someone kicked this over after I took the picture)



Giant Red Russula Gills



Giant Red Russula Gills. I took great efforts to take this picture
without plucking the mushroom. But someone kicked it over after I
I passed it the first time.





Brewing tea



A nice conk



Dyers Polypore




Avalanche Chute




Doug fir




Bears head that someone else picked before I did.



I was horrified, I tell you horrified to discover this where the
Bearshead had been.




Hypholoma used to be Naematoloma . . . now it's Hypholoma
This one is poison no matter what you call it




Giant Purple Cort



Mmmmmm Old Growth!



Elevation Profile



Track Log