Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Forest Service Road 24 staircase

ROAD TO STAIRCASE TO CLOSE FRIDAY


Due to safety concerns for Olympic National Forest visitors, Forest Service Road 24 is scheduled to close to all motorized vehicle access beginning Friday. The road is the main access point for the Staircase area of Olympic National Park. The gated closure, located just beyond the Mt. Rose subdivision, began as a precaution following the 2006 Bear Gulch II fire which burned approximately 1200 acres directly above the road. This safety measure is necessary to prevent injury to the public from rock and debris slides expected throughout the rainy winter season. Due to the steep topography, this section of road sometimes experiences debris and rock slides during the winter months, requiring routine cleanup and maintenance. However, the fire increased the amount of debris significantly, as storms from last winter caused so much debris to cover the road that repairs took until the end of June to complete. An assessment team will continue to evaluate conditions, monitor slope stability and track debris accumulations to determine the level of winter access in the future. The Forest Service will announce a scheduled opening date in the spring when risk levels return to normal and debris removal and maintenance can begin.

Forest Service Road 24 staircase

ROAD TO STAIRCASE TO CLOSE FRIDAY


Due to safety concerns for Olympic National Forest visitors, Forest Service Road 24 is scheduled to close to all motorized vehicle access beginning Friday. The road is the main access point for the Staircase area of Olympic National Park. The gated closure, located just beyond the Mt. Rose subdivision, began as a precaution following the 2006 Bear Gulch II fire which burned approximately 1200 acres directly above the road. This safety measure is necessary to prevent injury to the public from rock and debris slides expected throughout the rainy winter season. Due to the steep topography, this section of road sometimes experiences debris and rock slides during the winter months, requiring routine cleanup and maintenance. However, the fire increased the amount of debris significantly, as storms from last winter caused so much debris to cover the road that repairs took until the end of June to complete. An assessment team will continue to evaluate conditions, monitor slope stability and track debris accumulations to determine the level of winter access in the future. The Forest Service will announce a scheduled opening date in the spring when risk levels return to normal and debris removal and maintenance can begin.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

mushrooms, wine

got ten pounds of chantrelles today. i have to pick one handed and can not cut the stems so both daughters helped while hubby slept on the moss. We were too late to get any matsutake this year so the tradition of steamed matsutake as the starting thanksgiving dish will not happen this year. took my family to the overlook half way up ellinor and we basked in the sun for quite awhile. my broken wrist hurt a lot going down the bumpy dirt road on mount ellinor. i wanted to walk down to big creek campground and have my husband meet me there but thought better of it. fall is my favorite hiking season.

my left sprained wrist feels quite a bit better today, i still can not open tight lids with my left hand but i think i have about 75% of my wrist function back. maybe in a couple more weeks i will be able to use a trekking pole with a wrist brace.

i will dehydrate most of the mushrooms for later use.

i have 1 gallon each of blueberry and rose petal wine fermenting away in my bedroom. Today i am making hard cider from apples picked in the vacant lot behind my house. wine making can be really easy just be sure to use a sterile technique. i am using bakers yeast this year because i don't like a really high alcohol content. things are not as sterile as i would like thanks to working first while manic and now with only one hand. i think my brews will be ok though. the only ingredienrts i am using are the fruit / petals, boiled syrup (sugar and water), bakers yeast, lemon juice and campten tablets. i have two glass jugs with airlocks. i want another glass jug but for now the cider is in a plastic jug that apple juice came in and the lid is the original lid just a little bit loose to keep the pressere down. the cider is just starting to turn and i love that taste. i am making fruit leather with the must. i only let the must ferment for 1.5 days so it tastes like apple sauce with just a little kick. YUMMY! i like to add quince to apple sauce but have none it adds a little zip to apple sauce too but is not alcoholic.

Monday, October 20, 2008

dvr plate pictures of my bionic wrist






i bet those calluses will be gone before i can ride my bike again


Had my first post-op visit today. the splint is off, replaced with a bright orange fore arm cast for Halloween. cast will stay on for 3 weeks, much more comfortable then giant splint that bruised the back of my hand. stitches were taken out about 5-8 stitches on the out side. sprained left wrist is healing slowly, typing one fingered with left middle finger.

Went to lake sylvia state park , had a beautiful 2 mile stroll around the lake. hubby promised to drive me to a matsutake hunting spot next week. found 3 chantereles at sylvia.


bummed that i will miss king bolete hunting, have to do it at the crack of dawn to beat the crowds and hubby will not get up that early.





my unbroken left wrist




broken lunate fossa with volar displacement, see how wide the gap is?




10 days post-op dvr plate



dvr plate

Sunday, October 19, 2008

pictures





just uploaded pictures from my last hike. having my first post-op visit tomorrow, hope to ditch this heavy arm splint. fingers still blue/green from surgical germ killer. looking forward to bending my elbow. will be sent home in a short arm splint i think.

Friday, October 17, 2008

distal radius fracture


a lot of time on my hands to research my injury.  this is my ER x-ray showing a barton or die punch fracture of the distal radius oi my right arm.  i am right handed.   my left wrist is also sprained, doing any thing is difficult.

i have a long splint on my right arm that imobilizes my wrist and elbow.  i can move my fingers but i am not supposed to use them.   i'm not getting much help from anyone, my house is getting messy, i had to get my hair cut off and i don't eat until 3pm when my 11 year old gets home from school but the percodan keeps me from getting too hungry.  highlight of today was getting my fingernails trimmed.   i am weaning if the pain pills but that means the mania symptoms are coming back.  life is pretty shitty at the moment..  speaking of the toilet is clogged and the dryer is broken.  since i am the only one who does much work in my houshold they won't get fixed any time soon.  i'm pretty upset at the lack of help i am getting, but i am getting better.

post surgical pain was very bad just like i remembered my ankle surgery to be. only having a baby hurts worse.   i took my bike to the shop and got it worked on before i realized how hurt i was.  still family came first so i rode my bike with a broken wrist to where i was supposed to meet my husband to get my daughter.  when he did not show i hads a passerby lock up my bike and i walked to the campus healthcare center.

they said that i needed to go to the er so my husband picked up me and both kids and dumped us at the er and he returned to work.  dumped at the er with two kids and a broken arm, my care has not improved much since then.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

ICE in the skok valley

From seattle indymedia:

13 people detained on Oct. 15th.


12-13 people were detained when they were coming out from picking salal, on the afternoon of Oct 15th. The detentions happened on Skokomish Valley Road, 5 miles in from Highway 101. The Forest Service Enforcement first stopped two vans with brush harvesters, at about 4 p.m. People at both vans had permits to harvest salal. Other vans came after them but they were not stopped. The Forest Service Enforcement held people for about 4 hours, until ICE came to take them, at about 8 pm.

The 12-13 detainees were taken to Port Angeles initially, but all of them seem to have been transferred to the detention center in Tacoma. They are all Mam Guatemalans. Most of them have already signed the voluntary departure. 2 or 3 are waiting to see a lawyer.

This is not an isolated incident. It seems to be part of an on-going collaboration between the Forest Service and ICE. On the days that people go to the FS office in Quilcene to get brush harvesting permits, ICE is present. When people get there, the FS first revise their documents and then they go to the ICE people for a second screening. Harvesters said that ICE is collecting their names, addresses and other personal information. They take photos and videos. FSE is now frequently waiting for people when they come out of harvesting salal. Harvesters are first detained by FSE and then turned in to ICE. We did not know that ICE now had an office in Port Angeles, but in recent times several people has been taken there before being transferred to the Tacoma Detention Center.

There was a recent incident where another Guatemalan woman witnessed how ICE agents beat up, until bleeding, a 17 year old who was hiding underneath the seat of a van while other were being arrested. They also hit a woman.

Friday, October 10, 2008

dvr plate






DVR plate    

Is what i had done warning it gets graphic if you don't tolerate surgical images well.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Sunday, October 5, 2008

.

crashed my bike, shattered my wrist, sprained the other.  surgery this week.  Too manic to be safe on even a bike.   Dropped out of college for the quarter at least.  difficult too post here w/o a good hand to type with.    Hope to be back posting in a few weeks.