It’s been ten days since my last hike and I had to really
force myself to get out on this day. I’m sick
again and I’m taking Iron and anti-biotics, they have opposite effects on my
digestive system so it should all balance out. Right? I woke up at 6am but stayed in bed until
8am. I almost talked myself out of
hiking, but I remembered that I need to lose weight and I need to shatter
records. I finally managed to drag
myself out of the house at about 9am.
My goal for the day was to hike the Big Creek trail up to
the over look and back. I also wanted to
do some mushroom investigating. (there is nothing out there!) I hit
the trail at 10am and it was raining a little bit.
The outhouse at Big Creek camp had no toilet paper. Also noticed that they are getting ready to do some clearing to put in a camp host campsite and some other campsites near the road at Big Creek campground. I don’t think the new campsites will be very nice since they are not really in the trees. I wonder if Big Creek is getting overloaded with campers since Lilliwaup campground is now permanently closed?
The outhouse at Big Creek camp had no toilet paper. Also noticed that they are getting ready to do some clearing to put in a camp host campsite and some other campsites near the road at Big Creek campground. I don’t think the new campsites will be very nice since they are not really in the trees. I wonder if Big Creek is getting overloaded with campers since Lilliwaup campground is now permanently closed?
I should have hiked
on Friday but I was coerced into staying home and hiking in the rain today
instead L I put my gaiters on at the trail head and I
wore my new water proof boots. This is
my third hike in my new boots; I hope they stay waterproof for a while.
Before long I had to put on my rain coat. I did not feel good today, but I kept hiking in the hopes that I would catch my second wind. As I headed up, It started to rain a bit harder but my legs stayed dry with just polypro underwear and a convertible pants over them. My legs must have been generating a lot of heat as I climbed.
Before long I had to put on my rain coat. I did not feel good today, but I kept hiking in the hopes that I would catch my second wind. As I headed up, It started to rain a bit harder but my legs stayed dry with just polypro underwear and a convertible pants over them. My legs must have been generating a lot of heat as I climbed.
I used some orange duct tape to mark the spot where I missed
the sign the last time I did this hike.
At that time the sign was completely buried in the snow and I went way
out of my way by a lot when I missed my turn.
Hopefully that won’t happen to me again.
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| Old Hericium with teeth worn off |
When I reached the overlook I decided to keep going up and
up into the beautiful forest. As I got near the benches on the windy ridge near the upper trail the wind began to howl. But I know from experience that the wind always howls in this spot so I just turned up my music an ignored it.
(The always windy ridge?)
Perhaps I could summit today? Had all the snow melted? Not far before the junction of the upper and lower trail I ran into one hiker coming down, he said the summit was snow free. Nice! I was maybe going to summit. I had just enough time.
I set 3pm as my turn around time so I could avoid hiking out in the dark. By the time I reached the upper trail I was getting pretty tired and was having doubts about summiting. It would be 14 miles round trip to summit Ellinor from Big Creek and I was not feeling good today. I knew I had the endurance for it, but I was feeling ill. I was surprised to see a large unpicked Hericium in plain sight on such a popular trail.
(The always windy ridge?)
Perhaps I could summit today? Had all the snow melted? Not far before the junction of the upper and lower trail I ran into one hiker coming down, he said the summit was snow free. Nice! I was maybe going to summit. I had just enough time.
I set 3pm as my turn around time so I could avoid hiking out in the dark. By the time I reached the upper trail I was getting pretty tired and was having doubts about summiting. It would be 14 miles round trip to summit Ellinor from Big Creek and I was not feeling good today. I knew I had the endurance for it, but I was feeling ill. I was surprised to see a large unpicked Hericium in plain sight on such a popular trail.
A large group of Olympians
passed me on their way down. A flock of
camp robber jays was following them down the hill and singing. The Olympians smelled like greeners. An elusive mix of perhaps pot, B.O.,
mushrooms and sour krout. I’m not sure
what that smell is but I’ve actually learned to like it.
I was getting more and more tired and the rain began to
really pelt me. At about 4,500 feet I
decided that I needed to stop and the minute I stopped my guts decided to
unleash their fury. So perhaps it was
actually my guts that made me stop. It
was not pretty, but I had enough TP to deal with it, just barely enough.
After that I felt a bit better but it was really raining
hard so I put on my rain pants and had my lunch break . At lunch time I tested out my new Caldera
style cone. I have a Heineken can pot
that I have taken backpacking in the past. The can pot system was a mistake, as it was too unstable in the field. I’ve been using
my ever new titanium pot for the last 4 years instead.
Last night I bought some aluminum roof flashing and made a caldera style
cone for my can pot. The cone works
great, it adds stability to my can pot and its fast and efficient with my Mossy
Mom variation of the cat can stove. The
Heineken pot system is ¼ pound lighter than my ever new pot system and is now more stable. I had
hot chocolate and hot spaghetti for lunch.
All that hot food made me feel better.
It was a cold wet day and hot food made all the difference. Too bad my gloves turned out to not be
waterproof though.  |
| My lunch spot |
At 2:30pm I headed back down the trail. With a belly full of hot food, music blasting
in my ears and an all downhill hike I felt pretty good. I was back down to the lookout before I knew
it. I paused at the look out. My legs were tired and I needed a break. I think I left the look out at 3:45. The big hemlock is leaning even more, but it has not fallen yet.
On the hike down I noticed a caulflower mushroom stump. I only ever find stumps of these anymore. I wonder if commercial pickers are getting all of them? |
| Road bridge over Big Creek |
I was able to drive home in the daylight. This was my last hike before the fall back
and I can’t get out of my house before 8:30am so I expect to be doing a lot of
hiking in the dark until the days get longer.
This hike wiped me out but is sure felt good to be hiking
with Patches again. I’ve been hiking in
the park and climbing mountains where Patches cannot go. Patches is very sore today, I don’t know how
many more seasons she has in her.
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| Only one blow down on the entire route |
11.5 miles with 3,500 feet elevation gain
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| Start of this hike |
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| Mount Rose trail crew has done an oustanding job on this trail system |
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| I put the orange tape there, this sign was buried in snow the last time I was here and I missed my turn. |
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| Junction of Lower Ellinor Trail and Ellinor connector trail. Goat closure sign is laying on log |
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| Junction of Upper and Lower Ellinor trail |
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| Another junction of upper and lower Ellinor trail |
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| Oyster mushroom on alder |
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| Hypholoma fasiculare |
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| Gomphidius subroseus |
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| Hylocomnium splendens moss on the outhouse |
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| Great Northwestern Salamander on the trail |
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| This bathroom in Hoodsport is open to the public again. I really like this bathroom! |
1 comment:
Looks like another wet and windy day in the Olympics.
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