I woke up from a nightmare.I was all packed up so I tried to shake off the nightmare and I put my
socks on.As I was putting my socks on
Patches started whining and creeping closer and closer.How did she
know it was hiking day?
I had to put Patches
in the car early so I would not trip over her while I was making the final perparations for my hike.I left the house at 8:20pm and blew right
past the am/pm where I wanted to get gas, soI was stuck getting gas at Twin Totems or the Hoodsport IGA.Bummer, that cost me $3.77 a gallon.But I saved over $10.00 in gas by taking my
car instead of my Jeep.I had been told
I could drive all the way to the trail head in a passenger car.
Trachybryum megaptilum, about to be moved back to
Homalothecium
(Thanks to David Wagner for the ID)
I had a very hard time finding the Notch Pass
trailhead the road is unmarked and very rough for a small car.I actually drove straight to the trailhead on the first try but I did not see it and turned around when the road got too rough to drive
and then I passed the trailhead again without seeing it.I think I was so focused on not bottoming out
my car that I could not see the trail.Also I was expecting the trail to be at the end of the road but it’s
actually on the side of the road and there is only room to park one car.The topo map in my GPS is old and it showed
the original trail starting in a much different place at a “U” right on the 27
road.
Trailhead is at N47 49.590 W122 56.323
Eventually I drove back to the same spot and found the
trailhead and began my hike at 11am.11am was a much later start than I was hoping for. I knew I was going to
have to make good time all day if I wanted to make it back before dark.
The trail headed straight up and continued up without a
break all the way to the pass.I got too
hot hiking up in the rain and I got to thinking.My raincoat is making me hot, but why am I
wearing a raincoat?What is it that I am
trying to keep dry?My skin is
waterproof so it does not need to be kept dry when I am too hot.The only thing I was trying to keep dry was
my clothes.Well that seemed silly and I
knew I had the trail all to myself so I stripped down from the waist up and
then put my raincoat back on over my bare torso.Ahhhh that was much better, I was able to
unzip my rain coat most of the way so I got plenty of ventilation and I was
able to keep cool.At the same time I
could have zipped it up real quick if anyone came down the trail.The front pack for my camera covered up the
most sinful parts of my chest anyway.You know those nasty bits that provide sustenance for the entire human
race for the first six months of their life.That’s some nasty shit!Got to
keep that covered up.
The trail was bare until right before the pass then suddenly
there was deep snow, but at least the rain had stopped.The pass is marked by an old logging road,
the road was snow covered.The trail
continued on the other side of the road.On the other side of the road the snow was deep, there were trees over
the trail and route finding was slightly challenging.This part of the trail traverses a nasty
little gully. It was a good thing that I put my gaitors on at the pass because on the way down the other side the snow was very deep. I did a lot of postholing to my knees andI thought about turning
back, but I pushed on knowing that the snow would not last for long as I was
now going to drop elevation fast. The
trail came out and crossed another road; I think this second road is one of the
main roads.This road too was covered in
snow but it had one set of monster truck tracks on it.At this point one must turn right and follow
the road for about 300 feet and then rejoin the trail on the left.The trail on the other side of the road was
dead easy to hike on because it was actually an old logging road.
The road that marks the pass, the going was rough after this
After about 1/10th of mile the
trail diverged from the old logging road and became a proper trail again.As the trail drops closer and closer the Big
Quilcene River the scenery gets better and better.Eventually the trail crosses the Big Quilcene
River on a new looking bridge.There on
the other side of the bridge I found a marker that said I was no on the
Quilcene river trail.I turned left at
the junction and headed for “Bark Shanty”.The topo map in my GPS is very old and it showed Bark Shanty as a
shelter.I was surprised to find that
bark shanty was nothing more than a sign where a shelter had once stood.
Did I really hike 8 miles for this?
I reached Bark Shanty at 2:10pm and I knew I had to turn
around between 2:30 and 3pm if I wanted to make it out before dark.Today I did want to make it out before
dark.I brewed a cup of hot chocolate
with coffee, milk and sugar in it and took in the scenery.Someone had left garbage at the campsite but
it was not too bad.At 2:45 I began to
pack up to go and just then two hikers arrived.They were surprised to see me and asked what trail I had hiked in
on.I tried to explain to them but I’m
not sure if they ever understood me.
I started my hike back to the car at 3pm.The route through the snow and fallen trees
was much easier for me on the way back since I knew I was not going to lose the
trail.I reached the pass at 4:45, the
sun was going to set at 5:30 and I was 2 miles from my car.But those two miles were all downhill, so I
knew I would make it out before dark.I
hiked well on the way down because I was feeling good.The guides say this hike gains 3,000 feet but
I think it was closer to 2,700 feet. As I was heading down the quiet of the forest was destroyed by gunfire. I really hoped that no one was shooting at my car! I
made it back to my car at 5:40, just after sunset but before dark. My car was fine.
The drive out:
I drove my car into a ditch on the way back out.The road is so muddy that my front right tire
just slid right into the ditch.Luckily
the ditch was not too deep and I was able to back my car out of the ditch on
the first try.My car is covered with
mud now.
8 miles with 2,700 feet total elevation gain on this up and
down route.
This is an up and down route
Hundreds of years? Maybe tens of thousands of years.. or maybe not at all..
Driving out I stopped to admire the reflections in the puddles.
Conks
conks
Buckeilla undulatum moss I probably spelled it wrong
Dendrolosia moss
Dicranum moss sporophytes
Beautiful new bridge hooks Notch Pass trail with Big Quilcene trail
Misty forest
Isothecium moss catches the sweet light just after lunch
Holy tree and rain drops
A quick hot mocha in the snow
My complete kitchen with fuel and water bottle
My hand lens just happens to be in the picture
Honk if you like conks!
Hypnum moss Sporophytes
Hypnum moss Sporophytes
Liverworty goodness.. perhaps Ricardia species in the circle
Lobaria oregana with aptothecia (the round orange dots)
This lichen is old growth associated
1 comment:
Thanks for the fun trip report and the one on wta.org.
I love this hike.
And I am amazed your car survived that trailhead road, LOL
- Joe
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