A Rose for Graduation

I did not feel too well when I woke up, but I pushed myself to go out.  I thought hiking would make me feel better, but it did not.  2.5 hours up and about the same down.


7 miles with 3,500 feet elevation gain.

Licensed to be a dog

Rose

Didymodon recurvirostris Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostre

Didymodon recurvirostris aka Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostre

Slightly pappilose cells

Whole leaf stacked panorama, Abaxial view

Archegonial head

recurved margin

Copper Mountain attempt II

Wagon Wheel Lake, the prettiest I have ever seen it

I read that the Pennisula Wilderness Club was going up Mount Copper.  Last year I tried to go up Mount Copper but got lost in the fog and ran out of time.  Click here to read about my last attempt to climb Copper.  A trip up there with the PWC of Kitsap County sounded great.  I was a member of the PWC before I got exiled to Jefferson County.  It looked like 7:30 was the time to meet at the trail head, but I was not sure.  7:30 could have been the time to meet for the Kitsap County carpool.

I woke up at 5:30 and was at the trail head by 7:20,  but  no one was at the trailhead so I figured that 7:30 must have been the carpool meet up time.  At 7:40 I left a note on the trail head sign to inform the others, if they arrived that I was on the trail and getting a head start.  I was not having a high energy day, so I was glad to get a head start.  I had not completly recovered from doing Mount Rose just two days before, I had been suffering from sinus issues last week and my intestines were giving me fits.   To put it briefly, I was not in top hiking form.

I spotted a dear peeking up at me though the woods, I don't know how I spotted it.  I tried to take a good picture of it but that was difficult in the dark woods.

 

 

  I was gaining about 900 feet an hour as I headed up the trail, I was not feeling good and I was moving slow.   After I had gained about 3,000 feet I had a sudden attack of intestinal issues but I decided to put it off.  Just then a voice from down below yelled “hello!”.  It was Doug Savage from the meet up group.  I had heard of  Doug many times when I was a member of the PWC and it was nice to finally meet him. 

Doug told me that everyone else who was hoping to come had bailed and he had not been up Copper Mountain in 20 years.  He said given the fog, that he would be just as happy to go to the ridge above the lake..  But I really wanted to go up Copper and I had my  GPS with a topo map and some experience in the area, so we agreed to try for Copper.   Doug had started out an hour and ten minutes later than I had, so he was rather puffed from catching up to me.  We stopped at the lake to have a snack before we began bushwhacking.

Doug wanted to go the long way around the lake, I did not think that was the best way, but I let him convince me to go that way anyway.  We had to climb over a lot of brush and it was a longer route around the lake, but it was not too bad.  We headed up the ridge towards the long side hilling section.  I had the flags that I found on my last trip up way pointed in my GPS and we used those waypoints for guidance.

Working our way around the lake

 

To get through the snow-covered steep side hilling section we got out our ice axes and Doug gave me some advice on how to use my ice axe.  I only knew how to use my axe for self arrest, I had no idea how to use it for self belay.  Wow, what a different it made to use an ice axe here instead  of trekking poles.  My axe saved me from falling several times.  I’m so happy to have this new knowledge.

Sidehilling off trail

Soon we reached the saddle where I had turned back last time.  Everything was enveloped in fog.  We could not see the summit.  We sat down on a lovely lichen covered rock to look at the map and the climbing guide.  We saw some tracks in the snow, they were contouring below the summit but it was hard to tell where the tracks ended in the fog.  Where did the tracks go up, we wondered.

Doug reads the map while sitting on a lovely lichen covered rock.
The name of the lichen is  Rhizocarpon geographicum
common name "Map Lichen" The map lichen is of
no use for navigation, it simply looks like a coloful  map print
 

Doug decided to head straight up the snow chute on the right and into the notch.  The chute was steep but not too scary since there was a very nice run out below us if one of us were to fall.  When we reached the top of the notch the route was unclear.  I thought maybe we should contour below the ridge onto the south side.  Doug did not like that route, he thought the route was straight up the rock and onto a ledge.  It looked doable to me but I did not want to do 500 feet of that!  After going up just a few feet Doug said he was done.  The rock wall was forcing him to the edge and it was scary.  I tried the same route and agreed.  So that is where we turned around.  Just 500 feet short of the summit.  



We stopped here

The trip down was fast, Doug flew down the snow section, I took my time trying to keep my footing.  I think a Glissade might have been nice to try there.  In no time we were back down to the lake where we took about a ten minute break before we headed back down the steep trail.

I do not like the Wagon Wheel Lake trail, it is steep and viewless and the forest is less than stellar. The lake is not that great either.  Oh well at least it’s a good work out.

I felt rushed most of the day, so my pictures are not so great and I did not know it, but I had left my camera set to manual focus after taking pictures of the deer at the start of the trail.  All of my pictures are a little out of focus as a result.

9.6 miles 4,400 feet elevation gain

 

Thrashing through slide alder and devils club on the lake shore

Wagon Wheel lake was just  2/3rds of the hike

Ice Axe time

Lunch time view

On the saddle where I stopped last time

Working towards the notch to the right

Extreme for a hike but not for a climb

 

Mount Rose, up the long route, looking for a GPS

Mount Rose has a tiny summit and lots of ticks

Well, I finally got a chance to hike this week.  I could not hike over the weekend due to being out of town and in a city.  I could not hike Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday due to legal battles.  I could hike on Thursday, but I had to cancel my dental appointment to do it.  I had a filling fall out two years ago and I can never find the time to see the dentist.

Thursday morning I woke up at 4am with a sinus headache or a migraine.  I took a sip of homemade ginger ale in the hope that the sugar and alcohol would help with my headache.  I woke up again at about 5:30 and was totally disoriented I could not remember if I had a reason to even get up this morning, school was over, life was over, there was nothing left.  I think I woke up in the middle of a panic attack!    I woke up again at 7:20 when my alarm went off, and then I remembered that school was not over, life was not over and it was hiking day.

I still had a headache plus nausea, great.  I decided to try to hike anyway.  But first I had to get my daughter off to school.  She did not want to wake up.  It took a lot of effort to get her moving and when I finally had her dressed and ready it was 8:20.  Then she wanted to drive her to school, so I gave her a ride.  I knew I was going to get off to a late start and I had a limited amount of time to hike.  As usual I had to race with a train to drive my little one to school.  About every other day a train blocks the route to her school and makes the school bus even later, that is why I drive her to school.

I thought I had avoided all the trains so I headed down the street below Kneeland Park only to see a HUGE long logging train come right at me and covering my next intersection on highway 3.  So I whipped a U turn and drove as fast as I could to the train track crossing on 7th that was not yet blocked.  I beat the train and the train gates.  But, I had to drive up and down the hill, wasting time and gas to do it. I got her dropped off and was finally on my way to the trail at about 8:40.

I stopped at Hoodsport to use the fancy new bathrooms. Every step I took towards the bathroom made my head throb. Uh oh.. How was I going to do Mount Rose with my head throbbing? I went into IGA and bought a cup of coffee and a Dove bar to help with my headache. The clerk who rung up my order said she had a headache too and she thought it was a sinus headache from all the pollen in the air.

 I got caught behind a slow moving car on 119 but I thought, it’s such a short distance that going 5MPH slower will not really make me lose too much time.  If I was going 100 miles then going 5mph slower would cost me some time.  I stayed behind the slow moving car until 3 other cars got stuck behind me and then I passed it.  I forgot what a relief it is to not have to look at a car.  It’s almost worth passing someone just to not have to look at them.

I made it to the trailhead at about 9:40 and I was able to start hiking right away as I had eaten breakfast at home.  Normally I eat breakfast at the trail head.  Breakfast is oatmeal with milk sugar and raisins.  I cook it at home and then eat it at the trail head since my stomach rebels against food first thing in the morning.

I  decided to hike up the long way and down the short way.  Someone had lost a GPS on the long route and I was hoping to find it and return it to them.  I was mindful of the time but I knew I did not really have to race.  It was quite warm and I was not feeling very good, so I was glad I did not have to race.

I reached what I call “one hour rock” after 1 hour and 8 minutes, so I was a little slower than usual but not by  too much.  I took pictures of a snail and slug before I reached the rock.  I did not stop to take pictures of millipedes even though I saw two of them.  I’ve gone off millipedes as they remind me of someone. 

It seemed to take a long time to reach hose camp and I was really sweating by the time I got there.  I turned right up the long route and searched for the lost GPS at both creek crossings with bridges.  No luck, the GPS was gone.  Most of the snow on the long route has melted.  The first snow started just below the ridge.  I got out my trekking poles once I hit the snow.  I also glanced at my watch and saw I was making really poor time.  I was only going to be able to have a ½ hour lunch break instead of my usual hour and I still might risk not getting home in time.  I had to be back to my car by 3pm and I figured it would take me 2 hours to go down the short route at a comfortable rate, as it takes me 2.5 hours to go down the long route.   That made 1pm my mandatory turnaround time.   I like having knees that work, so I won’t race down a hill like Mount Rose.

I finally reached the summit rock at 12:30.  There were purple penstemon flowers blooming on the summit. There were no clouds in the sky but still the view was a bit hazy.  I could see all the volcanoes from the summit.  I can’t remember the last time that happened. I was very warm on the summit rock so I did not boil water for coffee.  I took my vinacafe and shook it up in my water bottle and made a nice cold coffee.  I poured water onto the summit rock for Patches to drink and I fed her a whole bag of dog treats.

For lunch I had three roma tomatoes, sunflower seeds and a little bag of M and M’s.  ½ hour was a short lunch break for  me, but not having to boil water saved me some time and I did not feel as rushed as I thought I would.

At 1pm I headed back down the hill, pausing to take pictures.  It’s been a very long time since I’ve gone down the short route, so it all felt new to me.  I can do Mount Rose over and over again in the spring and it feels different every time thanks to the plants that come up at different times and the changing snow levels.  I made better time than expected coming down and was back to my car by 2:30.  So it only took me 1.5 hours to go down the short route at a pace that does not kill my knees.

I felt pretty good as long as I was hiking.  After I got home the headache and nausea hit twice as hard and I had to go to bed.  Now it’s the next day and I still feel sick.  I paid the price for getting out, it is worth it!

7 miles 3,500 feet elevation gain

Snail without a shell

Snail with a shell

Mean Goat on the Mountain

One hour rock

Green stuff

Orchids or mychoheterotrophs

Ptilidium californicum  liverwort on the ridge

The mountain through the haze

Penstemon on the summit rock



 Pack on the summit before it fell apart

Houses on the other side of the lake.  Are they boat in only?

If I was this tree I could spend my entire life on the summit of
Moun Rose

Forest near summit

Forest near the summit lightening peak in back left

Who needs a stairstep machine



Forest on the short route



snake in the moss.  I walked around this snake.  Fat
female garter snakes will bite.

I did not know I lost my lens cap until I found it on the way back down

 

Road to secret pond to be decommissioned

http://mosswalks.blogspot.com/2013/05/secret-mountain-pond.html  The road will be decommissioned on August 15 and it will be much more difficult to hike there.  I sure wish they would just leave those old roads alone, but there is too much money to be made decommissioning them.  This travesty will continue until we have very little access left to our national forest on the roads that our tax dollars built.  At the very least they should be converted to trail.  But there are very few trails in the Legacy Roads and Trails program.  Somebody is making some big bucks.  Can you say GREENWASHING?