How much is an hour worth?

Is it worth $1.13? If I rode the bus to campus 3 times a week instead of driving I would save $41.00 a month but it would cost me 3 extra hours a day or 36 hours a month in commute time. I would save $1.13 for each extra hour on the bus. I think my time is worth more then $1.13.

Also breathing in cigarette smoke and extra auto exhuast is part of waiting for the bus. There is really no avoiding it. There is no way to calculate how much life I may or may not lose by breathing in second hand smoke and a bit of extra auto exhaust.

If I drive I don't have to breath in any cigarette smoke until I arrive on campus.
There is no way to walk across campus without breathing in some smoke. I would like to see that change. There is talk of banning smoking on campus, I hope it happens.

Grisdale Hill and Lake West

An old abandoned fruit tree


Another logging road hike. Most access to ONP is still closed and the cost of gas is sky high so I stuck close to home. I came up with this road walk idea when I went up Grisdale hill the first time. I parked not too far from the overlook of the Skokomish Valley and then walked 8 miles round trip to Grisdale Lookout.

This is not a nature hike. There are no massive trees, there is litter everywhere and this is a logging road. But I did get total solitude and I do enjoy that. I did not take and pictures from the lookout but I have posted pictures from the look out in the past. You can see those pictures here.

I found a pretty campsite on the shores of lake west. Near the campsite I found an old fruit orchard. My topo map has a waypoint called "camp 3" that marked the area. I googled camp #3 when I got home and found that it was a little town with a school. This would have been a logging camp that was used to raze the forest. We have lost so much. We will never be able to comprehend it.

I found an old road that led to the lake the alder trees lining the road looked to be about 50 years old. It was clear they camp up in a row after the road was built. I could guess the age of the road based on those alder trees.

In the little campsite there were three large trees that the loggers did not murder. They really stood out being in the middle of mile after mile of loggin induced wastelands. One tree was a Western Red Cedar, the other two were Douglas-fir.

I had the "trail" all to myself but I did see two pick up trucks where the logging road I was on crossed the road near the High Steel Bridge.


rating out of 5 possible mushrooms:

Beauty:

Difficulty:

8 miles RT with 1000 feet elevation gain.

28 miles on this pair of shoes now







Looked more like a heart before I undearthed it




Lake West with snowy South Mountain in the Background




Lake West




Logging road up Grisdale Hill




Scot's broom still flat from recent snow




Track Log




Elevation Profile for this logging road walk



Gate near lake West and Forest Service Road




Skull on gate




Animal Skull on Gate




Simpson's Camp three, base camp for destroying the forest.
Camp nos. 1 and 2 were absorbed into Camp 3, which was located 17 miles north of Shelton on the upper Skokomish Valley, by West Lake in Mason County. The camp was in existence from 1930 to 1947.

This explains the fruit orchard.



Another image of forest destruction and camp number 3

Paper Mache Fish Disaster

This is solid paper because I did not know what I was doing. I molded the fish like clay. The paper was that wet and that thick that it molded just like clay. The proble is its too heavy to wear on my head! It might still be a wet in the middle, I don't know when it will dry. I had to give up and just wear my mask during the parade because the fish hat gave me a headache and wanted to fall off.









It is still almost too heavy to wear on my head!

Koinobori

I'm swamped with college work this week. By Friday I have to submit a 5 page research paper, a parade costume and a PowerPoint presentation. Today I had to submit a one page seminar paper based on reading half a book this weekend. Tomorrow I need to submit ten sketches. This is one serious art class!

I'm going a be a koi in the parade and I made a koinobori (carp streamer) to carry. Actually I've made 4 of them. I will use the third one I made in the procession of the species parade.







I thought paper mache was about laying the paper just right but I ended up with a big ugly blob of heavy nothing. So I decided to mold it like clay and learned that is one of the things you do with the stuff. What started as a diaster turned out ok. But how long is it going to take this thing to dry? It has been almost 72 hours now and I have to start painting this thing! This picture was taken after 24 hours.

Hamma Hamma River Road closed past Lena Lake

This means no vehicle access to the Mildred Lakes trail.


FS Road #25 Hamma Hamma River Road OPEN/CLOSED. Paved road for 8 miles. Closed at MP 9.2 and 11.1.
Conditions: Compact snow and ice immediately after leaving Hwy 101. More than 12" snow on road. Tire ruts are even deeper on the road and turnouts/turnarounds are limited. Carry chains and recommend high clearance vehicle. Use Caution. 2/14/08
Remarks: The Hamma Hamma Road is a two-lane paved road for 8 miles to the Lena Creek Bridge.

Ellinor Overlook

Lake Cushman was an unusual color today, perhaps from all the snow melt.



Today's track log is the yellow one.

Hiking again at last.   I made it to the turn around point in no time.  4-5 feet of snow at the lower Ellinor trail head.

Since the first Bridge is out I thought I would use the bridge on the paved road and then bushwack to the trail but the Mount Rose Trail Crew has marked the route from the road to the trail.  Thanks guys!

I had company on the connector trail and that has only happened once before.  With Stair case
still closed the Big Creek campground is attracting the crowds instead.

I decided to practice my drawing skills at the look out, soon I was joined by a hiker from Gig Harbor. We chatted for a bit and then he took a nap in the sun on the bank below the bench I was sitting on.

Bright and beautiful day for a hike.  It felt good to get out again.

6.25 miles with 1,800 feet elevation gain.

20 miles on my new shoes.  I'm keeping track of this so I can gauge how fast they wear out.  But I left this pair in my Jeep for two weeks and they were wet the entire time, I think that will shorten the life of these shoes.





Snake


Salamander


Banana



Lower Trail head sign.



Road at the lower trailhead



Lots of snow on the lower Ellinor Trail




Trillium




Not too many mushrooms this time of year

Man died on Mount Ellinor

Man Found
More details have been released about the Hoodsport man who was found dead off Forest Service Road 2441. According to the Mason County Sheriff's Office, searchers found 64-year-old Gerrold A. Graham dead just off of the road about ten Saturday morning. Graham was located about 15 feet off of the roadway after a ten hour search. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Graham was the driver of his 1997 Ford Pickup truck. Passengers in the vehicle told deputies that Graham drove into some snow on the roadway and the truck became stuck when he tried to back up. Two of the passengers, identified as Susan Sill and Richard E. Matheson, both 55 of Hoodsport, walked out of the area to get help. They left Graham and 37-year-old Matthew A. Pintar behind until they could get help. The passengers told deputies it was still daylight when they left. Shortly after midnight Matheson called the Sheriff's Office to report the incident and direct deputies to the vehicle, which was located about two miles up the 2441 Road from Forest Service Road 24. When deputies located the vehicle a search and rescue operation was immediately started. Pintar was located by Deputies in good condition some distance from the vehicle. The search utilized a total of 29 volunteers from the Thurston County Sheriff's Office Jeep Patrol, South Sound Search and Rescue, air scent dogs, blood hounds, Mason County Communications and four sheriff's deputies. Graham was found dead by searchers about a mile away from his vehicle. Investigators noted it appeared Graham had been dead for several hours when he was found. Graham was reported to be in poor health. Deputies also stated alcohol very likely played a part in the man's death. The cause of death has not yet been determined as an autopsy is scheduled Tuesday. (Updated 7:25am 4/8)

Getting Stronger

I bet my readers are getting bored with reading about my colds and flu's... I'm still weak from the last one, if I don't come down with something new I'll hike next weekend. This last one was the worst of the season. It has been two weeks now and I still have a cough.

Lately I have developed a taste for Angelica tea. So today I looked it up on the Internet and found this:

"Angelica tea is a stimulating tonic. Use it when an illness has left you feeling weak."

So there you have it.

I went snow tubing with my family on Snoqualmie pass. The mountains were beautiful but crowded and congested with cars and their exhaust. I am so glad that the Olympic Mountains do not have a free way through the middle of them. I have also decided that skiing or ski resorts are very bad for the environment.

I can't draw at all but after just one week I am learning to draw, I must have a good teacher! I drew a pine cone that looks like a pine cone this week! Remember I can not draw at all so I am rather proud of this sloppy little pine cone. If I can do this in just one week ANYONE can learn to draw.