Wagon Wheel Lake Plus. A 32

Wagonwheel Lake Ridge as seen from Mount Ellinor




First Warning Sign


Second Warning Sign

I woke up tired and sore and I wanted to go back to sleep, but this was going to be my last chance to go hiking this week, so I took it. I saw the sweet morning light outside my window when I woke up and that helped to get me out the door. The sweet light comes twice a day and I always try to take advantage of it.

When I reached Staircase I saw that the campground was sparsely populated. Soon the gate will close for the season and the campground will be empty. I parked right at the trail head even though most other people parked down by the noise generator. I put my mp3 player on before I started up the trail because I knew that the noise generator in the parking lot was going to take a while to escape.

I did not feel the need to look at my GPS until I had ascended 500 feet and that made me happy. I gained 1,200 in the first hour so I knew I was in good hiking form. It only took me 2.5 hours to gain the 3,200 feet to the lake. I lost track of time after I left the lake. The only thing I had to remember was that the sun would set at 7pm.

I was tempted to swim in the lake but I wasn’t quite hot enough for that and evil aunt flow had greeted me at the trail head. What timing! I snapped a few quick pictures of the lake and then I headed for my goal.

My goal was the top of the ridgeline above the lake. The lake its self is not worthy of the effort required to reach it but I had read that there were great views to be had above the lake. I have been to wagon wheel lake once before and I really was not impressed with it or the hike. After I read about the views past the lake I decided to try the trail again.

The trail past the lake is a bit hard to follow but the general direction is up, up and more up. The “trail” climbs about 450 feet in about ½ of a mile. When I emerged from the forest and saw the bare ridge line I understood that I was going to be in for a treat.

When I topped the ridge I was pleased with what I saw. The ridge is topped with a very pleasant little meadow and I had it all to my self. From the ridge I could see the following mountains and ranges, Ellinor, Washington, Copper, Pershing, The Sawtooths and Lincoln. The meadow was lined with beautiful silver snags from a past fire, but there was no sign charcoal. I felt really blessed to be in such a beautiful place and to have it all to myself.

The sun was hot up in that meadow and I managed to get sunburn in spite of it being late September. I don’t think I have ever burned myself this late in the year before. The elevation was 4,500 feet and that is what made the difference.

I turned off my MP3 player and spent about an hour in that meadow taking pictures and trying to doze. Unknown to me, a grouse was watching over me as I dozed. I think that grouse let me get closer to it than any other grouse I have seen in the Olympics.


(Grouse on the ridge)

Reluctantly I picked my way back down to the lake. I had a harder time finding the exact route back down to the lake so I used my GPS track log to help me out a little bit. When I reached the lake again I stopped and turned off my music and soaked my feet while enjoying the solitude. The lake water was warm for such a high elevation. I spent a fair amount of time at the lake before I headed back towards the trail head.

The way down is steep and my knees hurt a little bit and my toes hurt a lot as they hit the front of my shoes. The descent was so steep that for the first time ever I got a blister on my hand from all the weight I was putting on my trekking pole. I’ve never had that happen in my hundreds of miles of hiking with poles.

About half way down to the parking lot from the lake I met a couple who were hiking up to the lake. All they had with them was a hydration pack. That made me feel kind of silly with all my gear but still, I think they were under prepared. They only had 4 hours until sundown and they had over 1,000 feet to gain and another 2000 feet to lose on the way down. I wonder if they made it to the lake or if they turned around.

I got a bit tired on the way down and I kept checking my GPS to see how many feet I had left to descend. The last time I checked it I had 300 feet to go. And then before I knew it I was totally surprised to see my car. I think listening to my mp3 player made my hike go much faster. I might start bringing it on all of my hikes.

I did not see any of my favorite fall mushrooms; the forest is still too dry. The only notable fungus I saw was a lobster mushroom. I did see people bringing chanterelles to the mushroom buyer down town last week but they were all very dry. It looks like mushroom season is going to start late this year.

When I was done hiking, I drove my car down to the pay phone by the bridge and called my husband to tell him I was done. But I did not go home right away. Instead I cooked my lunch and drank hot tea from the thermos in my car while I soaked my feet in the cold river. From my vantage point in the river I could look up and see all the people who were walking across the bridge and taking pictures. I could also see the spot where the NOFO trail washed out a few years ago.

I enjoyed resting and soaking by the river until a family of whistling marmots and their screaming kids came down at sat at the table next to me. When they arrived I knew it was time to go up.

Thank $diety$ and Teddy Roosevelt for the Olympic backcountry. Without the backcountry I would never be able to escape from the chaos of humanity.

6.3 miles Round Trip 3,900 feet elevation gain and loss.
176 miles on my shoes
I started my hike at 8:45 am and I finished at about 4 PM.

Other times I have blogged this hike:
10/19/2005

Some other people's trip reports:
The Most Gawdawful Hike in the Olympics: Wagon Wheel Lake


This hike scored 32 on the "hike difficulty calculator" Mount Adams scored 33 (6,500 feet in 14 miles)





Tracklog



The sawtooth range and my hand on the summit block


Ridgeline


Summit Block


Warm water foot soak at Wagon Wheel Lake









Snags and the sawtooth range


Wagon Wheel Lake from the shore


Wagonwheel lake from above



Mount Ellinor (on the right) and Mount Washington (on the left) from behind.












Amphibian in Wagonwheel lake


This trail could use the help of the Mount Rose Trail Crew




Mount Cruiser



Copper Mountain (I was hoping to see the route up to the summit of Copper from here but failed to)


Lake side campsite


Long Shadow (the days are getting shorter!)


Shadow


Ranger Bruce was here!



Summit



Cross


Three fingered mountain, maybe Lincoln


Is this the climbing route for Copper Moutain?



South East Face of Mount Ellinor with 12X zoom.


12X zoom on south east face of Mount Washington





North Fork Skokomish Trail Washout. Can you see the people on the trail?



Hot tea and a cold soak, post hike.

Trying to wake up

I'm trying to get up the energry and enthusiasm for this hike. At 7am I woke up to a bad dream. I was in the special ed class in school, the school building was Seattle Central Community College, the teacher was picking on me. But the teacher was one of my college professors from Evergreen who likes me in real life. I woke up upset. I think the dream reminded me too much of jr. high.

I'm tired but I don't think I have a fever. I'm waiting for my pants to dry and then I will go hiking. I hope I feel better once I hit the trail. I don't know why, but both my elbows hurt this morning. I must have slept on them funny.

I'm wishing for a fraction of the manic energy that I had on Mount Rose three weeks ago. I'm tempted to go back to sleep.

I thought my antibiotics might be causing my fever

I thought my antibiotics might be causing my fever so I took tonights dose early and planned on skipping my morning dose tomorrow so I would feel good enough to hike. The fever went up right after I took the early pill. So that seemed to confirm my theory about my antibiotics causing my fever. Then I Yahooed it and found that yes, after one week an antibiotics can give you a fever.

Hopefully when I wake up I will feel good. I am almost done with two weeks of antibiotics and I'll finish the bottle, but I'm going to skip my morning dose tomorrow.

I'm going to try hiking something slightly new tomorrow and while I'm at it I hope to scope out next weeks hike. But by next week there may be snow up there so maybe I'll have to delay that plan until next year.

Forest Fungi and I am a bit miffed; you're invited to my pity party!

Yes I'm a bit miffed at missing out on the forest fungi class at The Evergreen State College or TESC. I missed out because the class was not offered at registration time. I registered in May; this class was offered in August. I did not see that this new class had been offered so I did not get in it. The class is full with 10 people on the waiting list. I've been waiting literally since fall of 2007 for this class to be offered again. And I can't get in it because it was offered so late. As a senior I have top registration priority.

The instructor for this class is on one of the mushrooms lists I am on and today he posted asking for Naematoloma fasiculare for his class. That post reminded me of what I am missing out on.

The only consolation for me is that this class has 8 days of overnight field trips and I can't leave my children alone for 8 days. I'm not overburdened with family and friends who are willing to help me with childcare. My husband and I are pretty much on our own. His parents are dead. My parents made me a ward of the court and dumped me in Seattle Children's Home until I turned 18.

So I might not have been able to take this class anyway. It is too fucking hard to earn upper division science credit at evergreen unless you are a rich kid who can afford to travel and have no children of your own. Most of the upper level science classes have expensive and required field trips. (The one I wanted to take last year, at first, required students to go to the Grand Canyon.)

So I’ve been trying to do an independent learning contract to get my upper division science credits. But in spite of all my evaluations (we don't get grades at Evergreen, we get evaluations) being excellent to glowing (with one exception) I could not get a prof. to sponsor me. I’m going to try again winter quarter to get a science sponsor. If I can’t get a sponsor I guess I am done at Evergreen. I’ll have my B.A. at the end of this quarter (Yes!) The only reason to hang around after next quarter would be to go for the dual BAS degree. I only need 32 upper division science credits (two quarters) to be eligible for a B.S. But getting upper division science credit at Evergreen seems to have more to do with luck then hard work.

The mushrooms class would have given me 16 upper division science credits.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

I know where Naematoloma fasiculare grows but I’m not telling because it’s at my King Bolete spot. Naematoloma fasiculare, you know it’s scary, it’s got olive green gills and it will make you so ill. And I am green with envy.

Yeah, I need to go hiking; sitting around the house is driving my batty. I still have a fever but I’m going hiking tomorrow anyway and I’ve got a doozey planned. My last hike of the summer, I hope I don’t faint up there. I’ll post a TR tomorrow if I have any energy left when I get home.

Still Ill

The only day I can hike this week is Sunday, thanks to my dentist and my husband's work schedule. Today is Wednesday and I'm still ill. I don't think I am feeling any better then I felt two weeks ago at this time. It's not looking like I will be able to hike by Sunday.

So this is how the hiking season ends. Happens every year. My entire family is ill. I hate sending my kids to school where they pick up every effing germ every year. This year my eldest brought home a bonus it's scabies. Oh joy!

Still too ill

I won't be hiking this weekend either. I'm far to ill to go for a hike. That is two weeks without a hike. One more week like this and I'll lose my muscle tone. I bet I'm gaining weight. I'm hungry so I feel like doing a lot of eating but I'm not getting any exercise. I'm bummed. I looked forward to the nice September weather and my kids being in school so I could go on some bug free hikes. Instead I have to stay at home in bed with a sore throat, runny nose, ear infection, and all of it threatening to turn into a sinus infection. At least I'm on antibiotics so I should get out of this without getting a sinus infection.

Maybe I can hike and ride my new bike next weekend. This is my last week of freedom and then I go back to college.

Road Repairs on Forest Service Road 23,2353

Road Repairs to occur on Forest Service Road 23 and Forest Service Road 2353

Olympia, WA – Several road repair projects are scheduled to begin on Forest Service Roads 23 and 2353 within Olympic National Forest in late September. The roads will remain open for public travel while the repairs are underway; however, visitors should expect delays. Asphalt on the existing roads is cracked, which created an uneven road surface and slope failure. Construction efforts will smooth the road surface, strengthen the fill slope, and improve road safety. Construction operations and subsequent delays will occur on Forest Service Road 23 from milepost 3.5 to milepost 8.0, and on Forest Service Road 2353 from milepost 0.3 to milepost 0.4. The roads will reopen without delays as soon as the work has been completed, but construction is expected to last up to one month.


Please call Guadalupe Cisneros at Olympic National if you have any questions about this road project - (360) 956-2353

Me in a past life, skateboarding.

Skateboarding at the U-dub (university of washington) in the late 80's.




Ollie Kickflip


Ollie down 3 steps


Railslide down a bench


Catching air on my launch ramp


Ollie down 7 steps and the University of Washington Red Square

As a female skater I got a hell of a lot of flack. I caught a lot of flack for wearing pads too. I thought that a female might be excused from wearing pads. At the time it felt like most of the other skaters hated me. The skateshop owners liked me because I went through a new deck every other week.

Corruption in Drug Research: The Fruits of Patent Protection - Dean Baker

Corruption in Drug Research: The Fruits of Patent Protection

The NYT reports on efforts to limit the corruption of medical research by preventing articles ghost authored by drug companies from appearing in medical research. It would have been worth noting that this problem would not exist in the absence of the enormous rents that drug companies earn from patent monopolies. These rents give the drug companies incentives to mislead the public about the effectiveness of their drugs.

-Dean Baker

The wildlife gates are about to close but I have a bike

The wildlife gates will close on October 1st and then access to many trails will be cut off. But,this year I'm not too bummed about it. This year I have a brand new Mountain bike and I am looking forward to taking it for long rides. I trust this new bike to stay in one piece and not fall apart ten miles from my car.

Still, I wish I knew more about bicycle repair and what tools to buy and bring with me. Also what do bikers think of the aerosol cans that you can repair and re-inflate a flat tire with?

This year I will park my car at the wildlife gates and then hop on my bike and ride to the trail heads. When I get to the trail head I will hide my bike well off trail and waypoint the spot with my GPS(r). Then I will hike up the trail. Well that is the plan anyway. I can follow that plan until the snows come then I can go back to snowshoeing.

I've asked many times how much energy do you have to extend to bike for a mile as opposed hiking for a mile. Is a mile hiking like two miles biking? I know that for me a mile snowshoeing is like three miles hiking. I never got an answer so I guess I will have to find out for myself.

I'm still ill. My Dr. wants me to force myself to go on some sort of hike anyway. I dunno. Right now just riding my bike around town for a mile makes me break out into a sweat. I know if I don't hike again soon I will start to lose my muscle tone. Right now my calf muscles are huge and and hard as iron. I'd like to keep them that way but I always get too ill too hike in the winter.

Some changes may come to this blog. I might be less likely to name the places I hike. This is because there was way too much litter on the trail this summer and I don't want to attract people to the forest. At the very least, I'm going to stop naming my secret lake and I've removed my geocache from that area.

Big Quilcene Trail #833.1

Big Quilcene Trail #833.1

ACCESS: The upper Big Quilcene Trail #833.1
starts 16 miles from Quilcene on Forest Service
Road #2750. The Big Quilcene Trail has two
segments. This is the upper access. Take US
Highway 101 south of Quilcene 1.0 mile to
Penny Creek Road on the right. Follow Penny
Creek Road staying left at the “Y” (mile 1.4) to
the Forest Service boundary and paved Forest
Service Road #27, continue on FS #27 another
7.5 miles to the intersection with Forest Service
Road #2750. Drive #2750 for 4.7 miles to Upper
Big Quilcene Trailhead.

Fishermen trashing Puyallup River

Fishermen trashing Puyallup River

New Bicycle, already crashed it, teenagers and logging trucks suck.

Yesterday, I finally went and got myself a good bicycle. It has disc brakes and I got toe clips to go with it. The combination of disc brakes and toe clips has caused me to crash already.

I was on the sidewalk and getting ready to cross a main street with the "walk" signal, when a logging truck turned right and cut off my right of way (It is a sharp corner for a truck and the driver was probably watching his trailer in his mirrors instead of watching the crosswalk) so I stopped and waited for it to go by and then I tried to cross the street again but a little old lady in a little red car was following the logging truck so closely that she cut me off without even seeing me. So being used to a bike with bad caliper brakes I slammed on the brakes and that caused my bike to stop too fast while the toe clips made me unable to jump off. I never left the sidewalk with my bike, this was all just braking to keep from being hit by motorists who were not watching for a pedestrian. The little old lady saw me crash and mouthed "are you ok" through her window. I mouthed yes, but did not know for sure. When I broke my wrist while bicycling, one year ago, it took me about half and hour to realize I was badly hurt.

After I fell I got up and rode a few blocks and then I stopped on the side walk but in the driveway of a closed store to assess the damage and make sure I was not badly hurt. But while I was trying to do that another little old lady came along and honked at me with her huge loud old American car horn until I got up off the side walk. That was pretty much all that my nerves could handle.

The whole point of the trip was to get groceries. But instead of waiting for grocery store to open I went home and took the clips off my pedals and now I don't really feel like riding my new bike. I am afraid of the disc brakes.

I still don't have any groceries. I might drive to the store later. I don't want to ride my bike this time of day anyway because the high school kids are just getting out of school for the day and a few of them like to torment me by jumping out in front of me and screaming and then jumping back really quick.

Both of my wrists and both of my knees are hurting now.

Goodbye Aunt Eileen

My Great-Aunt died two days ago. My father only told me about it today and only because I sent him an email asking how she was. So I was right to suspect that my family would not tell me when she died. How very sad. I named my first born after my Great-Aunt's sister who of course was my Grandma.

As I have blogged here before, but I may have deleted, it my Great-Aunt and my Great-Uncle used to come up to Seattle from California and visit me. I was living in horrible spirit crushing poverty and I was terribly lonely back then. Those visits meant a lot to me. During the visits my Great-Aunt and Uncle with my Grandma would take me to a Mariners game and then take me out for a Chinese Meal. It was a rare opportunity for me to eat protein, ride in a car, get out of my cockroach infested, studio, basement apartment, have some human contact and feel like a human being.

My Grandma died almost 13 years ago, my Great Uncle died about 14 years ago and now my Great-Aunt is gone. I wonder if they have already buried my Great-Aunt ?

Sigh I got my answer. Yes they buried her today or are going to bury her today and they had a funeral today and I'm not invited to it. For all I know they are lowering her into her grave right now.

My Great-Uncle had a big memorial when he died. Maybe if he had died after his wife died he would not have had one. I suppose the memorial for was for the Benefit of my Great-Aunt.

Mount Stone and other dreams.

I really want to climb Mount Stone but it might be a bit out of my league. It involves off trail travel and a little bit of rock scrambling and a lot of route finding. Mentally I might not be up for it, but I really want to do it.

My great-aunt is still laying on her deathbed this week. I assume my family would tell me if she had died. My youngest just started Kindergarten in a stressful full-day dual language school. I'm going back to school in a few weeks and I'm stressed out. In the middle of all of that some stupid MHP (what was her name anyway?) moved to Spokane but why the hell should I care. Why the hell has it set me off like this? MHP's come and MHP's go and I normally don't give a toss. What the hell is wrong with me this time? I had almost come back down to normal and the beast is back thanks to one tiny little insignificant thing. WTF?

Hiking on trails is losing its thrill. I could switch to mountain biking but I already know what happens when I try bike riding while manic. I want to try some cross country type stuff now. I know how to read a topo map, but I'm a bit sketchy with the compass.



I know my GPS pretty darn well but it could fail, then again a map could blow away and a compass can be dropped. I need some compass practice or I need to just rely on my GPS and pack extra batteries.

I’m down with my second illness of the Season. I hope to be well enough to hike by Monday. I really want to go camping and hiking somewhere before I have to go back to class on the 28th.

I'll be taking two art classes. I am so relieved that a new art class opened up and it sounds like a good one. It meets for just 4 weekends but it is 8 credits. I was going to have to take statistics and I'm in no state of mind for statistics. I only need 3 credits to get my B.A. degree but I have to go full time to get the funding.

I hope to keep going and get a B.A.S. degree. I only need two quarters of upper division science and then I'll have all the math and science requirements filled. Then I can take art classes or politics classes until I get 225 credits.

There are not many Upper Division Science classes at the college and the one that I took had my crying almost every day. I don’t ever want to repeat that experience, so I hope to earn my last 32 credits in science by doing individual study contracts. I had one all planned out for this quarter but I can’t find a faculty member to sponsor me.

Maybe next quarter I can find a faculty member. My head is really not together enough to deal with science right now anyway. I've had another relapse into the realm of extreme emotions. Maybe I will have settled down by winter quarter.

I need to talk to an advisor and find out if I should apply for my B.A. degree now or wait and apply for a B.A.S. degree next year.

My husband thinks I should just take art classes until I’ve reached the 225 credit limit for financial aid. He says I am good at art and get glowing evaluations in art classes so why should I bother with being a second rate scientist when I can be a first rate artist? But if I’m going to hold on for that many credits I want the dual degree. I loved science at the community college and in grade school and I did well in scientific subjects. But science at Evergreen is a different beast. I got a lousy evaluation in the once science class that I took at Evergreen. But I've gotten glowing evaluations in all my other classes.

Mount Rose Thunderstorm

The Glorious Summit View


This was the most high energy hike I have ever had. But I survived the drive home. I'm too manic to type. Damn! I can't imagine what kind of trouble I would have gotten myself into if I had stayed in town today.

I made a very long movie of the final push to the summit. I think this will play if you right click and save the file.


Over 1000 feet per mile!



I hiked up in the pouring rain. At one point a thunderbolt crashed and I screamed with glee and yelled "bring it on mother nature!" "You made me, you can come and take me!" The thunder frightened my dog so I had to reassure it that it was ok, it was all good.

The view at the top? Lol I made my own view once I got up top. Maybe I'll have the nerve to post it here.

Brought my doggie with me. She did well, but she shivered a bit on the summit. At least she had her coat on. I saw bears heads and chicken of the woods and a lobster mushroom. The creeks all swelled up and turned into rivers. All that water came down while I was up there.

Mount Rose is now flushed of all the summer hikers. She is clean again and she was all mine. I only saw one piece of toilet paper.. Actually a baby wipe. I picked it up with my trekking pole and pushed in into a hole under a tree.


Yep that's how it felt




Dog shaking off the rain




Salamander hiding from me (rough skinned newt)


(I know the rule of thirds but where does my dog fit in?)
It rained so hard and the ground was so dry that the rain flowed down the trail.



(Found the time to make a tight composition on the way down)

I saw a sexy looking guy at the gas station on the way there and I smiled at him a few times. He looked a bit strange. He was dressed in deer or bear killing cloths from head to toe. I bet he's not used to having strange women smile at him. He looked a bit surprised by my smiles.

I bought some food at Arco. Too manic to be on a budget and look for the cheapest power bars in town. So I splurged and bought a bag of jerky and two overpriced cliff bars. Too bad it turns out The Cliff bars had caffeine in them. I could have done without caffeine today!

I had to share the jerky with my dog because I left the canned cat food in the car inspire of making great efforts to remember to pack it.

It took me awhile to leave the trail head and start my hike because I was so disorganized. But I just gave myself the time and re-did everything a dozen times unlock the door, lock the door, whoops I forgot something, unlock the door, now why did I unlock the door what did I want, oh yeah I remember what I wanted but it's not in this door, re-lock the door, close it. Unlock a different door, get what I want. Remember there was something else in that first door go unlock it again, try to remember what it was. Repeat several times with each door of my five door. Such is life.
 But the system must work because I've never left my GPS on my car roof and I've only locked my keys into my car at the trail head one time.



This is like this and that. (Hint white stripe on tree and on dog, sharp black pointy stump and spot on dog's side.)


Handrail


Chicken of the Woods, water on the lens


My first glimpse of my true love Mount Rose!


Manic



For the first time ever I took my I-pod on a hike and I listened to it for most of the hike. Water song played to deaf ears! I took it off for a bit though. I mostly listened to John Trudell but also listened to Enigma and Ronnie Gilbert and some other stuff. It did make hiking more fun and helped me with the push to the summit.
*********
3 hours up
2.75 hours down
3,500 feet
6.9 miles
177 miles on my shoes
)))))))))))

Other times I have blogged Rose
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Saturday, June 09, 2007





I took a lot of pictures on the way down but most of my pictures are blurry from water on my lens. I'm kind of glad that some of them came out blurry!

I hope my camera survived this rainy trip. I did not take proper care to keep my camera dry.

My husband had dinner waiting for me and I really enjoyed that. I did not cook lunch or make tea on the summit because it was too cold so I was ready to eat when I got home.



Before Starting (Wow, black really is slimming!)



Fall colors and rain on the lens


Fall colors and rain on the lens


Overhanging mossy rock and dog



Wet!


Floodgates about to burst


This tree survived multiple forest fires only to fall to the (firefighters?) Chainsaw


A sense of place


More dead stuff

Spaniel eyes


How many times have I photographed these trees?

I ran through my favorite forest instead of taking my time.



Setting up the shot


Different realities was my listed trail register destination


Bears head about to be decapitated


Flush baby flush! Flush away the tourists and the greeners. You're all mine for the winter.


Flush! I sure am glad the wildlife department cleaned up all the anglers poop before this happened.



The Day After

So it is the day after the hike and I felt really good for the first 4 hours after I woke up but now the beast is back. But I felt really good this morning. Not too anxious, not too manic, not depressed, clear headed, able to think. It was nice. I must try to get out every week, it does me a world of good.

I am a lot sorer than I expected to be. With the condition I am in I did not actually expect to be at all sore today.

Yeah the manic monster is back now but at least my body is too tired to pay it much heed. Just my thoughts are racing.

I'm reading a book called "Tracks" it is about "A woman's Solo Trek across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback" copyright 1980. I found this book in a dumpster a few months ago. This reading makes a nice change from the gender-centric musings of Edward Abbey. Abbey writes some good stuff in Desert Solitaire but it is hard for a female bodied person to read. Female bodied people are just an after thought, he never seemed to think that a female bodied person (a woman) might read his books! But Abbey is a product of his times and I grew up during those times, so his writing style is all too familiar.

So now to read about adventures from a female point of view is a refreshing change. Right now I'm on page 74 and Robyn Davidson is depressed, it is nice to read that other people get depressed too. I hope I can do some more reading today. I hope my mind will be calm enough to allow me to read.






Dead Manzanita for a certain forest ecologist