Attempt at Dry Creek via South Fork Skokomish. Turkey Burn.

Planned Route



Actual Route


Time to get off the bike



Post hole time





South Entrance TH


Empty logbook and poor spelling



Too dangerous to go on


Scuba gloves

Tea bag foot warmers

(I should have brought my gaitors )

Bike waiting for me


Late Sunshine


Dark and light


Looking back towards the lost goal


Sunbeam and clouds


Sweet light on the way out

13 miles
1,800 feet elevation gain




High Steel Bridge on the way home
(could not have done this in the dark with my old camera)




Elevaton profile log


Today I found the Southern trail head for the Dry Creek Trail. I wanted to go to the highpoint of the trail but the snow was too deep and the crossing of Le Bar creek looked dangerous. The log book was empty, not many people go up that way.

I started at the wild life gate and Le Bar horse camp and I biked until I hit snow at 1,800 feet. I mostly pushed my bike up the hill and did very little actual biking on the way up.

At 1,800 feet I ditched my bike and started hoofing it. I should have brought my gaiters, my feet got soaked. I also should have brought my snowshoes. Postholing is so exhausting!

Once I got back down to my bike I was able to coast most of the 4 miles back to my car. Still, I only went 13 miles including both biking hiking but I am totally wiped out from the postholing.

I met two forest service workers who passed me in their forest service truck, as they went up the road and again as they went down. The driver was an older man and he kept giving me warnings such as I was going to see snow and the weather was going to get bad. (He told me that the snow level was 3,800 feet!) The passenger, on the other hand, was a younger guy and he cheered me on. The goals of the forest service have changed over time!

The first mile of this trail is a closed logging road and I did not make it past the road and onto the trail. Even in the summer you need a very high clearance vehicle to get to the trail head due to extremely deep water bars across the road.

Gold Creek

I got my husband and youngest out for a little hike on the Gold Creek Trail on Green Mountain in Kitsap County. I've done the trail a few times alone and with my youngest. Every time I've done that trail and seen the beaver pond on GM6, I have thought to myself that I need to show it to my husband. So today we went to the beaver pond. There, I brewed tea for two and we ate turkey sandwiches, while the dog played fetch in the water. The light was a bit dreary but I'm glad I finally got to show this spot to my husband.

I wish I could show him the summit of Mount Ellinor but I know that is never going to happen unless I can find someone to carry him up there.

I think we walked two or three miles.

More from South Mountain

Pumpkin Pie

South Mountain aka North Mountain

Today's "trailhead"



Downhill dog buried in the snow


Smile at the IR Camera


Does someone really sit and watch this camera?


Ha ha!


My first view of the North Summit



This is what the camera gaurds


North Summit



I tried to get to the roadhead for South Mountain today but I was blocked by deep water over the road. So I went up the roadhead for North Mountain instead. I never knew that Simpson called the East summit of South Mountain "North Mountain", until today. Going to South Mountain via North Mountain made my hike 4 miles longer but I finally got to see the entire ridge from one end to the other. North Mountain is one of the southernmost Mountains in the Olympics.



The void?

There were no views to be had today but the snowy ridge walk was pretty anyway and I got some much needed exercise. I wore my snowhoes for about 4 of my 12 miles. I forgot that my daypack does not carry snowshoes well and my back is hurting now. It was less work to carry my snowshoes on my feet than on my pack. The snow on the top was deep enough for a few of those miles that I was very glad to have snowshoes. Too bad my doggie did not have snowshoes, I think she could have used them.

On my way back I stopped and took a step backwards so I could frame a picture better. When I tried to take that step back I was reminded the hard way that you can't walk backwards in snowshoes. I had to decide if I should fall on my butt or fall on my new camera. I chose to fall on my butt. At least is was a nice soft landing in the snow.


Icefall from the West Summit Radio Tower

This was my first hike with my new camera. My new camera fits under my rain coat just fine, because I can push it down so that the lens points at the ground. So my worries about packing it around in the rain were unfounded.

When I got home I found fog had gotten on my lens underneath the UV filter. I love having a UV filter; it means I can wipe water off my glass all day long without scratching the lens. In spite of the constant rain I managed to take 187 pictures.

I was toasty warm all day even though hiking on snow while it is raining usually means freezing your butt off.

I have two huge blisters because I wore boots instead of shoes. Boo hoo. At least my feet were dry in my new water proof boots and my blisters did not burst thanks to my application of moleskin.



12.4 miles
2,100 feet elevation gain

27.1 miles on my new boots

So far this year

I have hiked 24 times for a total of 227.1 miles and 57,641 feet elevation gain.
In 2008 I hiked 19 times for a total of 130 miles and 28,144 feet in elevation
In 2007 I hiked 37 times for a total of 339 miles and 72,400 feet in elevation gain

192 on my $110 shoes this year (when I started slipping and they quit being water proof I stopped wearing them)
110 miles on last years $40.00 shoes(when they got hole in both soles I stopped wearing them)

Clearly the $110 shoes lasted longer. I am using them for biking now. The $40 shoes went to the garbage can.






Other times I have blogged North South Mountain
(click on them to see the great views)
November 28th 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Totals so far

I did not get out much this year but when I did get out I put in a lot of miles and elevation gain. So far this year I have hiked 215 miles and I gained 55,541 feet in elevation.

A new washout on the Dose

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20091122/news/311229994

"The Jefferson County commissioners declared a state of emergency Friday for a washout on the Dosewallips Road two miles west of its intersection with U.S. Highway 101.

The declaration allowed the county to bypass some regulations so repairs could begin immediately.

The road is closed to all but local traffic, and flaggers are moving traffic across a single lane. There is currently no time line for repairs to be completed."

Biking on logging roads and train tracks

Water over the track. This track is not in use right now because a bridge in downtown Shelton washed out last year.



Gives the term "waste land" a whole new meaning.



A sordid history



was 1990 really that long ago?


Run patches run!




Trying to find something pretty in all this waste land.



Left or right?

Old growth cedar stumps in a swamp next to the rail line.


Goldsborough creek rail road bridge.


















I was surpised to find this bridge on what I assumed was an unmaintained trail.

I rode 11 miles and I managed not to crash. I was careful not to ride over any slippery sticks that were bigger around than my tires and I cleared away alot of the bigger sticks so I could stay on my bike more on the way back.

Biking feels much different to me then hiking. It is more invigorating and more intense. It seems to be a good way to get in a quick work out when I don't have the time for a long hike.

My bike needs a tune up already. I think it is still a good bike but it did not get tuned up properly by the harried REI employee who sold it to me. The bike was supposed to be ready for me when I arrived and it was not. There was only one clerk at the bike counter and he was busy waxing skis or doing something with skis. Maybe I will take it to the local shop to get it tuned up and bypass my free tune up at REI.

The rear derailer will not shift into the lowest three gears and the brake levers keep sticking or doing something weird. I think there is too much slack in my brake rear brake cable. I am disappointed that my bike is already shifting poorly. I hope this is not going to be a problem bike for me.






I found an old caboose and a new trail system during my travels today. I did not know about this trail system, I think it is build for motorcycles. It does not get much use and I can see why I might need eye protection while I am biking.