Salmon Fossils found on the Skok a year ago

Mason County salmon fossils are about 1 million years old
The Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Scientists said that salmon fossils found in Mason County five years ago are about 1 million years old.

Several salmon fossils were discovered by two anglers on the banks of the South Fork Skokomish River on forestland owned by Green Diamond timber company.

The fossils date to the Pleistocene Age, said Gerald Smith, a retired University of Michigan professor who worked on the research team. The Pleistocene Age lasted from 1.8 million years ago to 11,000 years ago.

Several specimens were removed for analysis and others remain in place at the undisclosed and protected site, Green Diamond spokeswoman Patti Case said.

The specimens that were removed are housed at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington but are not on display.

2009 totals, unless I hike in the next few days..

The list for next year?

I completed my list last year, well all except for getting a pap smear. But they changed the rules on pap smears so now I feel better about putting it off for the last 6 years.

So next years list looks like this so far

Mount Adams (while sane)
Dry Mountain
Copper Mountain
Dosewallips Trail backpack with the kids (The Constance fire prevented it this year)
Mildred Lakes (now that I know the way there)
Putvin Trail (I did not go there this year)
Sunrise hike up Grisdale
Some where in another state

Time to do linear regression on this year's hikes. Why? Because I can!

New Daypack

I have just ordered a new day pack, a GGG. It is an ultra light pack but it has an internal frame.

For the past 2-3 years I have been using a golite dawn and I have been happy with that pack. When I have to carry snowshoes or the extra weight of my new DSLR camera the golite pack does get uncomfortable. I could use my overnight pack when I need to carry snowshoes but I would rather not have to use such a big pack for a daynhike. The Gorilla looks very much like the golite dawn but with a frame stay and spot for a sit pad. I think it will be more comfortable and it will carry a little bit more.

I hope it will be here in time for my next hike.

New Daypack

I have just ordered a new day pack, a GGG. It is an ultra light pack but it has an internal frame.

For the past 2-3 years I have been using a golite dawn and I have been happy with that pack. When I have to carry snowshoes or the extra weight of my new DSLR camera the golite pack does get uncomfortable. I could use my overnight pack when I need to carry snowshoes but I would rather not have to use such a big pack for a daynhike. The Gorilla looks very much like the golite dawn but with a frame stay and spot for a sit pad. I think it will be more comfortable and it will carry a little bit more.

I hope it will be here in time for my next hike.

South Mountain, Christmas dinner burn

After sleeping in I woke up to a beautiful sunny day. A quick look at the weather forecast for the upcoming week told me that today was the day to hike. I left my house at 10 am and I was in a hurry to get to the summit before cloud could move in to block the view.

On the 800 line I got stuck behind a Ham radio operator on his way to South Mountain. I could tell he was a Ham by his license place. I knew he was going to South Mountain because there is a Ham tower up there. I don't know if he ever noticed me stuck behind him. He turned off at the entrance to North Mountain and then he drove out via South Mountain. He damn near ran me over on his way down. I hope he and his female companion enjoyed the view anyway.

I hope that someday I can make friends with one of those Hams (is there a capital "H" in ham?) and convince them to open the gate and let me drive my husband up there. Hams have the key to the gate and my husband will never be well enough to hike up South Mountain.

When I got to the top I was once again surprised by the 360 degree view. I had forgotten all the things that can be seen from the South summit. Things I could se included: The interior of the South Olympics, Several Cascade volcanoes, Hood Canal, Skokomish Valley and Grays Harbor. It was very windy on the summit and I stayed warm by wearing a down jacket with full rain gear over it and by wearing my mountaineering gloves. The wind made strange and loud noises as it blew against the radio gear. My dog seemed to be warm enough in just her fur coat.

I had expected to run into ice up there because it has been so cold and dry down here at sea level. I brought my crampons, gaitors and boots because I was expecting poor traction but there was no snow on the entire mountain. It turns out that it is colder at sea level than it is at 3,000 feet!

"Air stagnation advisory remains in effect until 10 AM Saturday. Forecasters say strong high pressure will persist for the next couple of days, trapping cold air near the surface under warm air."

When I was done at the top I decided to walk the ridge to the North Summit. I was hoping to get a peek at Haven Lake from the North Summit but I was disappointed. When I got back to the saddle I saw that the sweet light was in and sunset was near, so I decided to go back up the summit. I was rewarded with a view of the sun setting over Grays Harbor. I though about staying up there until it was completely dark but I did not want to hike out 4 miles in the dark so I left at dusk.

Still I had to walk about 3 miles in the dark with my headlamp on. The moon was half full so it provided a bit of light and some scary tree shadows. I was a little freaked out hiking in the dark; I wish I could get over that. I think I should go back up there for the sunrise one day then I can hike up in the dark and down in the light.

When I got back to my car my dog flopped down on the ground. Normally she explores the area around the car when we are done, but not this time. She was very tired from the hike. It took some coaxing to get her to get up and get in the car.

I was pretty tired too, it has been a while since I have gained so much elevation on one hike. South Mountain is not my favorite hike, but it is a good hike for keeping in shape during the winter and I always get solitude up there.

12 miles
3,600 total gain

57 miles on my new boots and they seem to be leaking already. They also give me blisters every time I wear them.

So far this year this year have hiked 27 times for a total of 260 miles and 64,341 feet elevation gain.






Sun Shadow




The South Summit



Mount Cruiser


Skokomish Valley


Seattle is behind the tower to the left


Alpenglow on the mountain


St. Helens Aplenglow



Alpenglow on the Olympics


Old Growth Stump
I bet this area gets logged again soon



North Summit



North Summit



What has been using this trail and where does it go?



Middle "summit"



Why were these logs wasted and when?



Sunset over Grays Harbor



See the stagnant air?


View on the way down



Moon Shadow

Some totals


Elevation profile


Playing around with Pano software


What has been using this trail and where does it go?



I got some help labeling these peaks from the folks at NWhikers.net







Near the start of the hike.

Christmas Traffic Lights

Red Light Green Light

Vance Creek Bridge and Spider Lake

Today I told my husband to put on some warm clothes and get in the Jeep. He surprised me by obliging me with no questions asked. So I surprised him by taking him to the Vance Creek Bridge. When we got out of the Jeep I did not tell him or either of my kids where we were hiking to, so they were all surprised when the bridge came into view.

Many of the wooden ties in the middle of the bridge are burned so I did not walk across the bridge. These burns could have been from lightning strikes. I am convinced that one day someone is going to die on that bridge as the ties get more and more rotten and people go out there to get drunk.

After the bridge we decided to see where the snow level was on Forest Service 23. I guessed it was ½ mile from the turn off for Spider Lake; my husband guessed it was two miles. We were both wrong. We drove all the way to the lake without seeing any snow on the road. At the lake some kind person had left a small bonfire and a few pieces of wood just for us, so we got out and enjoyed the fire.

We don’t know who started the campfire, why they left it so quickly after starting it, or why they left wood behind. I proclaimed that God must have lit that fire there for us because s/he knew we where coming. My husband disagreed, but what the heck, it was a nice surprise









Later my oldest and I wandered down to the lake while my youngest and my husband enjoyed the little fire. The lake was mostly snow and ice covered but one part was free of snow and showed a beautiful reflection of the snow covered trees on the bank. I’ve never seen Spider Lake looking so good. It was too cold to walk all the way around the lake so I just took a few pictures and then went back to the fire.

After we left the Lake we drove all the way to the high point of the pass between the Skokomish and Wynoochie watersheds. There was a light dusting of snow on the road but nothing that my Jeep with studded snow tires could not handle. I’ve never been able to get that far up the 23 at this time of year before. Snow started to fall on us at the pass and sun set was getting near so we decided to turn around there and call it a day.

All in all it was a really wonderful day to be in the mountains.

Ralph's New Place Up on the Hill

I headed up this closed logging road to check on geocache and see if I could find Ralph the bear.

"Ralph is not your average talking bear: he's well-read, he claims to have read everything Shakespeare ever wrote, has strong opinions on every subject and has a decidedly jaundiced opinion of the human race."
--Pete Merrill

I also wanted to get out today because I am doing the Christmas thing with my family tomorrow and I'm usually feeling mellow the day after a hike. But I did not want to be too tired so I picked what I thought would be an easy hike. The snow and one of the river crossings made this a bit tougher than I expected.

My feet stayed dry in my boots and my old gaiters but the price for dry feet was blisters. I saw a lot of elk signs and a few piles of mystery scat.

This is an interesting road walk due to all the nice views of the Skokomish River, Lake Cushman, Mount Lincoln, Wagon Wheel Ridge and Mount Rose. Also a bunch of old mine shafts dot the left side of the road.. I passed three "road closed" signs but with all the washouts and rock slides the signs seemed a bit redundant.

There is a wonderful view point on this road but it was too foggy to see the view today. I found this spot while out blueberry picking with my family. Now the road is closed, very closed.

10 miles
1,800 feet elevation gain
45 miles on my new boots

So far this year this year have hiked 26 times for a total of 248 miles and 60,741 feet elevation gain.




Road closed sign














Old mine shaft







Crossing here was a bit tricky