Walks with Moss: Lower South Fork Skokomish with my class, sort of

Beautiful Amanitas to Study

Lower South Fork Skokomish

This was to be a class field trip but I got a jump start on my class so I could look for that cauliflower mushroom that I only picked half of the last time I was out there. I arrived at the trailhead at 9:45; my class was due to leave the college in Olympia at 9:30. I strolled down the trail to my cauliflower spot and found that someone had picked it, darn it. They pulled it up by the roots too, so I don’t think it will grow back there. A bit further down the trail I found another cauliflower mushroom stump.

I wandered casually down the trail until about noon and then I realized that my class might be worried about me if I did not come out of the woods. So I skipped my lunch and rushed back, while making my usual 10 mile loop. When I got back my class was not there. Had my class arrived at the trail head and left in the time I had been out picking? I never got the vibes that a big group was on the trail behind me. Sounds carry a long way down that river and I usually have a sixth sense that tells me when there are large groups of people on the trail.

I checked Brown Creek camp on the way out and my class was not their either so I brewed up my tea, ate my lunch and did some stretches. Then I decided to walk around the campground loop as a cool down hike. I was instantly rewarded with a cluster of Shaggy manes.

After I was done walking the loop I drove home. While I was driving home two ambulances (one with its lights flashing) and three forest rangers passed me going the opposite direction. I have never seen an ambulance way out there on the 23 before. I hope it had nothing to do with my class. I’m not entirely convinced that the professors knew how to get to the trail head. Did they get lost out past Spider Lake and roll a van over?? I hope not. I also hope that I get full credit for this field trip even though no one saw me there!

My new ankle brace is great! It did not cause me any pain until I had hiked 7 miles and by then both of my feet were hurting, so I can’t blame the brace for that. I did not sprain my ankle at all; I think the brace saved my ankle about half a dozen times. Perhaps I am ready to hit the trail again??!!! Oh boy is I going to be sore tomorrow though, I did ten miles and I have not hiked for five months! My average moving speed was 3MPH because I hiked at about 3.2 MPH on the way out.

I saw chanterelles, sulfur tufts, Zellers boletus, rotten reshi conks, volvaria of some sort, rotten chicken of the woods (in 4 places), slippery jacks and cauliflower stumps. The mushrooms are a bit sparse this year. I only found 6 chanterelles in the spot I call chanterelle heaven, but they were nice clean ones.

10 miles in six hours.. Almost no elevation gain. I’ll post pictures later, I need to find out what happened to my class first.

There are a few nice new bridges up on the trail and the trail has been re-routed around the washout where I used to have lunch. The river no longer flows at my lunch site, it has moved to the other side of the valley.