Walks with Moss: Dosewallips Nov. 12th 2011

The re-wilding of the Dosewallips continues. Normally I used to feel this wonderful sense of awe when I enter Olympic National Park but today I did not feel that, instead I felt fear and when I left the park I felt relief. How sad is that?

I don’t normally hike on the weekends so I'm used to having this "trail" all to myself and I was surprised at the amount of people I saw on the “trail” today. There were two car loads of hikers just starting their hike as I arrived, then there was what looked to be a father with two pre-teen kids all the way back in the Dosewallips campground, then there was a family getting ready to camp at Elkhorn.

There was also a funny guy with a Ukrainian accent; ok really it was the same funny guy with a Cajun accent that I mentioned on my last blog report of hiking up the Dose. But he reads my blog and he says he’s not Cajun, so I’ve decided he’s Ukrainian. He was biking in just at dusk but he had two powerful lights so he could easily bike out in the dark. Still, why are cyclists required to wear such goofy outfits? I want to do more cycling but only if I don’t have to wear a goofy outfit. My goofy hiker’s hat and zip off shorts are bad enough!

I started my hike at 9am and finished up at about 5pm. I took a break at the falls, then I had hot tea and a sandwich at the campground and then I stopped again and had another hot tea and sandwich at Elkhorn camp.
I made it out just in time to avoid hiking in the dark, but I still used my head lamp on the trail over the washout. My drive home was unpleasant as one of my windshield wipers has decided to fall off and it was raining really hard as I got closer to Shelton.

I hiked rather slowly today since I was not feeling very energetic and I was really noticing lichens for the first time ever. There were very few mushrooms left, but at least lichens can be counted on to always be there. I’m thinking about studying moss next quarter, if I do that, I might have to really hike slowly from now on so I can look at lichens, moss and mushrooms!

The weather for my hike was OK, it never actually rained and I was able to keep my camera out the entire time, but I did cover it with my hand a couple of times when the sky started spitting. I did not enjoy myself as much as I usually do, Aunt flow was threatening to visit, my knee was hurting at the start and I’m probably out of shape after not hiking all summer. Still, I’m glad that I got out and I look forward to getting out many more times now that I have solved my ankle issue. The solution is a brace and I’ve found a brace that does not hurt and actually works. I have many different types of ankle braces, but this new one is the only one I have ever found that both works and does not give me excruciating pain. This brace does not hurt me at all and it saved my ankle several times today! So far I've hiked in it twice, one ten mile hike and today's 11 mile hike. The brace was recommended to me by a mountain climber who wears them on both ankles. Volleyball players wear them on both ankles to prevent injuries.

Yes! I’m so happy to have my hiking life back again.

11 miles with
1,100 feet elevation gain

My GPS(r) went crazy when I spent too much time sitting next to a cliff and it decided that I walked 15 miles.

Lichens on Alder bark and maybe some red spores

Bear or cougar markings?

What's this red stuff in the moss?

Usnea longissima

My second tea break at Elkhorn camp

Sphaerophorus lichen

Obey that silly sign

Spaerophorus lichen

Pilophorus acicularus and Caldonia gracilis subspecies turbinata

Pilophorus acicularis lichen

A lobaria with apothecia in the same plane as the thallus? The other lobaria in the picture are a different color and have soredea on the edges. I don't think this darker lobaria with apothecia is the same species but I don't know