My last solo hike up the Dosewallips road

Before I left my house I discussed with my husband if it would be safe for me to do the Dose.  A guy out there was acting a bit like a stalker and I was worried about my safety.  We agreed that I would be safe since after all I know where the guy lives and could track him down pretty easy if he tried anything and he must know that.  So I left for the Dose but I really hoped that I would not run into this man again.

I started my hike at about 9:30 am and saw there was a forest service truck parked at the trailhead.  Then I saw that forest service worker and she turned out to be a former classmate of mine, that was nice.   She was sent to find out where the snow was.  Well for $55.00 I'll be happy to tell the forest service where the snow starts.  That's the price of my undeserved parking ticket due to the ranger not seeing my clearly displayed LIFETIME INTERAGENCY PASS.  OK OK the road is free of snow all the way to the ranger station.

 I hiked slow but steady taking pictures of plants to upload to a botany website.  I reached my lunch spot at about 1pm; I left my lunch spot at about 2pm.  I wanted to stay longer but it was cold and I was getting cold.

I saw the biggest healthiest Conocephalum conicum ever today.  I also found a Letharia lichen.  I was quite surprised by that since I did not know that Letharia grew west of the Cascade crest.

Big healthy snake skin liverwort growing on soil over rock male reproductive parts are black

Big healthy female snake skin liver wort (Conocephalum conicum)

Letharia vulpina in the rain forest, what a surprise!

I walked back even slower, I was tired after only sleeping a few hours a night for the last two nights and I was enjoying being in nature.  At about 5:30 I was 2 miles from my Jeep and then the man on the bike that I did not want to see arrived.  He took “no” for an answer but he did not take it well and I did not feel safe until I got back to my Jeep. 

He said I ruined his bike ride and he turned around and exchanged some angry words with me and then he abandoned his bike ride and returned to the trail head.  The next two miles of my hike did not feel safe at all.  The man is a lunatic, was he going to turn around again and call me more names or maybe even something worse?  Clearly this is a man who does like it when someone sets a boundary with him.  My husband wishes I had not thrown away this guys email address, my husband would like to have a word with this guy "who sexually harasses my wife on the trail".

I won’t be back to the Dose without an escort or a weapon.  

I finished up my hike at about 6:30.
12 miles, 1,100 feet elevation gain,

 Once while on Mount Rose, I met a woman of color who liked to hike solo in the Olympics, but she had to quit hiking alone because folks were leaving racist death threats on her car.  It's only due to my white privilege that I can hike alone in the Olympics.

12 miles, 1,100 feet elevation gain