Walks with Moss: Dry Creek North to South to the Pass

Pacific Fuzzwort Ptilidium californicum

Lost at the start of the dry creek trail (Probably near the causeway bridge) One well loved black diamond trekking pole missing its handle. I have the handle and would love to have my pole back. Thanks!

(This trail used to start at staircase ranger station and go all the way to camp comfort on the south fork Skokomish River but it was destroyed and bisected by logging. Now only a small fragment remains and it has been divided into two trails. The Shady Lane Nature trail that was not logged and the remnant Dry Creek trail that was savagely logged by Simpson and the Forest service up to the Douglas-fir line.)

I left my house as soon as my little one was out the door; I had this fantasy of making it home before she got home from school. I don’t know why I thought I could do 14 miles in less than 4 hours. I hit the trail at 10am after a stop for gas at Twin Totems and a stop for food in Hoodsport. I met two women at the trailhead who were waiting for a meet up group that was going up Dry Creek. Oh great, no solitude today I thought. I also thought they were going up Copper Creek.

Using my MP3 player for motivation I got off to a quick start so I could make it across the creek before the meet up group hit the trail.

Before I knew it I was at the creek. I hid something at the creek, marked it with my GPS and then put my sandals on and crossed the creek. The crossing was uneventful. The creek is far too dangerous to cross, don’t try it.

We smelled bear twice.

I headed up to the ridge top camp just before I got to the camp I found a thalloid liverwort with sprorophytes. I will try to ID it. The old growth forest was glorious as usual. Then I kept going, I have not hiked this entire trail, I’ve approached it from both ends and there is a ½ mile gap after the campsite and before the pass that I have never explored. I’ve never seen the whole trail because I’ve never been up for that big of a hike, but today I was. I hiked all the way to the pass.

There was snow on the trail to the pass and I almost overshot the pass but my GPS(r) came to the rescue as I had the trail and waypoints for the pass in it. Some of the snow was mushy and deep and I did some scary sudden potholing but it all worked out well. The pass was snow free.

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snow at 3,500 feet

As I got near the pass I saw Pacific Fuzzwort Ptilidium californicum. This is a liverwort that only seems to grow above 3,500 feet in the Olympics and only on old growth hemlock snags. Maybe it would grow on Doug-fir snags too but there is not much Douglas-fir at this elevation. I only saw the fuzz wort on one log, but it had sprorophytes. I did not take any to ID as clearly this is a rare bryophyte.

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A few blow downs on the lower section
I hope the Mount Rose trail crew pays a visit

Once on the pass I relaxed, laid back and soaked up the sun and I had a cup of tea, some pepperoni and a power bar. Patches actually ate her dry dog food; she must have been very hungry. I spent about an hour on the pass and headed back down at about 4pm.

The hike out was uneventful. The lake level has been raised and the lake goes up to the trail now, all that Climacium dendroides moss is now underwater. When I got back to the creek crossing I stopped, soaked my feet and had another tea. After I crossed the creek I changed into thick dry socks. My toes had been hurting on the way down and the big thick socks really helped. I wore my Asolo boots that are ten years old and I did not get any blisters in spite of the elevation gain and the fact that I only wore one pair of socks.

Filled up with tea, feet soaked in cold water, nice dry socks, MP3 player back on, I got a nice hikers high that lasted until about 12.3 miles then I slowed down a bit but I never really bonked. I made it back to my waiting car at about 7:30 and made it home around 9:45. So much for getting home before my little one came home from school!

I'm really learning how to see Pellia everywhere. On this hike I saw it in every place that I saw Conocephalum. I'm still trying to find a hornwort, still with no luck.

13 miles with 3,000 feet elevation gain (roughly)

These cabin owners recently decided to log the shit out
of their property . This is very disappointing, but it's
their right to vandalize their own property.

Lake Level is back up and this is a diving board again

Pacific coralroot
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