Lower South Fork Skokomish

Lunch with some  Antitrichia curtipendula
moss that fell off of a nearby maple tree

The road was snow free all the way.  The pineapple express has done it's job and the rivers are flowing high.  Shortly after starting my hike I realized I did not feel good.  I thought it was just the two small dark ales I had last night and maybe I could walk it off. 
I was out celebrating the end of my college studies.  It was a bittersweet celebration for me.

After I had gone about 3 mile I remembered that I had also been up half the night with a stomach ache.  I then knew that I must be tired and not just hung over, so I wandered off trail until I reached the river and I laid down and had a nap next to a huge clump of moss.  Patches was not impressed, she was hungry and she wanted to hike.  I fed her a snickers bar and that calmed her down for a few minutes. 

I'm not sure if I fell asleep or not but I felt refreshed after my nap, so I suspect I did sleep a little bit.  Shortly it started to sprinkle and the forecast was for showers after 11.  I checked the time, it was 11:30.  I got up and brewed a nice hot cup of tea and enjoyed the river ambiance for a bit.  Then I donned full rain gear and headed back for my car.


(Patches not taking a liking to lichens)

I had some fun playing with the saw I found on this trail about two years ago.  I cut back a lot of brush that was growing over the trail.  The saw sure is sharp.  I have a nice cut on my thumb to prove it.  The cut is not deep enough for stitches, so no worries.

 

  I'm done going to Mason General for anything, since they are allowed to over charge me with my insurance.  Something about them being in a poor rural area allows them to stick it to folks with my insurance and charge them way more than the assigned rate.  Forget that, I'll go to Providence for all my stitches from  now on!  But not until the strike is over.  Providence workers are on strike and I stopped to take a picture of them when I was on my way out of town.

I walked slowly on the way out taking in the scenery and peering through my hand lens.  I was back at my car by about 2:30.   There were a lot of blow downs on the trail and a couple of washouts.  Some big trees came down and their root balls took the trail with them. 

I found half of a trekking pole near the trail.

5 miles with about 500 feet elevation gain

Antitrichia curtipendula leaf 40x