Old road to Mount Tebo

Salsify is a Mediterranean native but it has spread everywhere.
This Salsify is waiting to be destroyed by a bulldozer.

Word is that this road will be decommissioned this year.  Once a road is decommissioned hiking down it is miserable, so I thought I would see where this road goes before it is destroyed.  During the winter this road is much prettier and there is water ever where.  But, as we learned, during the summer water is scarce and this road it hot and dry.  I expected to find Tetraplodon moss as it was almost the perfect habitat for it.   But I did not find any, I think it gets too dry for Tetraplodon here. 

We hiked to the end of the road and then back.  There was one really nice view, but it was hot and we were out of water so we went to Lebar for Lunch and a quick dip in the cold waters.  We found a nice shady spot to have lunch but there were too many bugs.  So up went the tarp tent with its bug netting and we were able to eat our lunch without being eaten for lunch by the bugs.  We saw mosquitoes, black flies and giant deer flies.

The road was not very exciting but still I am unhappy to see it destroyed.  Flowers have popped up everywhere and there is stone crop in the middle of the road.  When they destroy the road they will churn up all the streams and kill all the vegetation on or near the road.   They will make the road slant in a way that will make it very difficult to walk on and they will add whoop de doos every 50 feet.   Then  when they  are all done, they will spread a layer of hay filled with weed seeds over the old road bed.   Greenwashing at its best!

I took a bunch of pictures so I can show before and after pictures.  My goal is to highlight the destruction caused by road decommissioning.

5.5 miles with 800 feet elevation gain

Bonfire moss Funaria hygrometrica in an old campfire pit.  This
was a nice place to car camp

Garter snake waits to be crushed by the coming heavy machinery

Paint brush and moss wait to be killed by the decommissioning process

There is a pile of wasted old growth hemlock at the end of every
high country logging road in this area thanks to Simpson and the 100
year sustained steal

Road has already  decommissioned its self

At the turn off to go up mount tebo a pretty meadow waits to be destroyed by the decommissioning process

Stone crop and other succulents grow in the middle of the road.
 They will be killed by the decommissioning process

Before they can start decommission work  they will have to install a culvert here. 
Later they will rip out the very same culvert, all at taxpayer expense.

This old growth Hemlock tree will serve as a good reference point after the destruction
if it is not destroyed in the process



This and other old logging roads naturally decommission themselves.
Let's spend the money feeding all the hungry children in Shelton instead!