Up the hill again

It's tick season, so it's time for us to leave the logging roads and hit the trails.  Will the rain ever stop for long enough for me to get my car up the Skokomish Valley? Will they ever grade the road to Staircase?  Reports are that the road to Staircase are the worst that anyone has seen in thirty years.

That leave Big Creek and it's getting boring, so maybe I'll head up to the Hamma Hamma area next.

I flicked 4 ticks off of Sage but none of them managed to bit her.  She has a new haircut that makes it easier to see the ticks on her.



 

What do you do when you are stuck in Belfair?

Green Mountain Summit

Green Mountain and Theler Wetlands of course!

I had two jobs in Belfair on this day and they were hours apart.  I thought about driving to Belfair and back twice, but that did not make a lot of sense.  Finally we got a day without rain too, it would be such a waste to spend the day driving!

This is the first time I have been up Green Mountain since they started charging folks to park at the trail head.  Luckily you can still park at the old trailhead without paying, so that is what I did.  I have a Federal Parks and Forest Pass,  and I have a State Parks Pass, but I can not use DNR land or park at a boat launch with those.  What a screwy system.  I'm not about to buy a Discover your Anus Pass just so I can hike up a muddy old rut in a  DNR clear cut while dodging motorcycles,mountain bikes and gunfire.  The DNR makes enough money selling off our forests.



This video has flying camera footage!


 First I drove to Belfair and had a great time taking pictures of the High School Marching Band.  What a nice group of kids they were.



Next, I went the Theler Wetlands and I really enjoyed the birds and the bird sounds in the morning.  It looks like a great place to fly a drone, but I would never fly a drone around birds, so I just enjoyed the quiet. Theler has a lot of pokestops and gyms too, so that added to the enjoyment.


Next I drove to Green Mountain timing just how long it took to get from Belfair to the trail head so I would know when I had to return.  My job was to photograph the North Mason High Band in the morning and the soccer team in the afternoon.

I parked at the old trail had and I had a brief chat with an old timer who was still a bit stunned by the trailhead changes.  My first trip up Green Mountain was after they moved the trail head, so I don't remember the old one.  I headed up the old trail and I think I was on the plummer trail for a little while.

Briefly left the trail and hiked up a road for a bit. I figured the road would offer more solitude and give me more chances to fly my drone.

 Eventually the road when through a clear cut and at that point I started to hike up the powerline trail before I came to my senses.

I left the powerline trail went across the clear cut and finally set foot on the Gold Creek trail in the middle of a recent clear cut.  I flew my drone a little there, but all my drone video footage was ruined by giant captions.

I made the final push to the summit on a confusing mix of parking lots, roads and trails.  The summit was noisy and I was a bit put off at first.  The folks on the summit were friendly and since the place is such a zoo I asked if anyone minded if I flew my drone over head.  Everyone was okay with it and two of them wanted me to take pictures of them.  I gave them both my card, if they contact me I will send them the picture above.

After my drone flight, I headed back down, time was running short.  I cooked ramen and coffee on the road, but time was too short and my ramen was too hot to eat, so I ate it while I walked down.

I  Made to back to North Mason High in plenty of time, took photos of the Soccer team and then drove home.  Overall a very productive day.