Stevens and Rose Lake AB

The catastrophe has already happened, we are the survivors

I first noticed Stevens and Rose Lake a few years ago.  We managed to make it to Stevens Lake by going up the road in the newly destroyed forest that used to be part of Potlatch State Park. 

At the starting point we found a sign that made it seem like we should not be there and Sage rolled in human feces at that sign.  I've not been back since.  It make me so sick that the tribe destroyed that nice forest above the Hood Canal. 

Recently Rose Lake came onto my radar again and I realized there was a way to reach it from the Skokomish River Road.  I made a plan to park there at a decommissioned road and walk to both lakes.

I would rather be hiking behind the gates up in the National forest right now, but there is still too much snow up there.

At home the week before, I treated Sage's coat and my pants and socks with pyrethrum bug killer.  I'm going to treat my shoes next.

March is always the start of the worse of the tick season and decommissioned roads are especially tick infested.

We parked at 9 and started hiking.  The first part up a decommissioned road was ugly, but not too hard since it was the older style of decommissioning where they mostly just ditch up the road a bit.  The road dropped down into a dry creek bed and then back up.

 Presumably the road was taken out to protect the creek. But with climate change, the creek is gone, so there is nothing left to protect. 

The forest on either side of the road has been razed.   Trees are a huge carbon sink and deforestation has a big role in climate change.  The catastrophe has already happened and we are the survivors.

Next, the road climbed up to a gravel pit on an open road and then it traversed a nice second growth forest.  I'm sure that forest will soon be gone.

We quickly found Rose Lake and saw that it was impossible to reach the shore, so I sent my flying camera up to see it.  The lake is pretty!

I made my new pack in December and I made it a bit bigger than my old pack so it could easily accommodate my flying camera.  The new pack worked out well.

Next, we hoofed it to Steven's Lake, where it is also very difficult to reach the shore.  On the way to the lake we ducked into the brush as two cars passed by.  We also found a fair amount of litter on the road and a few campfire pits.  For a being locked behind a gate this area has a lot of litter.

 When we reached the lake, we had lunch next to an old pile of elks bones near the shore.  Lunch was noodles and vina cafe.

After lunch I flew my camera bit more then we headed out.

On the way out we tried unsuccessfully to reach the shore of Rose Lake.  The lake was too high and the shoreline too brushy. We ducked to hide for a couple more cars that were together, on the way out.

Back on the decommissioned road, I stopped to check Sage for ticks and I found a little black one on her coat, it was then that I noticed a black and red one on my pants leg.  I flicked the ticks off.  That was all the ticks I found but Sage is sure to have more than that.  One jumped off her at home and landed on my kids phone.  I guess the heat coming off my kids phone attracted the tick.  Sage soaked in pyrethrum now and she needs her summer haircut.

6 miles with a little elevation gain

Mount Walker AB

50% chance of rain at home, 30% chance of rain in Quilcene, all the roads to the higher trail heads blocked with snow, Mount Walker was an obvious choice for me.  I was anxious and worried about how Sage would behave on the bus.  My husband's voice in my head said "go anyway".  I hike to ameliorate my anxiety and yet I am often too anxious to go for and plan a hike.

Sage was great on the bus.  She only whined a couple of times before she settled down, unlike Patches who always had to poop and whined for a chance to go out the entire way up. The bus driver was a dog lover and that helped me stress too.  Some bus drivers give me the third degree about taking Sage on the bus and some bus drivers really like dogs, that later help me to relax, the former can ruin the entire day for me.   On the ride home Sage slept the entire way, just like Patches used to do.   Both my dogs could do a better job of pooping on the quarter mile walk to the bus stop instead of saving it until the ride is over nearly two hours later.




We got of the bus at 10:30, the hike up was really good, it went fast and I did not see another person.  I was glad to have the mountain to myself.  I can't commune with and feel connected to the mountain when I am constantly distracted by other hikers.  There is a real peace that comes over me when I have a nature trail all to myself.  Blame it on my PTSD if you want.

We topped the hill at 11:45 and headed straight for the South view point.  There was too much wind there to sit, so we nipped into the brush to sit at a pic nic table and have our lunch there.

On the way down I saw lots of other hikers and there were seven cars at the trail head.  Mount Walker is quite popular considering how far away it is from a city.

We were going to sit and have a break at a table at Rainbow Campground while waiting for the bus home, but we discovered that all the picnic tables have been removed.  What a shame, that was one of my favorite parts of this hike.

I packed wine to drink at the end of my hike since I was not driving.  The bus surprised me by coming a few minutes early.  Normally I wave the bus down, this time the bus nearly ran me over before I saw it.  It was the gruff jerk driver that I don't like.  He hates his job and yet he is so lucky to have that job and that run.  He never acknowledges all the passengers who thank him for the ride when they get off.   He should go be a graveyard janitor, the kind of job suited for people haters.

I drove buses for six years and even though I don't like seeing people on the trail, I did like seeing my bus passengers!

We got back home at about 4:00 and Sage struggled a bit to get off the bus with her bad hip.  It might be time to start looking into getting her the hip surgery that she seems to need.

Tin Mine Falls Green Mountain

I wanted to go to the ocean but my daughter wanted to show me Tin Mine falls, so we went there.  SIRI misdirected me and sent me to my old property on the Tahuya River.  The property was in shocking condition, most of it was take out by the River.   The River took my cabin and some of my land before I sold it, but now the River has taken most of the land.

SIRI directed me to Tahuha River road when I told it to send me to Tahuya Lake road.  Still I was only a few minutes late after realizing the mistake.  Neither of us felt like going down the steep slope to the waterfall in the snow, so I don't have a good photo to show you.

Jackpot Lake via Lake Nahwatzel