Road Walk

Road walk near Mount Washington

I have not been up to the Cushman area since SARS 2 Covid hit.  I did not know how crowded trails would be.  Sure trailheads are closed, but trails are not.  Would my normal hikes that I go on for solitude be crowded or less crowded.

More crowded was the answer.  I don't like crowds on trails in the best of times and certainly not now in the covid era.  Big Creek had 8 cars parked at it on a Tuesday morning!  The other trailhead in the area that is much lesser known had 5 cars and another car pulled it while I was sitting there trying to decide where to go.  I've never seen another car in that spot before.

I opted to go on a flat dusty hike to a lake instead, but I was not excited about it and I missed the turn off that I use.  My turn off is unmarked and goes down closed roads.  The lake is in an area that is entirely closed right now, so this would have been a stealth hike.

I looked up to the opposite side of the street I was driving down and saw an area that I keep meaning to explore. I never go there though because there is always logging or snow.

Well not today.  The loggers have cleared off,  their dirty work is done and the snow levels are up higher now.  The misty mountain tops looked much more inviting than the flat dusty logging roads that lead to the lake.

 Then I saw a sign that made me happy "Road Closed Ahead in  mile".  Oh good, a closed road, that means I can hike and not get run over by a car and there probably won't be many other people hiking there.

So I went up the road and found an amazing view point overlooking Duvall and Monroe,  then I found cement blocks closing the road. I parked at the blocks and started my hike, not knowing where I was going for sure.

Soon I deduced that the road I was on ended at the top of mountain or tall hill in 3.8 miles.  Perfect!  Lately my ideal hike has been about 9 miles round trip with a view at the top. 

I did not know if there would be a view at the top of the hill I was going up though.  There could be trees blocking the view.  How recently had the area been logged?

There were a few saw palmetto trees blocking it but mostly the view was just amazing.  The hill top had 360 degrees of prominence! 

There was a great view all around except for the clouds and there was a fire pit with split and stacked wood at the top.  I was low on stove fuel, I had meant to refill my fuel bottle but had forgotten.  The firewood and fire pit were very welcome.  I did not actually use any of the spit wood, I only needed a small fire, just enough to make coals to cook on.  Nearby scraps of wood were enough for that.

I'm glad I finally made it up to this area and I'm glad I found this new spot.  I will probably be back even though the vibes are a bit off in this spot.  Too much broken glass and toilet paper, ATV tracks and gunshots in the area for my liking.  There is also a dog buried at the top.  It is only buried by a mound of rocks and a bone was sticking out.

I moved the rocks enough so I could find the skull and confirm I had not stumbled onto a human burial.

I felt bad about disturbing the dog, but I really did need to know for sure that the bones were not human.

Thank covid-19 disease for leading me to this new spot I guess.

8 miles with 1040 feet elevation gain

or 18 kilometers with  315 meters

Tree Farm Trot

Still enjoying the tree farms with the other trails closed.  I do worry though, it is looking like a dry year.  If the fire danger gets high then the tree farms will close too.  Then what will be left?  Booze?

7.5 miles with 300 feet elevation gain

Our stay at home Order includes hiking as an essential activity:

Our stay at home Order  includes hiking as an essential activity:

a. Essential activities permitted under this 

Proclamation are limited to the following ...

4) Engaging in outdoor exercise activities,

such as walking, hiking, running or biking,

but only if appropriate social distancing

practices are used.

Wandering the Closed Roads - Caution heavy doses of sarcasm in this post

Mount Humptulips looms over the Kenai River Valley

New week, same story.  People think the trails are closed and the state parks and national parks are closed, so everyone is crowding into the secluded areas where I normally hike in complete solitude.

I saw three other people on my hike, to me that is an unwelcome crowd. (sarcasm)  It is so startling to see people in my normally private places.  At least when I only see three people over the course of 8 miles round trip, maintaining a six foot distance from them is easy enough.

I often hike this closed road that I never name, to a nice spot that I also never name.  It was a wonderful bright sunny day and I did some sunbathing, but not too much.  I need my vitamin D.    I would normally have complete privacy in this spot but I knew that Covid-19 has turned everything upside down. 

At the start of my walk someone had scratched DANGER into the dirt in big letters.  Well now, I knew better than that,  but still I could have done without seeing it.  A tenth of a mile later in big letters on the road were the words GO BACK.  Wow someone was being silly.  I decided that the people who wrote those words were scared and that was where they turned back.  Still, with all the poaching that goes on out there, one never knows.

I did not go back, I kept hiking to my destination. 

I had a nice long relaxing break in the sun and I felt so much better for my hike.  Hiking is essential to my health both physical and mental.  Walking in town can be an okay crutch, but having to avoid traffic and pedestrians is not the same.   A lot of men probably won't understand why it can be very difficult for a woman to relax while walking on a street with traffic.   

I have had nasty things yelled at me, stuff thrown at me and have been threatened with rape,  all while walking in the city.  Most of that stuff was in Seattle.  I've only been shouted at a few times while walking in Mason County or on the Ocean beaches.  It was always when I had let down my guard and was least expecting to be harassed. 

One incident when I was 22 landed me in the er with a concussion and 9 stitches in my head.  Walking alone in the woods is far safer for a woman, than walking alone in the city.  Statistics will bear this out I am  certain. 

On the way back to my car I was shocked to find a couple sitting on a river bank in lawn chairs 4 miles down a closed road.  What the actual fuck?  Damn this SARS 2 menace.  I said whoa and then hello as I crossed the river and passed them while maintaining a 20 foot distance from the intruders.  (sarcasm)

Shortly after I passed the couple I found a bike locked to tree.  How odd, two people and one bike.  Since they were on bike and there is only one way out, I knew I would be seeing that couple again. 

 I took a strategic coffee break in a nice spot and I timed it just right.  As I was getting ready resume my hike,  I saw the couple.  I crouched behind a rock and petted Sage until they were gone.

Why I do that?  I did it because I knew that I could better relax knowing that the couple was ahead of me and the road was all mine.  No one would be startling me from behind.

Neither of them were on a bike though, so the bike belonged to a third person.  Crap, three people on the same road as me and one was still behind me somewhere sneaking up on me. 

Where was the cyclist?  Had he written those menacing words in the dirt before sneaking in on his all black bike?  I could not see any bike tracks on the road, maybe he came in from somewhere else?  I spent the rest of my walk looking back from time to time to see if the person bike was overtaking me and he never did.

Just as I reached my car the guy on the bike appeared.  He was friendly and had a dog.  I told him (from a ten foot distance) that I had never seen anyone on this particular hike before and he said he was there because every thing else is closed.   He had gone to the same spot as me, so it was good that I had limited my vitamin D production.

Go figure.  All the closures designed to spread out the hikers are actually robbing me of my normal solitude.  Oh well, this will all be just a bad dream someday for those of us who survive without losing a loved one.

My love one is on the other side of the ocean in a country with closed borders.  I sure hope my fiance can come visit me in July as planned.  My strategy of throwing myself into my work to help with the agony of being separated was great until all of my work stopped.


On my drive in I stopped at Lebar and the South Fork Skok and Browns Creek to photo the covid changes.  Lots and lots of people were camped at Browns Creek.  The forest service signs were a bit conflicting with the biggest sign of all saying that camping is open.   
Camping is not open anywhere in the National Forest.  Also where will all those people be pooping with the restrooms are locked shut.

On my drive out I could see that the forest was going to be very busy for Easter Weekend.  Cars and people and tents everywhere.  I even saw a recent car crash with the occupants of a car outside phoning for help.  The occupants were not injured but the car looked to be totaled.   It was either a one car crash or a hit and run.

I'm glad I got out of there and got a good local hike in before the weekend.  I'll be back in the tree farms for my next hike.   I have been keeping it local, I have only filled my tank with gas one time since the stay at home orders, I filled it the day the orders started and I still have over a quarter of a tank left.   I am so thankful to live in a state that lists hiking as an essential activity.

28 miles round trip with 2,000 feet elevation gain.  Hell no I'm not gonna give out the real stats on this hike.  I have to guard my semi-private spaces.

Stay safe everyone.

"Camping Permitted in Designated Sites Only"  is the most prominent sign at Brown Creek Campground.   Thank you forest circus.

Intruders!  (just kidding)

Magic Mountain water springs from a tree root

Intruder! (just kidding)

Poaching?