Big Creek Sunrise

 I used to hike this trail up to the overlook quite often in the winter.  It was my go to winter hike.  But then the trail started to get crowded and I quit coming.  The last time I drove past this trail head the parking lot was full and there were cars parked up and down the side of the road.  I miss this hike, but I hate crowds even more.  

I've thought about hiking earlier or later in the day, later in the day is bad this time of year unless I want to hike out in the dark.  Early in the day is hard for me always because I am a night owl.

I've had so much trouble sleeping lately due to the excitement of my upcoming move. Last night I was tossing and turning as usual up and down up and down.  Sciatica a mysterious new shoulder paid made it hard for me to get comfortable.  

At 6:30 am I decided to quit trying to sleep and instead go hiking.   I jumped up and packed my back quickly, normally I pack the night before, but this hike had not been planned at all.  I calculated how much time I had to get to the trail head before the sun rose, did I have enough time.  I checked my watch again and it was actually 5:30, so I had plenty of time to beat the sun and the crowds to the trail head.  

The weather forecast was for rain starting at noon so I packed my rain gear.  I also called and cancelled a medical appointment I had for the afternoon.  I put my boots and gaiters on in the house so I would not have to do that in the dark at the trail head.  I walked out to my car or tried to but my gate was frozen shut.  No problem I poured a bit of my coffee over the gate latch and it opened right up.  

My car was frozen and my bike was still in my car.  I had to take time to scrape the windows and put my bike back in the house.  The roads were icy too so I would have to drive slow.  Also I was almost out of gas, so I had to stop to get gas too.

With all of that, I still made it to the trail head and started my hike at 6:30.  It was still quite dark and I had to hike by headlamp.  I don't like hiking alone in the dark, I find it scary, but I also hate crowds and by starting my hike in the dark I was sure to avoid the crowds.  The parking lot was all mine of course.  As I plodded up the trail I tried not to think about cougars too much.  I've heard that they are most active at dawn and dusk, I tried not to think about that.  Instead I thought about how the only animal caused fatality in the history of Olympic National Park was caused not by a cougar or a bear, but by a goat.

45 minutes into my hike it was light enough to turn my headlamp off and to take some pictures.  The light from the rising sun was interesting.  It was nice to be able to take photos in the sweet light.  I was quite surprised that there was no deep snow on my route, there should have been some this time of year.  Honestly I would have been find without my gaiters, that is how little snow there was. 

I made it to my turn around point at 8:30 and I was not ready for lunch yet so I had a cup of coffee.  The sun had come out full and bright and the trees and the ground were frosted with snow, the view was lovely, there was no sign of the rain that was coming. 

  While I was at at the lookout I realized I still had plenty of time for my medical appointment so I called an uncancelled my appointment.  Next I headed for the lower Ellinor trail head to see what the road conditions where.  I knew that if I turned back by ten am I would have plenty of time to hike back to my car and drive to my appointments.  

I saw one car with a couple getting out and getting ready to start hiking at the lower trailhead so I did not linger.  I headed back to the overlook and then back down to my car.  I only saw one other hiker on the trail all day, it was great!

6 miles with 2,000 feet elevation gain. 

Since rain had been in the forecast I only brought a little camera for this hike. 

The rising sun lights up little patches of the forest with Orange

I was lucky this gal hung around so long so I could get an okay shot with my 18 mm lens

Lake Slimy Egg

 

I don't ever post the real name of this lake or directions for this hike.  I will post them soon though. This hike is not a secret, but still I don't like to advertise it.

This was my first time going by bike. I wanted to place a geocache and not have to carry it on my back and I wanted to sleep in, so taking the bike was the answer. 

At the the start of this hike and bike I was hurting.  Sciatica is back, but exercise helps.  By the end of the hike I was in much less pain.

I had a nice long break at the lake since I was on my bike and had plenty of time to ride out.  Some ATV riders destroyed the serenity of the the lake for a good 15 minutes before they even arrived.   When they saw me they must have been surprised though ATV's are not allowed here and on the way out they were much, much quieter.  I was glad that they made less noise.  

I was nearly run over by a brush picker van as I rode out, they were going way too fast and did not slow down at all as they passed me on the narrow gravel road.  I've never had someone pass me at that speed on a dirt road before.  I shouted a choice expletive at them but doubt they heard me.

After I got back to my car I saw an identical van stop to unlock the gate and go out.  I don't know if these were the same ones who nearly ran me over or not.

They waved as they drove off, maybe they know me from around town.  

I forgot to pack noodles but I realized that before I left the car so I grabbed a can of oysters out of my car and had them instead.  It was cold at the lake so I heated them up over my pop can stove.  I drank three hot cuppas while I was at the lake so I could stay warm enough to be able to linger there. 

Drake Lookout Geocache DNF

 11.5 miles with 1,000 feet elevation gain

January 18th 2021

I woke up and did not want to hike, I was tired.  I had trouble sleeping again and was not feeling the love of hiking.   But I was all packed and I need to lose weight, so I forced myself up.   Today was MLK day and the trails were sure to be crowded, so I opted to check out a logging road in the Wynoochee Valley that leads to the site of an old look out and a geocache. 

There are two different gates to park at for this cache.  I opted for the south gate because Google Earth hinted that there might be nice views on the way up.  There was really no view at all the trees had grown in.

I noticed it was very quiet.  I love the Wynoochee for quiet, I hardly ever hear an airplane in when I am in the Wynoochee Valley.   As I got near the top I saw a steep climb ahead so I decided to take a break and have a drink and send a text to my beautiful wife to be.  I texted her about how quiet and lovely it was.   Shortly I heard a vehicle approach, so I moved up a side road and around the corner to avoid being seen.  Soon a truck roared up the hill at a frightful speed.  I was glad that I had been stopped when I heard the truck.  I would have probably been really frightened by the speeding truck if I had been moving and it snuck up behind me.

I carried on up the hill and soon found the side road that led to the geocache I wanted.  I also started hearing logging noises and then the same truck came back.  I was already on a side road so they did not see me. 

I think the truck had raced up the hill and beyond to drop off a logger, that would explain the start of logging noised.  The truck was going at a much saner pace on the way down.

Lunch spot on the very top of Reed Hill. 

I could not reach the geocache location due to massive amounts of cut Douglas-fir on the ground.  I was a shame to push my bike so far up a hill only to get skunked.  The piles of brush were too much though.  I did not want to risk getting hurt crawling over it, on it and through it as would have been required.   

I gave up on the cache and turned around and went to the top of Reed hill and had my lunch.  There was no view from the top due to the forest making a futile attempt to grow back before Greed Diamond razes it again.

The trip back down was fun a slow and steady coast all the way back to my car. 

Big Log Camp after the rain and windstorm

 

14, Jan, 2021

10.5 miles 730 feet elevation gain

Also 4 miles on a logging roads the same week.

Big Log Camp, my lunch spot today

I finally made it back out to Olympic National Park.  The days are just barely long enough for me to get in and out before dark.

I woke up at 9am and I did not want to go hiking.  I tried to think of reasons to stay in bed and sleep in a bit.  But my need to lose weight and to be able to sleep at night, won in the end and I got up.  I had taken a pill to help me sleep the night before and that made getting up extra difficult.

As usual I packed everything up the night before, so all I had to do to get out the door was make a cup of coffee for the road.  I did not check my email or my phone I just put my coffee in the car at went.

The road to Staircase was rough, it was supposed to be paved this summer but COVID-19 changed those plans?  The road gets really awful every winter now while various agencies fight over who is responsible.

I arrived at the trail head at 10 am, not as early as I would have liked but still early enough to get in a decent hike.  I put my pass on my dash (won’t need a pass to enter parks in New Zealand) used the outhouse (called a “long drop” in New Zealand) and started my hike.

There were a few people milling around the parking area, they looked like they were all going on short hikes and it looked like I might have the trail to myself. 

There were several cars parked at the Mount Rose Trail head when I passed it on the way to Staircase.  I’ve not been up Mount Rose in about 7 years now.  It is too crowded up there for me.   Mount Rose has a tiny summit, it is not big enough to comfortably share.  Also I like to be alone on the summit when I can.  Being alone on a summit can be a spiritual experience.  Being with a group of strangers, who are either showing off or yakking about work, is not.

 

 I think that starting a hike before sunrise might be a good way to avoid crowds up there, but I’m not a big fan of going up in the snow.  So maybe I will never go up Mount Rose again.

Today, I wanted to visit the old hollow cedar tree at Big Log camp.  I used to hike to Big Log camp fairly often before I got a dog. 

Now I am without a dog again.  Sage is alive but her heart is bad and she can’t go on hikes anymore.

I had to struggle to get across a good sized tributary just before Spike Camp and there was water flowing over the bridge at Donahue Creek.  All in all though, conditions were much better than I expected after the big wind and rain storm two days before.

Before I knew it, I was at Big Log camp.  I touched the old cedar tree and listened to it to see if it had any wisdom to share with me.

 

I thought about all the other times I had been there and how much I had changed or not change over the years.

I raised up my kids nearly all the way, my husband died, I finished college, I became a professional photographer, I started to really hate seeing people on the trail and I became much more anxious in that time.

There have been a lot of changes, some good, and some bad.  I am for sure a different person then I was when I first moved to the Olympic peninsula.

I had a pot of noodles at Big Log and then I went to the waterfall and got some photos.

I had also wanted to go to the other side of the bridge and check out the campground over there but time was running short.  I had 3.5 hours left to eat lunch and hike out 5 miles before sunset.

I opted to hike in and out on the same loop, the one that comes out at the big car bridge over the river.  Normally I do both sides of the loop on this hike, but I was afraid the other side of the loop would be really wet.

Just as a reached the bridge I saw one person’s back but they did not see me. I also saw a couple hiking out right at the start of my hike. 

I basically went from 10am to 4pm without seeing anyone else.  I was happy with the solitude.

Just after sunset I stopped and had a cup of coffee, I was exhausted, this was the longest hike I had done in awhile and I had mildly sprained my bad ankle jumping across a stream.

Every hike I do now feels a bit like a goodbye hike.  I’m leaving in March and I don’t know when or if I will be back to visit.

 

All in all a great day!