Big Creek

 The trials are so much busier than they were when I first started hiking in the Olympics, but I had a job in Hoodsport so I decided to walk the Big Creek trail to the overlook.  I used to be guaranteed solitude on this route.  I always had the connector trail all to myself.  Those days are long over.  The only solitude I find is when I go completely off trail.

It started to hail at the beginning of this walk but no precipitation was forecast until 4pm, so I shrugged it off.  But soon it began to stick a bit, still I shrugged it off.  

By the time I reached the connector trail it was snowing but I figured I was up high enough that it was probably still rain down at the road.  But just as I reached the first switchback that is clearly on an old road I could see the snow was coming down hard.  Uh oh!

I decided I better turn back if I wanted to have any chance of being able to drive home. Also my shoes were starting to get wet.  I was not prepared for snow!

I took a short cut on the way down.  Two other cars were leaving the parking lot as I got back down to my car.  Everyone had left or was leaving fast.

On the road there was heavy snow coming down but I knew that I had time to get back down to the Hood Canal where I suspected it would be raining.

I made it out just fine and it was dry down on the canal.  I killed some time in my car just wanting to be away from home.

  There is a horrible loud construction project that stages all it's machines and piles of dirt and garbage behind my house. This is the fourth month of it and it is driving me up the walls.  My PTSD is in overdrive with then noise, vibrations and lack of privacy in my home. 

I try to get out of the house before they get going in the morning and try not to return until they are done.  

This was Bella's first time on a trail with lots of people (we saw about a dozen other hikers) and she did well.  She is timid so she does not pester people at all. 

4.5 miles with 1,250 elevation gain

My steepest hike this year. 

Big Creek and Lower Ellinor

 

Insomnia struck again and I had been fretting that I would not be able to find the time to hike this week.  Every non-rainy day was booked with single appointment in the middle of the day.  But when I could not go back to sleep after waking up at 5am, I realized I had time for a hike.

I packed up and headed for Big Creek.  This time I decided to wait until it was light before I hit the trail.  I parked up at the trail head just before sunrise and took my time putting on my boots and gaiters and scrolling on my phone.

I had a good hike up to the lookout with pure solitude, but I just had to go and ruin my solitude by heading up to the beautiful forest at the lower trail head.  It was so pretty up there though with the snow and the fog. It was so pretty and I was having fun taking photos, but then a very loud group came by.  I was off trail so they did not see me.  They were so loud and the stayed loud for.  Every time I thought they were gone they started making noise again.  Oh well.

Back down on the lower trail a guy saw me coming up behind him and he would not let me pass him.  He kept looking back and going faster and faster.  But he was so slow that even walking I was going faster than he was running.  It was so annoying, if he had just let me pass him I could have been rid of him instead of having to look at him for the next ten minutes.  Finally I said to the guy "why don't you just let me pass you".  He said he was about to take a side trail ( a side trail that used to be semi-secret) I wondered what that had to do with anything.   A  moment or two after I passed him I realized he might have just been trying to avoid being within six feet of me due to COVID.

I made it back down by 11am in plenty of time to take my kid to the dentist and to attend an online grief group.

I made a video of this hike but I'm not sure if it will get edited and uploaded since my computer is about to be shipped off to New Zealand and my wrist is hurting me.  I'll be working on my lap top for a few months until I am reunited with my shipping container. 

6 miles 2,000 feet elevation gain.

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

Losing my Marbles on the Big Creek Trail

Snow in the lowlands meant a chance to go snowshoeing, so I skipped grief group and headed for the mountains.  I made it about 5 miles before I realized I had left my boots on the front porch.   Widow brain strikes again!  So I went back home for my boots, again.

A mile or so up the trail I decided that I was not going to need my snowshoes so I stashed them off trail just after running into another hiker.  I never used to see hikers on this trail during the week.  Word is out I guess and the population is booming, my days of solitude on any trail seem to be over.

After stashing my shoes and waypointing the location, I realized that I had forgot to fill my water bottle at the last creek.  Now I was starting to feel discouraged.  I'm tired of having widow brain, forgetting everything and being so disorganized.

 There was no more water to be had on the trail, so I made a plan to head down an old logging road to where a creek crossed the main road.

It was a .30 mile detour, no big deal I guess, but it was brushy and snow was going down the back of my neck and I was getting cold.  But at least I would not have to come back this way.  My plan was to walk up the road to the other trail head and rejoin the trail there.

I found my water source and was  happy that the detour route to the water had worked out so well.  Then I looked down at my pack and noticed that my GPS was missing.  Crap!  Time for more backtracking.  I knew I had last seen my GPS at the location of my snowshoes.

So I had to go back on that snowy brushy route to look for my GPS.  It should have been easy to find with a bright red lanyard and orange duct tape on the back, bright colors I added just for a situation like this.

I made it all the way back to my snowshoes without seeing my GPS.  What the hell?  The snow was not deep enough to bury my GPS, where was it?  By now I was getting colder so I put on my rain coat and my gloves.  I also dumped everything out of my pack to make extra sure that my GPS was not on me.

Okay still no GPS, so back I went to retrace my route yet again, but this time with my trekking poles out so I could beat at the brush and the shallow snow.  Still no GPS, I made it all the way back out to the road and back to my water spot and still I could not find my GPS. 

By this time I was sobbing, but no tears were coming out.  I was sobbing and shouting "Where is it?".  My GPS has a case that my husband gave me the last Christmas that he was alive.  I really did not want to lose that case.  I wondered if my husband was somehow watching and if he knew where my GPS was, but was helpless to tell me.   So I kept screaming "where is it?".

I had one last idea, maybe my GPS was in the brush that I had to pull myself up through to get from the old road to the main road.   That was really my last hope.  I went back to that slope and beat and beat and beat at the brush and the snow in desperation. 

Then it happened, I saw an orange reflection in the snow and knew it was the orange duct tape on my GPS.  Whew, that was close.   I had dropped my GPS in the only spot on my entire route that had deep enough snow to bury it.  What are the odds of that?

 GPS back in hand I packed up my trekking poles and  retraced my route to the trail rather than going up the road.

I had my lunch at the  overlook that only I used to know about, that I used to always have all to myself.  They really should put a couple of picnic tables there now to accommodate the massive crowds.

I had the overlook to myself, but someone else has cleared the snow off.  I was always the one to clear the snow off before the crowds started coming.

It was bitter cold, so I had my hot coffee and my hot noodles and headed back down the trail to pick up my snowshoes and finish my hike.  I decided to use my trekking poles for the trip down, but I discovered that one of them was broken so I only had one pole for the trip down. 

I wondered what else could go wrong on this trip before I made it home.  Nothing else went wrong but this was not a nice day in the woods, maybe I should have gone to grief group instead.

I might hike again on Thursday, my husband's birthday, his first birthday since he died.

6.5 miles with 2,300 feet elevation gain

I left Sage home due to the cold.  She does not tolerate the cold as well as Patches did.

Snowshoes stashed here

Hot lunch

I called my husband on the phone from here one time.  It was my first cell phone,not a smartphone
I was surprised that I could get reception.  My husband was so happy to hear from me.  We
chatted for a few minutes as I hiked.  This is a happy memory that hits me every time I
traverse this area.

Big Creek Trail

Prints Available

Big Creek trail.  Once again I needed to get in a hike but did not want to hike too hard because I did not want to be sore the next day.  I was hoping to get out and find some mushrooms too.

Once again I found no mushrooms in my spots but now I know why.  Others know my spot and beat me to it every year, I need a new spot.

In spite of finding no edible mushrooms other than a one, I had a nice relaxing hike.  Lots of inedible mushrooms were out and I had fun photographing them.

I hiked farther then I planned due to the lack of easy to find mushrooms.  With 1,000 people moving to Seattle every day the trails in Seattle are overcrowded with no place to even park at the trail head.

The result is that people are coming to the Olympics to get away from the crowds in Seattle and now the Olympics are starting to feel the pinch.  Good luck finding a parking spot at Mount Ellinor or Mount Rose on the weekend.   I miss Mount Rose so much, but can’t stand the crowds there.  I feel grief over my loss of solitude on that Mountain.

My images are available as prints.  I am a semi-professional photographer and I reserve all rights on my images.

7.5 miles with 2,400 feet elevation gain