Mount Walker

The rain has been unrelenting this spring.  I decided to go up to an area that gets some of the rain shadow.  Missed Patches on this hike, first time back since Patches died.

Had a good time.  Placed Pokemon in the gym at the top.  They should stay there until the gate opens.

Rain was very light and the views were cloudy but nice.  Rode the bus as it's the only thing that makes sense.  Walker is 110 miles round trip, bus fare is $2.00 round trip.  It's nice to sit up high in a bus with big windows and look out over the Hood Canal.

Had the mountain to myself until I headed back down, then ran into quite a few people on the trail, including some young men who must have been scared of the woods.  When people are scared of the woods, they tend to howl and bark a lot.

6 miles 2,000 feet elevation gain

Mount Walker, snow and howling wind

I am still following my vow to hike twice a week no matter what.  Already after just 3 hikes the five pounds that have been bugging me the most have come off.  I am so much happier too since I put me food down and decided to take care of myself.

Since I’ll be hiking more often, I am making plans to ride the bus again and soon I will be scheduling more dial-a-ride trips.  I need to save wear and tear on my car!  With my spouse being terminally ill, our household income is low enough that we qualify for food stamps, but I'm trying to avoid applying for them.    So saving gas and wear and tear on my car and selling a few calendars does not hurt.

*****

This video is too shaky, I'll work on that.

I rode the #8 bus leaving the Mason Transit Center at 8:10am and then transferred to Jefferson Transit #1 at Triton Cove State Park.  The transfer is seamless as the two bus systems have their acts together.  The Jefferson Transit Bus dropped me off at Mount Walker Antiques at 9:30am.

At first it was raining so I donned my rain pants and rain coat while still on the bus.  At the trail head I shed a few layers so I was just hiking in very thin long underwear with my raingear on top.  The higher up I got the harder the wind blew.  Soon being too hot in rain gear was no problem as the wind cooled me off and seemed to blow the rain clouds away.  Closer to the top there was snow on the ground and then it was actually snowing.  I was not expecting that! 

My hiking partner from Sequim summated first but she got cold so she went down to join me on the trail and then we summited together.  There was no view and the wind was howling so we headed for the South Lookout.  The snow started to really come down.  At first the snow was just falling from the trees, but now it was falling from the sky.  There was no view and it was too cold at both lookouts so rather than take a tea break we headed down the road. 

The road hike was pleasant but windy.  We took refuge under a bridge and had tea and coffee there.  It was bone dry and actually dusty under the bridge.  Patches would not stop barking for us to throw her rocks to chase.  Too bad she was too blind to see half of the rocks that we threw for her.

As we headed down the road the nice snow turned into rain.  We got back to my partners car at 2:30, she drove me to the bus stop and there I waited until 3:07.  The bus should have been there sooner and I was worried that I somehow missed it.  The schedule shows the bus taking a break in Brinnon, but there was no break.  I guess they opt to take the break elsewhere.

I made another seamless transfer at Triton Cove State park.  I was a bit sleepy and I managed to get some sleep between Hoodsport and Twin Totems.  The bus dropped all the passengers off at the Mason County Transit Center at 4:25.  

When I got off the bus I could smell fried chicken and that made me hungry.  I’m not sure if the smell was coming from Safeway or a shop inside of the transit center.  I did not stop for chicken though, instead I drove home.

The 110 mile round trip bus ride up the canal cost me $2.00

7 miles with 2,100 feet elevation gain

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Mason Transit #8

Buck Mountain from the bus stop

Our Shelter

Mason Transit Center, I smell fried chicken

Mount Walker, Ranger Bruce and the Olympic Mountain Summit Register.

All three volcanoes could be see from the South viewpoint.  There was in interesting low inversion
that made the distant views better and made Seattle skyscrapers just barely stick out of the fog

My first hike of 2014.  I did not hike much over the winter break with my daughter at home and the interference of Christmas and New Years day.  We had a lot of rain this week, nearby Aberdeen is under water.  I did not really want to go out and get my feet wet, plus there was something I needed to grab on Mount Walker, so I headed for the rain shadow where the trail was sure to be dry.

I rode the bus as usual; I see no reason to drive all the way up there and back when the bus will get me there in almost the same amount of time.  The bus dropped me off at the Walker Mountain Antique store at 9:30.  I felt strong hiking up and that was a surprise, since I was quite groggy from lack of sleep the night before.  I made it to the top from the bus stop in one hour and forty five minutes.

Patches was kind of bad on the bus, she wanted to hike and she did not want to sit on the floor

There was one car at the gate when I started (I wonder why they don’t put the gate at the trailhead?) and two people who were on the way down passed me when I went up, so I figured I had the top to myself.  I know that no one else rode the bus up there. 

Why don't they put the gate at the trail head?

When I got to the top I was surprised to see a man up at the North Viewpoint.  He was in the area of the summit register that I had come to get.  Something about him seemed familiar, but I ignored him and started taking pictures of Mount Constance.  Suddenly the man yelled “Patches is that you!”  I spun around and looked at the man again.

“Bruce?” I said?

“Yes”. He said

It was Ranger Bruce and he was there to retrieve the summit register too. 

Bruce did not know that it was well hidden and could not be found without getting directions from the person who placed it there.  I convinced Bruce to stand in front of me so I could snap his picture with the Mountains in the back ground and then we went to search for the register.  The register was buried and not in the normal easy to find geocaching way, it was buried in dirt rather than pieces of bark or piles of sticks or rocks like.

Ranger Bruce

I offered the register to Bruce but he said I should take it, so I did and then Bruce and I both went to the other view point where I like to have my lunch.  We had a nice conversation about trails and then a couple joined us at the view point and they knew some secrets that a certain trail crew seems to be telling to everyone, so I was able to talk to them about that and learn a little bit more.

The Olympic Mountain Travelling summit register

The couple left while Bruce and I were still trying to talk the hind legs off a donkey.  At 1:30 Bruce decided to head back and at that point I left too.  Bruce opted to hike down the road while I opted to go down the trail.  I made it back down to the gate at about 2:20 and the couple that I had seen on the summit were still there in their car.  They wanted more info about secret stuff.  Since they were going to Olympia, I boldly asked them if they would give me a lift home and they did.  Thanks! 

On the way home the woman got a cell phone call informing her that her aunt had just died so that was sad and it put a damper on things, but still it was  a pleasant ride and it was nice to get home a few minutes early and not have to fight with bus drivers about Patches.

I don’t want a cell phone.  I don’t want to be out on a nice hike somewhere and get phone calls about crisis situations at home.  I can’t do anything about a home crisis while I am in the mountains.  So if someone dies while I am out hiking I’ll just have wait until I get home to find out about it.

I did not take many pictures because I spent so much time hiking and there is nothing much to take pictures of up there anyway.

The trail is in good shape other than one large downed tree about half way up.  There was no snow.

 5 miles with 2,100 feet elevation gain.

Large tree down across the trail about half way up

North view point, Quilcene is under the clouds

Mount Walker after the trio of storms

There is still time to buy my calendar and have it for the new year.  The March photo was taken on Mount Walker: Look at my Calendars

I was feeling a little bit sick and I did not feel like driving and there was some rain in the forecast, so I went to Mount Walker by bus.

My dentist just stuck it to me on a filling that fell out just 4 months after he replaced it so I was feeling a big frugal too.  He said that he fixes fillings for free if they fall out in less than on year, but he lied.  He still charges for an office visit.  So now I'm $120 into just getting the filling on this tooth replaced two times, plus what I paid for the original filling grrrrr.  Third times the charm maybe?  Maybe the filling will stay in this time?

My dentist wants me to "teach me how to pick mushrooms" too.  Forget that, he can go buy his mushrooms in the store will all the money that I am giving him.

I decided to walk up the road rather than to huff and puff up the steep trail.  The gate is now closed, going up the road gave me more solitude than going up the trail would.  The road is twice as long but only half as steep and it's a more pleasant walk for me.  I did hike down the trail  however and now today my knee is letting my know about it.

Maybe I should stick to flatter trails for a while.  The weather was nice and the bus ride was pleasant.  It seems that Friday is a good day of the week to take the bus, there was only one other passenger on the way back.

101 is down to one lane near Brinnon due to the road slumping after the recent rains.

The bus was going so fast when I rang that bell that it could not stop and pull off the road in time so the driver took me on up to the entrance to Mount Walker.  I liked not having to walk on the highway!

7.75 miles with 2,000 feet elevation gain



There is still time to buy my calendar and have it for the new year.  The March photo was taken on Mount Walker: Look at my Calendars

Track and elevation log up the road and down the trail 

Seeing Double

Bus back home smelled funny

Cooking lunch with lots of leftover food that
was intended for the PCT

Fresh rock fall

False truffle, it smelled so nice!

tea at the top

Matsutake

Pilophorus lichen and Othrotrichum moss

Experimenting with exposure lock and single point focus it helping

Yucky slash fire sends smoke to Quilcene

On the top

tea time in a closed campground

Mount Walker by By Bus

I'm so bored with Mount Walker, but it's on the regular bus line (no need to reserve a dial-a-ride) and it's doable all year round and it sees a lot less rain then than most of the places that I hike.  So I keep going back even though it's boring.  It is a pretty good work out.  5.5 mile with 2,100 feet elevation gain from bus stop to bus stop..  This does not count my walk from home and back maybe add another half mile for that.  The actual trail gains 2,000 feet in two miles.

No mushrooms, it's been too dry and the mountain is scoured by a professional picker whom I met today.  I also met a woman named Sally.

The bus dropped me off at 9:30 and I hit the trail head at 9:44 and was on top at 11:37  I thought I was crawling up the hill and wondered why I was so slow, but actually 2 hours up is an okay time for me.

The bus ride home went fast as I had two other hikers to talk to.  Mason transit is funny, people actually talk to each other on Mason Transit buses. Even the bus driver will talk your ears off if you let them.  Riding Mason Transit is a social event.

On the ride up I sewed a pocket onto the inside of my backpack while the diver talked about dogs and driving and stuff.  That pocket has come off a few times but I know I have solved the problem now, it just needed some reinforcement. I might be about ready to make a new backpack with all the knowledge I have gained using my first hand made pack.  But I know that I could always just keep patching it forever and never need a new pack.

My next backpack if I make another one, will have deeper side pockets and maybe some Velcro loops for holding my trekking poles in place.

A bit of sun in Brinnon

Mason Transit at the Brinnon store on the way home

camprobber.. my  on camera flash was set to commander so did not work too well

Carl was found, so I removed the signs at the owner's request.

Lunch at the south look out

View from the north look out

North Lookout.  Patches and my homemade pack

backward facing outhouses near the site of the the old look out building

I found this while wandering off trail
I'll take the $250 fine over 8 months in prison
I think it's time to update the fine..

Quick break at an abandoned car campground on the way back to the bus

Back at the Brinnon store