Elbo Creek

Every year I try to make it up north to Mount Walker for the Rhododendron bloom.  Every year I forget to do it.  Well this year I remembered, but I was about a week to early I think.  Maybe I'll go back next week.

Sage was a bit of a pest, wanting to be constantly petted on the bus and my left wrist is really sore, so it hurt to pet her.  Then at lunch time she mugged me for more water.  I was afraid she was going to kick my lunch and coffee over in her desperation for more water.

I packed a lot of water for her and hopefully she got enough.  The Jefferson Transit driver on the way a back was really nice.  Maybe the grumpy guy who hates people has left or has been moved to another run.  We can only hope.

4 miles 1,950 elevation gain

I spend almost as much time on the bus as I spend hiking on this run but it is a nice bus ride and it saves wear and tear on my car.

Elbo Creek by new car

A hike and a  geocache.  My friend was eager to drive his brand new car and get a geocache on Buck Mountain.  The plan was for him to drop me off at the Elbo Creek trail while he drove up to get the Buck Mountain Cache.  He would pick me up at the top of the Elbo Creek trail after he found the cache.

Our plans were changed when we found the road up Buck Mountain was washed out just 2 miles from highway 101. 

We decided to go for a geocache on the Elbo Creek trail instead.  The cache was just a little ways from the trail head.  Once we found the cache my friend hiked with me for a bit but then he turned around.  He was tired after hiking up tick bite hill the day before.

He’s not really into hiking and I’m not really into caching but we somehow make it work anyway, well most of the time anyway.  He decided to turn around and wait for me in his car while I hiked up to my usual lunch spot.

So I did my little hike.  I was a little bit sick but I went pretty fast since I was fresh after not getting in much hiking the week before.  My knee felt good too.  My knee has been really frightening me lately but it felt good all during this hike.

I was shocked to find a Morel mushroom on this trail.  Morels just don’t grow in undisturbed Olympic forests.  This was my first ever find of a morel in the Olympics.

When I got back down to the trail head I found my friend sleeping in his car.  I wish I felt safe to sleep like that with my feet hanging out of a car parked on the side of the road.  My PTSD would never allow me to do such a thing.

I’m still sick today.  I really want to plant my garden but I’m too ill to get it done.  I won’t be doing much if any traveling this summer as my husband is very ill and he cannot be left alone for long anymore.

4 miles with 1,800 feet elevation gain.

Mount Walker Area

Jefferson Transit number one to Mount Walker

My mother is off the ventilator and I'm somewhat free to hike again.  Last month was an expensive month for me but at least I had some money then.  This month we plunge to well below the poverty level.  My husband lost his job and has no income.  My family of three will be living on $877 a month unless my spouse can get social security.  He's done his 40 credits, we'll find out on the 16th if he gets anything.

I had a migraine all day but it only really hurt when I was not walking.  When I changed buses in Brinnon I popped into the store and bought two bottles of Coke.  I never drink pop, but I knew that all the caffeine and sugar in Coke would help with my migraine and I was right!

  I took the bus up to the Mount Walker area and headed up Buck Mountain road.  I ran into one couple who were hiking down, they were disappointed with their hike.  There was no view and they could not find the way back to the trail after it hit the road.

I also could not find the way back to the trail so I settled on a nice viewpoint on the road.  I think I know the way to the top now but it involves ignoring a no tress passing sign.. so I'm not so sure.

The rhododendrons are in their prime right now.  I left Patches at home since getting her on the bus sometimes requires psychological warfare and with a migraine I was not up for warfare.

8.5 miles with 2,600 feet elevation gain..

Thimble berries... jam tomorrow!

Salmon berry... Jam now

Buck mountain in the middle

View at my normal lunch spot

The view was better then this but I was too slow to capture it

Riding home on Jefferson transit

Walker Mountain and the bus ride from hell

We took the bus, this time I convinced a friend to ride the bus with me.   People who own cars can be very nervous about riding the bus and my friend was nervous.  We boarded the bus at the Shelton transit center at 8:05am and began our trip up the Hood Canal.  The bus ride up the Hood Canal is usually wonderful; I had told my friend about all the wild life we would see along the way.

Too bad this trip was nothing like I had promised.  This trip turned out to be the bus ride from hell.  Okay, not quite hell for me, but only because I’ve rode buses in  third world countries.  It was certainly hell by  North American standards. 

 The driver kept going over the center line on highway 101, and I don’t mean just once or twice.  No, she went over the center line at least once a mile.  It was a 40 mile bus ride, so that means she went over the center line at least 40 times.  She crossed the center line right in front of a logging truck at one point.  But that’s not all; she also crept up onto the same car and then suddenly slammed on the brakes to keep from rear ending the car several times.  She also took her eyes of the road and drove with one hand while she fiddled with her purse.  

 Her driving was so bad that I and my friend both felt like we were going to throw up and Patches did throw up.  I felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride, except for that fact that it was not fun.  I love roller coaster rides, but I could not wait for this bus ride to end.

When we got to Brinnon and everyone was off the bus, the bus driver rushed into the outhouse.  Perhaps she had made herself nauseous too.

My poor friend who has not been on a bus in ages and had nothing to compare this too, thought this is what bus rides were supposed to be like.  When we transferred to the Jefferson Transit bus in Brinnon  he found out that not all bus rides are the same.  The Jefferson Transit ride was nice and smooth, the driver was good.  It was a normal bus ride.  My friend was much relieved that the second bus ride was not the same as that hellish never ending ride to Brinnon.

Our pleasant ride back to Brinnon

 

We got off of the Jefferson Transit bus at Walker Mountain antiques and walked up  to the gated entrance to Walker Mountain.  There we saw two car loads of happy chatty hikers preparing to take off up the mountain.  It was then that I remembered the Monday Hikers were to be here today. 

This was a problem because I wanted to let Patches run off leash.  I inquired of the group of hikers and they confirmed that yes, they were the Monday hikers (the hiker division, not the mountain goat division)  and another car load was on the way.  They seemed like a very nice group of people and I did not want to inflict my dog upon them, so we opted to turn back and hike up the Elbow Creek trail instead.

The hike was nice and quiet and uneventful .  I found some patchy snow at 2,900 feet.  We got a nice workout and Patches got to run free without disturbing anyone.

The bus ride home on Mason Transit was nice and smooth just like it should be.  The driver never once went over the center line or took her eyes of the road or tailgated.  The driver even pulled over one time to get some distance between her bus and a car that had a wobbly tire.  She was a good defensive driver.   

I’m not sure what to do about my bus ride from hell.  That first driver should not be on the road, but turning her in could make me all kinds of enemies in this small town.  Then again, how will I feel if she drives head on into a school bus and kills a bunch of people?  She needs to retire; I hope that someone else notices  before it’s too late.

Update: I've decided to do nothing.  Maybe the driver was just having a bad day?

5.5 miles with 2,950 elevation gain, 1,279 calories burned

Calories burned is based on http://hikingscience.blogspot.com/p/calculate-calories-burned_22.html

Track and elevation log including getting off the bus
and backtracking to elbo creek

Fording the mighty river

Time for a drink

Moss is the only water filter I use

Lichens and moss

Looks like a white fungi is taking over this peltigera lichen

My friend hanging on for dear life, expecting this ride to be the same
(this was one of the nice rides, so there was no need)

Patches hydrates at 2,800 feet

I want to come back and camp here

The forest on the ridge

 

Elbow Creek by Bus Bushwacking Loop with Patches

 5.5 miles with 2,500 feet elvation gain

Elbo Creek By Bus

About two weeks ago I did Mount Walker by Bus



I'm Still looking for ways to save money and keep hiking, so I decided to do another bus trip.  This time I took the same buses one would take to get to Mount Walker, but I went to the Elbo Creek trail. 

I almost did not get to go on this hike, as I had confused the times in my mind.  I was going to leave my house at 8:30 to catch the 8:05 bus.  Whoops.. I caught my mistake at 7:45 and headed out the door with my 9 year old daughter.  My daughter did a great job of getting ready fast, but only after I convinced her that I was not going to miss my hike over a couple of dog hairs on her shirt. 

I walked my daughter to her friend’s house that is on the way to my bus stop.  Her friend is a 9 year old boy who is left alone a lot.  This boy can be trusted to shut the doors and lock up the house after himself.  My daughter who is the same age cannot be trusted to do the same.  Since I don’t trust my daughter  to leave the house alone and my bus leaves way before she needs to leave the house to go to school, I drop her off at a friend’s house. 

  But no dice today, the friend was not home when we got there.  We had rushed out the door and towards the bus stop only to find the friend was not home.  Oh no!  My hike was on the line, my bus was leaving soon.  Now what?

 I remembered that my daughter had another friend who lives on the same street as my bus stop so I rushed her down the street and had her run ahead and knock on her other  friend’s door.  Time was running out, would this new plan work?

My little daughter knocked on the door and her little friend answered the door while I waited on the sidewalk.  The friend’s mother was in the shower but she came out and I explained my situation to her and  asked her if my daughter could walk to the school bus stop with her daughter.  She said yes.  YES! 

My hike was on.  I told my daughter that after school she was to go to the home of the friend whose house we went to first.  Since it was an early release day for her, she was going to get home from school way before I could get home from my hike.   With my daughter sorted out, I went to my bus stop and waited.  I felt I had done a good job of getting my daughter taken care of for the day and I could hike without guilt.



Waiting for the bus from Shelton to Brinnon

My bus arrived right on time and whisked me to Brinnon where another bus was already waiting to whisk me to the trail head. 



Changing buses in Brinnon in the Morning
 

Elbo Creek trail 9:40 am

I arrived at the trail head at 9:30. Taking the bus only takes 20 minutes more than it would take me to drive my broken down oil geyser of a Jeep, if I made no stops at all along the way.  I always stop somewhere on a trip that long too.

They say that statistically the most dangerous part of a hike is the drive home.  Not the hike, the drive home when you are tired and it might be dark.  I'm happy to leave the driving to Mason Transit so I can avoid the most dangerous part of my hike.

I’ve never been on the Elbo creek trail so I was a bit happy to be exploring a new trail even though I did not expect much from it.  I had never felt it was worth the gas to drive all the way to Quilcene to explore this trail.

  Elbo creek is not very exciting, it goes through skinny second growth, the forest is very closed in and the freeway can be heard at all times.  But if one has the time they could hike all the way up to Buck Mountain from the Elbo creek trail.

The advantages of Elbo Creek over Mount walker are: Solitude, no road walking down 101 to get to the trail head from the bus stop and a wilder trail.  The advantage of Mount Walker is a nicer view at the top, bigger trees to look at a well maintained trail and outhouses on the top.

I went about 2.5 miles up the Elbo creek trail until it came out onto a road and then I road walked to a clearing where I know that some folks like  to have lunch.  But, I did not want to have my lunch on a logging road, so at 12:10 pm I  headed back for the trail and a little view point in the forest. 

My mandatory turnaround time was 12:30, that would give me 3 hours to hike up and 2.5 hours to hike down.  Well I did not need to turn around quite as soon after all, as it only took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to hike down even with stopping to pick mushrooms and look at liverworts.   I found Hookeria moss and Riccardia liverworts I also found one Matsutake, several Helvella and a few milk caps.   I found the Matsutake while I was making the video.  It looked like a Russula, but when I picked it up and sniffed it I knew it was a Matsutake.  SCORE!

  I made it back down to the trail head at 2 pm and had 50 minutes to kill before my bus came.  To pass the time I wandered down the trail on the other side of the road and then I went to a creek and got some water and boiled up some tea.  While I had my tea I inventoried my mushrooms and counted my calories for the day.

The gasket on my Sawyer Squeeze filter failed on my Mildred Lakes hike but I found replacement gaskets at a local hardware store for 45 cents and my filter is working again.



Honey Mushrooms

I found a lot of Helvella mushrooms on the trail.  There are warnings that these contain rocket fuel.  I don’t believe the warnings. !  I think that Helvella has been implicated simply because its cap bears a superficial resemblance to Gyrometra.   Gyromitra does contain a poison that is found in rocket fuel.   I eat Helvella, but I will not eat Gyrometra.   Rocket fuel has never been proven to be in Helvella and Helvella is not even in the same genus as GryromitraI! I only eat about ten Helvella a year.

My Jefferson transit bus arrived promptly at 2:55 pm and whisked me to Brinnon where I had to wait about ten minutes before I could transfer to Mason Transit.  There was a homeless woman with a 9 month old baby who transferred with me, she was on her way to Olympia and had no place to stay there, and she was very talkative and friendly.  I hope she found a place to stay in Olympia last night.

Riding Mason transit is so different from my early experiences of riding the cold unfriendly buses in Seattle.  On a Mason transit bus the people all know each other and all chat with each other.  Even the bus drivers are chatty.  Riding the bus in Mason County is a bit of a social event and is hardly ever boring.   

Another thing about Mason Transit that is different it that there is no logical way to know what side of the road to wait for your bus to pick you up.  The bus had set stops and it goes to all of them zig zagging across the road.  If you want to go to a different stop that is right on the road you have to call ahead. 

A gorilla on the bus

One last thing about Mason Transit that is different, if your ride is in the county you don’t have to pay a fare!  The ride to Brinnon is out of county so I had to pay the reduced fare of 50 cents.  The total cost for my transportation on this hike was $2.00 in bus fares.  This trip is about 100 miles round trip, so I saved about $28 in gas and wear and tear on my car by taking the bus instead of driving my economy car.

When I got home my daughter and my dikaryotic partner were both at home.  It turned out that my daughter’s friend had moved away and she could not go to his house after school.  How odd, as my daughter swore that her friend knew she was coming in the morning.  Perhaps she had fibbed to me.  But all’s well that ends well.

6.5 miles with 2,100 feet elevation gain from bus to bus

Mount Walker from Elbo Creek trail head



Hookeria moss

A gorilla on the trail

The center of this Peltigera lichen turned green when
I dripped water onto it,  it was very dry here.

Lunch view

Road at the top

Having tea at the trail head while waiting for the bus

Tourist season is over in Brinnon

Brinnon store
I did not have to burn any gas today

Track and elevation log