North Fork Skokomish - met Ranger Bruce

Usnea longissima lichen and the North Fork Skokomish Trail

I went back to the Staircase area to look for the Black Diamond trekking pole that I lost on the causeway bridge parking area. I did not find my pole.. boo hoo.. I took that pole up Mount Adams. I still have the grip for it though.. of what use is it without the grip??

I found a fishing net near where I lost my pole and I turned it in to the ranger on the way out. I also found a big goose feather where I lost my pole. And the goose that I accidentally saved from a bald eagle by stopping to take a picture, was there in the river with its mate and 5 cute yellow goslings.. well I think it's the same goose couple anyway.

After leaving the bridge I went into the ranger station to see if my pole had been turned it. It had not been turned in, but I finally got to meet Ranger Bruce!

Salal leaf faces in hole

Decided to do a little hike while I was in the area even though I am still sore from my last hike. Headed for Big Log but got tired and stopped for tea and lunch at Madaline Creek.

This might be the best week of the year to hike Staircase. Lots of trail work has been done and the summer hoards have not yet arrived. Trail is in great shape, but they still need to do something about the scary bridge on Madeline creek.

I found a second salal leaf in the little hole to the right of the trail.

For a while I leapfrogged with a guy who had a huge heavy pack.  He decided to head up to flapjack lakes.  I hope he made it ok in the snow with the huge heavy load he had.

I found Pacific Fuzzwort again and this time it was down low, so it's not restricted to higher elevations..

Pacific fuzzwort

10 miles 800 feet elevation gain

botched pano from washout

Campsite at Madeline Creek

Conocephalum conicum liverwort

Recent trail work

Dendralosia moss

Fairy vomit lichen

Filling up with no fear

Fungi on Vanilla leaf here

Luecolepis ancanthonuera moss

Lobaria oregana lichen, Homalothecium moss

Losing a toenail and it hurts

Moss sporophytes

Mystery thalloid liverwort on log

Niphotrichum moss

Peltigera lichen on log

Peltigera lichen on log with Scapania liverwort

Poison Amanita mushroom for Ranger Davis to stomp

Psuedocephalaria lichen (spelled wrong)

The bridge from the trail

Rhytidopsis robustis moss

Scapania liverwort with sporophytes

Sporophytes on false Polytrichum moss

Tea brewed about to add soy milk at Madeline Creek

A rought skinned newt crawled under here and disappeared before I
could take a picture at my lunch spot..

Tiny fungi to stomp

Track and elevation log

Trail workers had fun here

Flats at start of trail

view near start of hike

Snow turned me back the last time I was here

Dry Creek North to South to the Pass

Pacific Fuzzwort Ptilidium californicum

Lost at the start of the dry creek trail (Probably near the causeway bridge) One well loved black diamond trekking pole missing its handle.  I have the handle and would love to have my pole back.  Thanks!

(This trail used to start at staircase ranger station and go all the way to camp comfort on the south fork Skokomish River but it was destroyed and bisected by logging.  Now only a small fragment remains and it has been divided into two trails. The Shady Lane Nature trail that was not logged and the remnant Dry Creek trail that was savagely logged by Simpson and the Forest service up to the Douglas-fir line.)

I left my house as soon as my little one was out the door; I had this fantasy of making it home before she got home from school.  I don’t know why I thought I could do 14 miles in less than 4 hours.  I hit the trail at 10am after a stop for gas at Twin Totems and a stop for food in Hoodsport.  I met two women at the trailhead who were waiting for a meet up group that was going up Dry Creek.  Oh great, no solitude today I thought.  I also thought they were going up Copper Creek.  

Using my MP3 player for motivation I got off to a quick start so I could make it across the creek before the meet up group hit the trail.

Before I knew it I was at the creek.  I hid something at the creek, marked it with my GPS and then put my sandals on and crossed the creek.  The crossing was uneventful.  The creek is far too dangerous to cross, don’t try it.

We smelled bear twice.

I headed up to the ridge top camp just before I got to the camp I found a thalloid liverwort with sprorophytes.  I will try to ID it.  The old growth forest was glorious as usual.  Then I kept going, I have not hiked this entire trail, I’ve approached it from both ends and there is a ½ mile gap after the campsite and before the pass that I have never explored.  I’ve never seen the whole trail because I’ve never been up for that big of a hike, but today I was.  I hiked all the way to the pass.

There was snow on the trail to the pass and I almost overshot the pass but my GPS(r) came to the rescue as I had the trail and waypoints for the pass in it.  Some of the snow was mushy and deep and I did some scary sudden potholing but it all worked out well.  The pass was snow free.

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snow at 3,500 feet

As I got near the pass I saw Pacific Fuzzwort Ptilidium californicum.  This is a liverwort that only seems to grow above 3,500 feet in the Olympics and only on old growth hemlock snags.   Maybe it would grow on Doug-fir snags too but there is not much Douglas-fir at this elevation.  I only saw the fuzz wort on one log, but it had sprorophytes.  I did not take any to ID as clearly this is a rare bryophyte.


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A few blow downs on the lower section
I hope the Mount Rose trail crew pays a visit

Once on the pass I relaxed, laid back and soaked up the sun and I had a cup of tea, some pepperoni and a power bar.  Patches actually ate her dry dog food; she must have been very hungry.  I spent about an hour on the pass and headed back down at about 4pm.

The hike out was uneventful.  The lake level has been raised and the lake goes up to the trail now, all that Climacium dendroides moss is now underwater.  When I got back to the creek crossing I stopped, soaked my feet and had another tea.  After I crossed the creek I changed into thick dry socks.  My toes had been hurting on the way down and the big thick socks really helped.  I wore my Asolo boots that are ten years old and I did not get any blisters in spite of the elevation gain and the fact that I only wore one pair of socks.

Filled up with tea, feet soaked in cold water, nice dry socks, MP3 player back on, I got a nice hikers high that lasted until about 12.3 miles then I slowed down a bit but I never really bonked.  I made it back to my waiting car at about 7:30 and made it home around 9:45.  So much for getting home before my little one came home from school!

I'm really learning how to see Pellia everywhere.  On this hike I saw it in every place that I saw Conocephalum.  I'm still trying to find a hornwort, still with no luck.

13 miles with 3,000 feet elevation gain (roughly)

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These cabin owners recently decided to log the shit out
of their property .  This is very disappointing, but it's
their right to vandalize their own property.

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Lake Level is back up and this is a diving board again

Pacific coralroot
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Tough going near the pass and I was tired with over 2,500 feet elevation gain already done

White Marsh Marigold (Caltha leptosepala),

Relaxing on the pass

Amanita

Amanita

Thalloid liverwort with capsules N47.47076 W123.36691

Lost one of these

Rubis?

Hood canal from the pass

Blueberry flowers

Dicranum moss on the pass 3,600 feet

Unknown flower (please comment if you know the name)

pano from the pass

Trilliums in bloom now

Pellia neesiana

Slightly stunted Pilophorus acicularis covers this rock at 3,500 feet, this must be a very old lichen

Mystery orange mushrooms and Dicranum moss

Kristin Delaney, I still don't know what her story is

Pellia neesiana at about 2,000 feet with no sporophytes