Mount Rose

Remnant of the original trail that  the Mount Rose trail crew rerouted the trail around.. It did not go anywhere

just back to the new trail, still it was interesting to see and there was an old tin can shoved under a tree there.

7.5 miles 3,500 feet elevation gain

Flat Lake aka Rock Pond

Flat Lake

I had kind of a rough time today. I went to a lake I have never been to and I did not find that trail but that was okay because I had an outlet stream to follow, so no worries there.   Surprisingly the lake was not at all frozen, I think it is spring fed.

But after I had been at the lake for awhile I reached for my GPS(r) and it was not there in my pack pocket. I knew I had lost it while brush crashing and following my exact route out of there was not going to be easy.  If I had been hiking on a trail it would have been an easy thing to back track and find my GPS. 

I went back to the brush and searched and searched for it for about an hour  I kept trying to follow my same route but then I saw some red ribbons and I knew I was off my route.  I had not seen those red ribbons on the way in.  The terrain was a little rough, but I scoured the hillside for about an hour and then gave up.  I went ahead  and walked around the lake like I had planned on doing and then went back to the outlet and had tea.  I was not happy but I did not let it stop me from hiking around the lake or having tea.

Frozen mushrooms at the inlet of the lake

 I could see the trail out and when it was time to go I really wanted to follow it but I decided to once again try to replicate my brush crashing route to get out of there in hopes of finding my GPS(r) I followed my mental landmarks to know where I had been. My landmarks were mushrooms and those damn red ribbons I lost my landmarks again near the red ribbons but then on about my 5th try I saw a conk that I recognized so I knew I was back on my original route. 

Then 15 feet from the conk I saw something that told me I was on the same route without a doubt. It was a piece of orange duct tape, the tape was attached to a lanyard and the lanyard was attached to my GPS(r) . I kissed it more passionately then I have probably ever kissed a lover. I was so happy to have my GPS back (I've never lost it before) with my GPS back I went back to the lake and followed the trail out.

Decommissioned road

The road was decommissioned about 1/4 of a mile from the trail to the lake but it was not torn up too bad and there was a path left open that was free of logs.  If all decommissioned roads were this nice for hiking I would not complain about them quite so much.

2 miles with 800 feet elevation gain.  It should have been just 150 feet, looking for my GPS added a lot of ups and downs to this hike.

Lake pano with strange perspective

Exploring Vigilante Trails on the Peninsula

I spent the day exploring vigilante trails.  I don't want to reveal where these trails are, so I won't say too much about them here.  It's great fun to have new trails to hike though!  Especially trails that not too many people know about.  I detest hiking in crowds.

When I run into people on the trail it really alters my experience.  Sometimes it's okay, but often I catch myself running my conversation with them through my head over and over and then I lose touch with nature.

  If I can hike all day without seeing another person I can slip my cultural collar a bit. The mountains soothe me, society riles me.  I have PTSD, hiking alone with my dog is my therapy.

 Sometimes I hike with men but issues always come up, most of them unspoken.   Many men think they have to be a know it all and they have to do all the talking.  I tolerate that during a hike, but I secretly wish was hiking alone or hiking with a woman.   I feel sorry for men who think they are expected to know everything, sexism hurts everyone.

I don't hate men, but I enjoy the freedom of not having one around when I am hiking.  I had a man that I really enjoyed hiking with for a while, he was polite and kind and gentle. I felt so safe when I was with him, I even loved him.   But that ended when he started  expecting sex and then getting upset and feeling entitled when that did not happen.  Then he started getting jealous of another men I hiked with while he hiked with other women all the time.  He started sending me angry emails in the wee hours of the morning accusing me of all sorts of things.   WTF?  Dude, you don't own me.

There is another man that I hike with from time to time.  He has never hit on me and has never given any indication that he will ever start hitting on me.  Hopefully he will never start hitting on me.  I don't hike with him very often because I fear that he will take it as a sign that I want more than a hiking partner.

It's starting to get cold, but the weather is nice and dry so I was able to stop and stay warm with my down jacket on. In the rain I don't dare bring my down and am stuck with two bulky fleece layers that are not as warm as my one down jacket.

I had my lunch at noon. My lunch was a hot meal and a hot tea.  I've got a lot of backpacking food left over that I had prepared for the PCT but never got to use, so I will be eating a lot of hot lunches on the trail this winter.  After lunch I explored for as long as I could.  I did not really want to hike in the dark, so I turned back at about 2:30.

This hike wiped me out so I had to take a second tea break on the way back even though I knew it meant I would probably be hiking out in the dark.  But I was fast, I made it out in record time.  It helped that I was not hunting mushrooms.  I saw some Matsutake but I did not pick it since I already have a ton of it from my last trip to the Kitsap Peninsula.

Slippery!

Calendar sale ends November 13th

Lulu has just come out with a 25% off coupon for Calendars it is 25CAL use that code to get the best price possible on my calendars, the code is good until Nov. 13th. Now it the best time to order for sure, I used that code to get my calendar.

Buy one for yourself and one for your mother.  Buy one just because you like this blog and want to encourage me to keep blogging. This blog turned nine on Monday.

The 2015 Olympic Mountain Calendars are ready!  Buy them here.

These pictures are on the calendar:

Off Trail on Mount Rose

I was still a bit under the weather but I needed some exercise. So I headed up Mount Rose. It's mushroom season and there were a few of the usual mushrooms out. No one would ever go to Mount Rose just to hunt mushrooms, it's far too much work and the mushrooms are too spread out. I missed a trail junction so I decided to brush crash until I hit the trail again. But I went too low and had to regain a bunch of elevation. It was fun to be off trail on Mount Rose. Mount Rose is getting crowded so I am doing more and more off trail stuff these days.

I was very tired so I moved up the mountain quite slowly.  My off trail travel slowed me down too.  I made it out just before dark but slightly after sunset.

The creeks were all high and water was plentiful on my route.  My handmade pack ripped near the corner of one of the side pockets and I had to stop and repair it so I could keep using that pocket.  The other side pocket is reinforced in that same spot.  I will fix up my pack before my next hike.

It's less work to repair my pack than it is to make a new one, but I am thinking of making a new one just for fun.

 6.5 miles with 3,500 feet elevation gain.

The 2015 Olympic Mountain Calendars are ready!  Buy them here.  Get and extra 25% off by using the code CAL25 (or 25CAL).  The discount lasts until Nov. 13th so hurry!

I caught a snail trying to eat a slug and the slugs reaction. I hope the slug was able to get away.

Snail trying to eat a slug

Wood ears

Bear Head in the sky

Milk Cap with Peltigera Lichen and Kidbergia moss

English Springer Spaniel

Purple Corts

if you know anything about this guy please contact me