Snow Tires are Good! LSF SKOK

Today I got to test out my new snow tires and I'm pleased. I never would have tried to drive in this much snow with out them.

There was about 16 inches of snow at the trail head and I did a lot of post holing. I only made it 5 miles round trip but my legs feel sore. When I stopped to decide if I was too cold and needed to turn around a tree lobbed an ice ball at my head. That made up my mind. Before I turned around I was sinking up to the top of my thighs in the snow. This was only when I had to go off trail to avoid trees. Alder trees bent over the trail formed impenetrable barriers in several places.

The weather changed from sunny and bright to dreary and gray several times. The snow on the ground was melting but snow was still falling from the sky. That always makes for a cold wet hike.

My feet and hands got very cold but I was prepared with dry socks and an extra pair of dry gloves. I changed into my dry gear during my brief lunch break. My new Seattle Sombrero worked well. It is size large and has a very wide brim; the brim really keeps the rain off. It's not an actual "Seattle" it's actually a "Nimbus". The Seattle is gortex and costs more. I got my Nimbus on sale for $17.00.

I tried to melt snow for my tea but it was a mistake, the water never boiled and I got really cold waiting for it. I'm going to switch to a different cook set and stove for the winter. My Heineken can pot and stove are great in the summer.

I've not totally recovered from my intestinal bug but I'm almost there. My entire family has been quite sick over Christmas Break.

On my drive out I saw dozens of people enjoying the snow. A lot of families had
Parked on the side of the road and built toasty campfires. The adults stood or sat around the fires while the kids went sledding. I want to try that some time.

The clear-cut where I did my research project has turned into a sledding hill.

5 Miles RT with 283 feet elevation gain.

"Stewardship" Logging

Project Name: Pine Creek Stewardship Project

In the name of stewardship they are going to log 179 acres and in return they will decommision .6 of a mile of one road. The road is already used as a trail but has some culverts. This road is where you park when you hike the Upper South Fork Skokomish trail. I'm glad they are going to convert it to trail but I don't think its worth the price of 179 acres of trees. I don't think logging should be called stewardship.

Logging and Mass Wasting

Mudslide photo spurs look at logging practices

This was a slide-prone drainage. But a Weyerhaeuser geologist found "no potentially unstable areas" in the area to be harvested and the state approved the logging.


Well if Weyerhaeuser's own Geologist said it is was safe for Weyerhaeuser to log here he must have been telling the truth right?


OSU School of Forestry Logging Oops!

The College of Forestry's land where the initial slides began is known as the Blodgett Tract because the Blodgett Timber Co. donated it to the college in 1929 for research into reforestation. It's now managed for intensive timber production that generates revenue for the college, according to OSU's plan for the acreage.

I like how intensive logging is passed off as "reasearch into reforestation"
I'm not surprised at this twisting of words and meaning though.

Stewartship contract is another word for logging. ONF will log 69 acres in the name of stewardship and use the money to close .6 of mile of a logging road but most of the money will to pay for "pre-commercial thinning" of 120 acres. The remaining trees will grow faster and the "thinned trees" can be sold to the new bio-disiel plant in Aberdeen.


Did overlogging contribute to floods?

Sunday Drive

Our Sunday drive is not my Grandparents Sunday drive. We always head for wilderness and the Olympic National Forest. I've been wanting to drive over the divide between the Satsop and Skokomish basins. We did not make it, there was snow at 2700 feet and the higher we went the deeper it got. We had to reach 3,400 feet to go over the divide. I'm all for testing out my new snow tires but not on a logging road where one small skid could mean death! The snow was getting deeper and the chasm on either side of the road was getting bigger and of course the road was getting narrower.

We had a good time in spite of not making our goal. I got out of my car at Spider lake and went for a little walk in the Climax old growth forest lining the lake. I was far too ill to contemplate walking the entire lake shore. The lake shore loop is is only 2 mile but I think I've got the flu. At this point I just hope I can hike again before the year is over.

Spider Lake, Lower Lena Lake, Jefferson Lake and Lower Dry Bed Lake may have all been formed by the same earthquake. (Schuster et all, 1992)

The short section of the Spider lake trail that I walked has a lot of storm damage. Multiple trees across the trail and the trail is washed out in places. The plastic sheet underlying the trail is exposed. I started on the little unmarked access on the North end of the lake and then took the left route when I reached the loop trail. I turned around at the first bridge. The bridge is in good shape.

We checked out Browns Creek Campground on the way home and I am happy to report that the campground was not damaged during the storm.  I don't know if the Nature Trail was damaged.

Forest Service Sheet:
Spider Lake Trail # 879
Hood Canal Ranger District - Quilcene Office
295142 Highway 101 S. P.O. Box 280
Quilcene, WA 98376 (360) 765-2200

ACCESS: Located northwest of Shelton in the
Skokomish River Recreation Area. Travel US
Highway 101 to the Skokomish Valley Road, (7
mi. north of Shelton, 7 mi. south of Hoodsport).
Turn west on the Valley road and drive about 5.5
miles to the junction with FS Road #23. Turn
right and proceed for 10 miles on FS Road #23
to the junction of FS Road #2353. Veer left and
continue on FS Road #23 (end of pavement)
another 8 miles to the Spider Lake Trailhead.
FACILITIES: Enter trail from either the North
or South end of lake.

NOTE: The trail and lake
might not be signed, look for Spider Lake below
the FS Road #23 on the east side of the road.
There is no toilet or potable water at the
trailhead.

SETTING: This trail loops around Spider Lake
through old growth forest. Lush plants along trail.

TRAIL INFORMATION: This trail receives
yearly maintenance and is in good condition.
Destination Miles Elev.
Trailhead 0.0 1,700’
Loop around lake and back to
trailhead
1.9 1,700’

PASS NOT REQUIRED: A Northwest Forest
Pass is NOT REQUIRED at this trailhead.
Spider Lake
Trail #879

----------
Prehistoric Rock Avalanches in the Olympic Mountains, Washington (in Reports; Ancient Earthquake)
Robert L. Schuster; Robert L. Logan; Patrick T. Pringle
Science, New Series, Vol. 258, No. 5088. (Dec. 4, 1992), pp. 1620-1621.
Stable URL

Abstract: Rock avalanches blocked streams in the Olympic Mountains southwest of Puget Sound during the past few thousand years. Limiting radiocarbon ages indicated that three or four of six avalanches occurred from 1000 to 1300 years ago or shortly thereafter. Most of the dates were from the outer preserved rings of trees drowned behind avalanche dams. These three or four avalanches may be coeval not only with one another but also with abrupt tectonic deformation in western Washington. No rock avalanches in the Olympic Mountains are known to have resulted from storms or earthquakes during the past century. The avalanches strengthen the case that a large prehistoric earthquake occurred in the Puget Sound region.

Mudslide photo spurs look at logging practices

Mudslide photo spurs look at logging practices

Did overlogging contribute to floods?