2014.2.8. Snowed in

Heavy snow started 11am-ish Thursday, continued till today. Now is frozen rain. The hike I signed up for today was cancelled. I'm stuck home. Decided to bake. My bread dough is not rising. Too cold. But butter cookies (sablé) are easy, especially after I cut a few steps out. Result is ugly, but still pretty tasty. My "revised" recipe:

3 cups of stone ground whole wheat flour. 
Half pound of unsalted butter.
3 large eggs (my large eggs are not big enough).
0.5 teaspoon of salt.
1.25 cups of brown sugar (regular sugar is better to mixin).
0.t teaspoon of vanilla extract. 
1 pinch of baking soda (should use baking powder)

Mix all together (everything is organic except for baking soda), until lumpy.
Form disc with my palms. Put in greased pans.
Bake in preheated oven at 350°F for 15 minutes. Let it cool.

Another problem with staying at home is online shopping.

2014.2.2. Wolf Creek Conservation Area

The 4,203 acres of the Wolf Creek Wildlife Conservation Area is newly classified as “High Value Conservation Area". We stated near the headwater of Salmonberry creek, and walked half on logging road, half off-trail. North Coast State Forest Coalition (NCSFC) Organizer Chris Smith is be the Leader on this trip. Mary Vogal of Sierra Club and Jim Thayer, guide book author, also came along, almost hijacked the leadership. Fine with me. Certainly the later two are more knowledgeable. The account of the first person who navigate the entire Columbia River Nupika is entertaining, even though nothing to do with where we were. Not too much walking today, not much view either. Mostly second growth forest (all been burnt or cut before). Still nice to walk in the forest with the winter sun occasionally filtering through the trees.

Lots of young alders beating on you as you walk pass. Trees look rather healthy, even though we drove by clearcuts and walked by "selective" cut and "intact" patches. Pipes under road where creeks run. These two on the right are probably some lichen: bone lichen?

Furry young leaves of hawkweed are cute. Forest floor and fallen logs are often covered with this moss on the left. Quite delicate.

Total 20 came from 3 different groups. 4 meeting spots. Lots of waiting. 2 left before we even started hiking (almost 3 hour after the first meeting time). Chilly to stand around. Once we started walking, it was fine.