2016.5.28-30 Staircase in Olympic National Park

5/28, Saturday. Showers. A late start after a sumptuous breakfast, headed to Staircase ranger station on the SE side of the Olympic Peninsula. Traffic into Tacoma in both directions. More traffic around Lewis - McCord base. Picked up a loaf of bread (tasty) at Blue Heron bakery in Mud Bay. A short detour to Evergreen College (nice campus, not so pretty concrete buildings). Hit rain shortly afterwards. Lots of fishing boats out. Hoodsport happened to be sunny. Lots of people. Didn't find out what's happening. There, turn left on 119, along Lake Cushman (a dammed reservoir). A state park, a resort, quite a few houses and even a golf course on its wooded shore. Saw a deer crossing the road. At Bear Gulch picnic area at its northern end, had lunch in the car with a view of the lake, as by then, the rain has returned. Quite pretty. Olympic National Park Staircase entrance is shortly afterwards. The ranger informed me that permit for Flapjack Lakes are by reservation only (limit to 50 people, and it was full). Reluctantly issued a permit for Black and White Lakes, because he said already plenty of people obtained permit there for the night. We didn't start hiking until 2:20pm. Yes. Still raining, lightly. But it didn't stop until about 9pm :(

The trail was crowded in the first mile. Lots of people camp at the campground (50 sites) across from the ranger station. The short 2 mile Rapids Loop is an easy choice along North Fork Skokomish River, which was fast flowing. There's a serious bridge to cross the river and return on the other side. After the bridge, the crowd thinned out considerably. 3 boring but easy miles later is a trail junction.

Turn right here for Flapjack Lakes (in 4 miles), Gladys Ridge (in 5.5 miles), Black and White Lakes (4.5 miles). The trail is boring, a few fallen trees, some wild roses and lots of Solomon's plume in bloom. Another serious bridge over tumbling water, a marker tells you this is Madeline Creek. A big campsite after the bridge by the Madeline Creek. After the marked junction (Black and White Lake to the left crossing Donahue, and Flapjack Lakes to the right and up) at about 3.5 miles and @3400', the trail gets rougher and steeper. More washouts. More waterfalls. Pink ribbons at times to lead the way. One big down tree was most problematic. I took off my pack and crawled under it on my belly. Soon, snow appeared, and slope gets gentler. Lots of Avalanche Lily, Western Anemone, huckleberry bush, some just budding. Lots of beargrass, none blooming yet. Black and White Lakes are to the right of the trail. Whatever leads to them, if there is one, was buried under the snow. My GPS map came in handy. The lakes are small, but quite pretty, especially now with half thawed snow covering a better part of the surface. A number of tents were already here. One guy was attempting to fish. We pitched the tent next to a small snow fed pond. Still drizzling. I put my stuff in the tent, and went on in search of Smith Lake, which should only be a mile away. I went up a small ledge north. Couldn't see any trail or foot prints, just more snow. Gave up and returned to camp. Cold and wet. At about 9pm, I noticed color through the "window" (a small triangular clear plastic) of the tent. Stuck my head out. The rain stopped. The setting sun was casting color on the thick clouds. Nice view of the mountain over the Skokomish valley. Snatched a few photo without getting out of the tent, because I don't want to put my damp boot onto my clean socks. A good finish after about 9 miles and 4000'+.

The name Black and White comes from a brand of whiskey drank by early elk hunters in the region, and was beloved so much by one man, that he wandered off to the lake and carved the name of the whiskey into one of the high alpine trees.

5/29, Sunday. No more rain today, even though plenty of dark clouds in the morning looked quite menacing. After the breakfast, walked to the SW ledge end above the lake basin. Good view of the valley as well as views to part of the Sawtooth Range and Flapjack Lakes below among the woods.

Packed up and hiked down a mile (it seems longer) to the trail junction to Flapjack Lakes. Crawled under the same tree. Dropped packs in one of the camp sites next to the creek just below the junction. Repacked lunch, water, and also crampons, headed up to Flapjack Lakes. The half mile also seems longer, steep and rugged. More Trillion, both purple and white, but small blossoms. Avalanche Lily, Glacier Lily, Lady Slipper. The 2 lakes here are larger. Beautiful green color. You can see Sawtooth Ridge from one side of the lakes. Two campsites between the lakes were occupied, despite of the no camping sign. Had lunch here admiring the mountains over the emerald water.

I wanted to check out Gladys Ridge, but forgot how far it was. From my GPS map, it seems less than a mile. So after 20 minutes into to the woody hillside, I was very happy to encounter a hiker. He informed us that the ridge is in another mile, lots of snow, but enough people were going so plenty foot prints to follow. True, soon met more hikers, and much more snow. In fact, the last half of mile is all snow. Boy, was it splendid! The snowy trail (need at least 2 weeks to thaw) parallels the aptly named Sawtooth Ridge. Jagged peaks rising immediately beside you. The trail is also gentle. Whatever roots and rocks that may make the treading difficult were now all smoothed out by snow. Not icy. Easy to make steps whenever needed. The sun was out. It was noticeably warm, and so bright, that I had trouble opening my eyes. At the end of trail, you can peek into Skokomish Wilderness, overlook a valley beneath Mt Skokomish (6434'), and a frozen lake (Murdock Lake?). Many snowy mountains (probably no more snow in a month or 2), not sure which one is Mt Gladys to the left, nor which is Mt Cruiser (6104') to the right, the only 2 named on my map.

Nothing interesting to report on the way out. The Spike Camp on the park map at the junction of Noth Fork Skokomish River trail doesn't seem to exist. About 2 miles later, found a nice campsite next to Skokomish River, followed a sign for Slider Camp, over a small creek, then a Jurassic Park like flat jungle with hanging lichen and waist high saw ferns. Existing fire ring, dry log to sit on. Open. Right by the rushing river. Had champagne with dinner to celebrate my uncoming birthday. A fine finish after about 14 miles.

5/30, Memorial Monday. Warmer day. Sunny, few clouds. My gas canister went empty before breakfast was properly heated. No matter. Cold mocha mouss and a candle for breakfast. Had my shoes and sock on the pebble beach drying in the sun, before hiking out. Reached the ranger station at 9:30am. It was still closed. Filled water at the campground.

Drove to Upper Mt Ellinor trailhead (3500'), on 014 off FSRD 119. Decent condition with some potholes. Depending on the source, the trail to the summit (5944') is 1.6 miles or 2.25 miles. Very well made trail. Nails holding the wooden steps. The trail goes on a ridge for about half a mile. Somewhat steep, but not too bad. At 1/4 mile, junction of the lower Ellinor Trail. At the sign of Summit Trail was where the snow started. The view opens up soon afterwards. The puget sound winding below, Mt Rainier, Adams, and St Helens beyond. A fine turnaround point for those ill-equipped. A mountain goat or more entertain your camera. Put on crampons, or with stubbornness (many hikers here had just tennis shoes on), you can continue on to steeper slopes. Fortunately, the snow was soft, easy to kick in for steps. Soon you reach a ridge overlooking more mountains on the other side. Now head to the right. Some rocks and snow. Probably a good scramble in summer. The top is barely large enough for two dozen people, and it was crowded today. Deservedly so. What a view! I don't know where to take a photo. 360° layers of green mountains topped with snow every direction you look. Not hot, not cold, no wind, all the reason to linger. Reluctantly, headed down, making room for the new arrivals. It's not easy going on the steep snowy hills. I had to put crampons on. Glissaded a bit on not so steep sections. Got pretty wet. It was fun.

2016.5.22. Oyster Tour

5/22, Sunday, drizzle. At 8:30am, a dozen of us showed up at the parking lot of Pacific Seafood in Bay City (address: 5150 Hayes Oyster Dr., Bay City, OR 97107) for the free oyster tour, made possible by the generous support by Friends of Netarts Bay, Tillumook County Salt Dog Funds, Pacific Oyster Company, and Whiskey Creek Hatchery. Everyone else in the gorup seems to be from the area. 7 of us got on the shuttle bus operated by Brian Cameron of Tillamook Eco Adventures. The rest drove their own vehicles. I'm very happy to be on the bus. Brian is an excellent tour guide who leads various tours in the area in summer. He's also a part time writer, so full of local history and modern information.

Our first stop is at Bay Ocean Peninsula County Park. First, because of low tide at the time. We walked across the MUDDY bay to visit a Pacific Seafood Oyster Bed. Single oyster buried here and there. At one of the beds we visited (the closest one to shore), oysters are clustered on lines. They look harvest size (~2 years). We were told about the agriculture runoff from the diary farms upland. There're ~5 rivers drain to Tillamook Bay. When water samples failed the quality and salinity test, the bay would be closed to harvest for 10 days. The flat estuary is so muddy that whenever we stopped to listen, we slowly sunk deeper. At one point or another, one of us would have trouble lifting a foot, or the foot out but the rubber boot still in the mud. On the way back, the water was rising a bit, made it worse. Once we reached the grass, our guide Christine (also the organizer) picked some sea bean, which looks like weed, for us to taste. Not bad.

Our next stop is Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Netarts, where Christine's husband works. It's the largest shellfish hatchery in U.S, and the first successful shellfish hatchery business. It provides oyster, geoduck, and mussel seed for commercial as well as restoration efforts. Whiskey Creek has also been at the forefront of ocean acidification research and adaptation. T his computer is the first in commercial use to test the water acidity, oxygen level and other measurement. This is a fascinating place. Christine's husband showed us all aspect of his work, from spawning, to larvae in microscopes, to growing algae to feed the larvae, attaching larvae to shells, as well as how to make triploid oysters. Both of them are super nice and knowledgeable and happy to answer questions. I don't use Facebook anymore. If you do, please like their page.

Last stop, back where we parked: Pacific Seafood/Oyster processing plant. It's unlucky that no one is working today. So we (and every customer at The Fish Peddler restaurant and market on the ground floor) saw the sparkling clean shucking and packing room. The shells were collected and had to be sent to WA for commercial washing (Oregon doesn't have a plant to do this) before shipped back here to be reused.

Before returning home, drove to Rockway Beach on route of north bay at Barview. There were very few people. Wide beach stretch as far as eye can see.

2016.5.20. Vincent Versace

5/20, Friday 6:30-8:30pm. Photographer Vincent Versace gave a lecture titled Lens As Brush, Camera As Canvas at Pro Photo Supply. There were flies of his field class the next day (Saturday).

As a Nikon Ambassador, Versace's tool is Nikon. More than half of the talk is slide show of his photos (his project on Myanmar, Cuba, SF, a collection of flowers, another collection of portraits). Clouds feature heavily in his landscape shots. Portraits are excellent. He picked a few photos of those and talked about some technical details, which I can only understand half. Q&A afterwards. He seems to be a good teacher, and didn't mind to extend his talk past 8:30, despite of some audience taking leave.

I was half an hour late due to work. After this event, I went back to work :(

2016.5.17. The Teeth of Our Skin - a play

5/17. Tuesday. First performance of Thornton Wilder's play, The Teeth of Our Skin at Artists Repertory Theatre, directed by Dámaso Rodriguez. A very messy play. The plot is inventive but a bit chaotic: an American Family (named Antrobus ~ anthropos) going through Ice Age, Biblical Flood, and modern war. The characters are representative: a father who tries to make a better beginning (he invented wheel, is inventing alphabet and multiplication table), a mother who's indulging and self righteous, a son who's violent, and a stupid daughter. On top of the complex and non-linear narrative, and a lot of characters (including dinosaur, Moses), there are 3 schemed in interruptions of the actors talking directly to the audience. One in each act. The first one is acceptable: Sabina the maid complains about the repetitiveness of life and the length of play. The 2nd is odd, the beauty queen refuses to say the lines, but tells it anyway, making someone sobbing in the audience (all made up of course). The 3rd is totally disruptive and ridiculous: a fictitious meal allegedly caused a few actors ill, and 4 school kids were asked to rehearse with the stage manager.

3 acts, each with a different stage set. A long play. I should say that the company did a great job of pulling all these together, even though I don't like the play. I would have cut the interruptions and maybe tighten up the rest.

2016.5.14. Fernhill Wetland Ecoblitz

5/14. Saturday. Misty. I signed up for some tours at the first ever Eco Blitz at Fern Hill Wetland, owned and operated by Clean Water - a water treatment company for Forest Grove.

I was half an hour late for the the 7am bird tour (I missed my 6am train). About 10 people. The leader carried a super binocular on a tripod, so is another guest on the tour. I saw clearly Cedar Waxwing, Band-tailed Pigeon, Long-billed Dowitcher, wood ducks, Blue-winged Teal from their lenses. A couple herons and great egret.

The lady who led the plant tour at 9am has a Ph.D. in marine plants. Another ~10 people on her tour, they all know more than I do about plants. I learned a lot, hopefully remembered a few.

At 11am, I went with the engineer and the botanist of Clearwater, the water treatment company who owns this land, to learn how they planned this. Quite interesting. You see all these stags and different water level: it's all calculated. They drained water 2 years ago, and changed some of the contours, laid down pipes, and seeded native plants. In the short time, this is looking very nice. I left before end, to catch a bus back home, and back to work.

2016.5.13. Dog Mountain in bloom + Falls Creek Falls

5/13 Friday. Due to office move at work's HQ, I couldn't work, even though there's a deadline looming ahead. I rented a car for the day and headed east along the Gorge for a couple of hikes which I had to drop out this weekend (yes, had to work this weekend, once the network is up in the new office).

My first stop is Cape Horn viewpoint. I've probably driven here many times, and hiked the Cape Horn Loop, but never stopped here for a photo. Now is a chance with myself at the wheel. It's on is a massive basalt cliff outcrop, with a great view of Columbia River Gorge. It's on the Washington side of the Columbia River at River Mile (RM) 132, approximately 10 miles upriver from Washougal.

I've heard of Falls Creek Falls a couple of times. North of Carson. After a half mile gravel road with potholes (not bad). When you think you may be on the wrong road, you come upon a big parking area with a privy. I'm surprised to see quite a few cars on this hot Friday. I did a simple out and back as described here. 3.4 miles RT. Trail goes along the creek for a bit, crossing two over-engineered bridges, then it's dusty hill in the woods. Not too interesting, and it was hot. However, the end is very rewarding: beautiful and thundering waterfall. Much cooler in temperature. The mist of the waterfall carries to your camera. The viewing area can see two cascades, and has enough boulder to sit around. A group women was celebrating a birthday, laying out lot of picnic goods. The lower fall is very tall and powerful. With some scramble, this hike can be made to a 6 mile loop going to the upper falls.

May is the best time to hike Dog Mountain, and it should be on everyone's top list when Balsamroot blooms. Looks like it is. The parking lot was almost full on this Friday afternoon, at 82°F. I made a mistake going left and up on Ausberger trail, and down on Dog Mountain trail. It's better to go up anti-clockwise. You'd see less people, as you are not against the main flow of traffic, and it's easier on the knees: steeper up, gentler down. The 6-7 mile loop is one hour each of dusty and sweaty march getting to/from the flowering slope. Saw a little snake in my first 20 minutes, and ran into two ladies (G & C) I knew. Once you reach the blooming section, it's a treat, a wow. On top of the dense flowers, you see Mt St Helens, Mt Hood and the snaking Columbia River.

After returning the rental car, I went to Powell's to hear Local guide author Bill Sullivan. Sullivan was here promoting his newly updated book on Oregon coast. I was 20 minutes late. Luckily Sullivan enjoys giving talks, it lasted a bit longer than other book talks. He also mentioned that his brother has built a website helping to identify flowers on the hikes http://www.oregonhiking.com/oregon-adventures/wildflower-search. It's available on his website, and I encourage everyone checking it out, as well as the books. I very much enjoyed his talk and slides.

2016.5.7-8 Mill Creek Wilderness

Two of my meetup groups hosted an outing at Mill Creek Wilderness on the same weekend, and following the same route: the loop in this route, about 19 miles. See map on USDA website. I opted to go with the group that leaves on Friday evening. We are 6 in 2 cars.

5/6 Friday. Met at Gateway at 6pm. Drove to Twin Pillar north trail head. Around Warm Spring, the sun was setting behind puffy clouds over the Cascade Range. Very colorful. Jefferson was half in the clouds, Ollalie Butte was clear, with snow still on top, Hood off to the north side. When we got into Madras, it was dark already. After a stop at Thriftway, we continued. Turned north on Main St at Prineville. Google map led me on a detour. I was laughed at believing in Google map. After the junction of FS27 and 2745, the road deteriorates. Keep right, continue on 27, luckily only for about half mile. Turn to Brigham Spring CG. There were puddles on the road, and our drivers stopped in front of a bigger puddle, as it was about 10pm, unable to discern how deep it was. We were just a few yards off the big meadow, picnic tables and a privy of the campground, but I didn't know. We camped where we stopped :( A few of us chatted and waited for meteors. The stars wasn't very bright, maybe clouds. I didn't go to sleep until midnight.

5/7 Saturday. Woke up around 6am. However others were taking their time. Glad that I brought my Kindle. I was able to dry my tent, pack, and wait at the meadow for the rest to finish their morning chore. We walked ~2 miles east on a dirt road, saw 2 trucks coming our way. After the sign of some land claim, we walked right (south) to the Wild Cat trail. Soon entering the wilderness boundary, as well as the burn zone. By then, it was already almost 11am.

The trail is gentle. Burnt trees. Not very scenic. We are around 5000'. So the air isn't too hot, despite of a very sunny weekend. Lots of small desert parsley. Balsamroot was beginning to flower. Lupine was still budding. Some larkspur, clover, paintbrush. Maybe in a week or so it would be much better for flowers, but also would be hot. Saw Stein Pillar from afar in less than an hour. One hiker in our group, J, is very slow and he talks incessantly, dragging our progress. I caught a tick at lunch. Also got a bite, but not sure by whom.

At the junction of Belknap and Wildcat (9+ miles from the car), our leader decided to stop early for the day. He and I went along to look for a spring on his GPS map, and we found it just 10 minutes in. I came back to fetch the rest, and by then, J, has caught up. So at 5pm, we already setup our tents. I ate my dinner of smoked fish and a bolete mushroom found on the trail. Washed a bit, filtered water. During which time, the 2nd group (4 people) walked by. At 6:20, I walked about 1.5 mile to the established campsite by Mill Creek to meet that group, since I've backpacked with 3 of them before. It was all downhill. Passed a grove of larch-looking trees. Got some invaluable info on New Zealand. Coming back is no fun, all uphill. The sun was setting, quite colorful but with thick clouds, giving me excuse to pause. When I returned to our camp, my teammates had started a camp fire, arranged logs to sit on. Quite nice. Stars were always nice, no moon.

5/8 Sunday. Packed out by 9:20am. At Mill Creek, turn north along the creek: that's the Twin Pillar trail. Right at the Twin Pillar, there's a cairn at its north foot. There, you need to turn sharp left, and go north. However, many other trail like paths lead me stray. On a significant portion of this loop, the trail is quite faint: easy to get lost. With the map and direction, pretty soon we realized that we were lost. However, it took awhile to find the real trail. Then, all is quite easy. Towards the end of the trail is a bit muddy. One or two easy creek crossing. From the trip reports I read earlier, I had brought another pair of shoes just to cross creek, which turned out to be useless.

On our drive out, now in day light, we could see the lush meadows and farmland along FR 26. It was quite pretty, in fact nicer than the wilderness we just hiked through. Looks like the fire only burned inside the wilderness boundary. Maybe due to the fire, with broken logs, very few people come out here. I can see why. I don't think I'll return in foreseeable future. But, sure, I'm glad that I came and spent 2 days in the nature.

2016.4.30-5.1 John Day national monument + Spring Basin Wilderness

4/29 Friday. Drizzle. Sunny east of Cascades. 6pm meetup by J's house in Hollywood area. After a gas stop at the Dalles, 7 of us arrived at a BLM campground ($25) next to Maupin's city park. Oasis Recreation Site. Next to Deschutes River, clean vault toilet. Bright stars, despite of a few lit houses. Trains go by at the other side of the river, very loud.

4/30, Saturday. Sunny. Driving back north on 197. Irrigated farm land to the west with Mt Hood on the back. Very pretty.

8:30am. White River Falls state park, just east of Tygh Valley. Very pretty, 3 levels of cascade. An abolished engine room with derelict hydraulic turbines, dusted with bird droppings. We hiked along the river's high bank. I was the only person who went down to the river. But the view is better above. On out drive out, saw a small group of young deer by the road.

Drove south on 97 through Shaniko and Antelope. Both town look quite dead. Some of us bought ice cream at Shaniko, which also has a nice looking hotel, closed of course (on a Saturday!). Antelope looks more depressed. We didn't stop. Continued on 217 east.

Clarno unit of John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. Short hike up to nice rock formations, interpretive displays. Small fossil remains of leaves and tree trunk on the rock surface. The display tells you where to look. Green cultivated land on the other side of the highway. Rolling hills.

Spring Basin wilderness is a grassland, with rocky surface. A young guy with California licence plate camped right at the trailhead under a lone tree, with his dog and plenty weed. We didn't see anyone else during our hike, half of it cross country. Trail is faint. Expansive views of rolling hills, some balsamroot, lupine, yarrow, phlox. Quite some hedgehog cactus blooming. Some of us saw 2 deers. I didn't. We walked about 8 miles here, explored the northern half of the wilderness. No shade, some clouds. This is a perfect season for this area. I rather enjoyed this hike, even though the scenery isn't dramatic.

Set up camp at Bear Hollow county park, SE of Fossil on hwy 19. Not a lot of people. Tall trees. A spigot of portable water at every camp site, 2 picnic tables, a fire ring, multiple vault toilets. $10.

At 8pm, everyone left for town to eat. I had the place to myself. Quite nice. So I can relax when using the toilet. Today, total step count 29K.

5/1, Sunday. Sunny. After a coffee stop, we hiked in the Sheep Rock unit in John Day national monument. Two trails, or rather a loop + a tail. The Overlook Trail (the 3 mile loop) takes you up a ridge (through a piece of private property) overlooking the John Day Valley, and a bird's eye view of the Blue Basin. Half way up, there's a bench under some trees, with a label: the only shaded bench on this trail. A good stop to catch your breath and admire the view. Yellow and blue flowers which I don't know the name. Back at the bottom, turn right for the 1 mile RT of Island in Time jaunt into the heart of the Blue Basin we just saw from the previous trail. It's flat. Many metal bridges. About 3 fossils in-situ under glass cage and a detailed description plaque. There's a little bit of water under the bridges. Wherever the water pass, the whitish crumbling rock is quite green. Quite surprising as the area looks very dry and no shade. I highly recommend these 2 hikes.

After a picnic lunch at the Cant Ranch (closed today), hiked the more notable Painted Hill's unit. The short .25 mile Painted Cove loop maybe the most photographed. Up close to a red cone. Carroll Rim trail is 1.6 RT. I wish I brought my umbrella here. The view from above is quite nice, and a good workout for the short distance. Walked from the same parking lot to the Overlook trail. It's almost flat and short (0.5 miles?). Great view of the red and yellow cones. Lots of little yellow flowers. If you only hike one trail, be it this one.

A short restroom stop to wash the sweat off. We drove for 2 hours. Had dinner at El Burro Loco near Zigzag, before returning to Portland. V gave me a ride home. Today, my phone recorded 24000 steps.