About the cover photo: It took me three attempts of between 4 and 5 days each to get into the spot where this photo was taken. On the first two trips I suffered some very painful injuries. This spot is in the Baker River drainage in North Cascades National Park. Do you know the name of the mountain?

Converse hightops on my feet, I traverse the North Cascades in pursuit of my life project to walk into every high lake or pond mapped in the Skagit River watershed. The upper Skagit Valley near Marblemount, WA is my home and has been home to my family since 1888. I have come to feel that the culture of this place, like the culture of much of rural America, is misunderstood by an increasingly urban population and threatened by economic depression. I would like to share the stories of this place and the people who call it home. Through my stories and images of these mountains, my goal is to help others understand and respect both the natural resources and the people of the North Cascades.


Saturday, November 19, 2016

Summer Trips 2016 Volume I, July

I have been too busy to post anything for quite a while now. What follows are the accounts of my journeys into the North Cascades over the summer of 2016. This year I went into 44 lakes, ponds and wetlands. Of these, 29 counted towards my goal of every mapped high lake, pond or wetland in the Skagit River watershed. Overall I consider this year a bit of a dud to below average. If I had gotten one more trip in, it would have been an excellent year. I actually missed getting out on a lot of weekends this year. I just went into several areas where there were a lot of lakes in close proximity on the trips I did get in. Still, I shouldn't complain, 44 bodies of water in a year is a lot for most people. I did a series of posts last year in the same manner entitled "What I Did Last Summer". After each trip I sat down, sometimes over the course of several late nights, and wrote down an account of the trip, similar to the way I would write field notes. I don't spend a lot of time with punctuation and paragraphs when I write notes. I did do some minor editing of these notes, usually to increase clarity. I don't have (or maybe more accurately, want to), take the time to polish them into proper paragraphs. I realize that this will make them harder to read. Sacha called these posts last year a "wall of words" and, indeed, that is what they appear to be. I apologize. Here is the first month's worth. Enjoy, or endure, as the case may be. 


7/2/16 Little Haystack Mountain Pond Break-in Trip

Started up Gilligan Creek Road Saturday morning. Plan was to go up Gilligan Creek Road, take spur that crossed Sorenson Creek and follow that up to small pass just west of Little Haystack Mountain and down into pond that drained to Rocky Creek which in turn drained to Day Creek. Still stiff and sore from putting up last of hay on Thursday. Put up 250 bales Wednesday night after work. Took Thursday off and worked from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Hay help vanished after lunch. One guy went home for lunch and didn’t come back. Other guy pretty young. Helped put 200 bales in barn and we decided that was enough for this go around. Looks like he will be good hay hand in future and didn’t want to burn him out. Artie and I loaded next 200 bales and put in barn. Some guys from Darrington came over and helped put the last of the hay on the rigs and in the barn. I ended up bucking something in the neighborhood of 700 to 1000 bales between the 2 days, handling some bales several times. Went to work Friday and didn’t have much physically demanding work but ended up staying up late to try to take care of the books for the farm. Pretty tired on Saturday morning. Also fighting lingering cold that had settled deep in lungs. Didn’t seem to affect breathing much but could tell by end of day haying that I wasn’t 100%. Lungs felt okay Saturday but hacked up a lot of phlegm. Gate on road was unlocked. Assumed someone working up there so I didn’t drive through because this is good way to get locked behind a gate. Besides wanted to do break-in hike and get ready for hiking season. Figured it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 to 15 miles or more round trip. Day was cool in 70’s Fahrenheit. Last year at this time walked same road and temperature was around 100 degrees F. Did really well first 3 miles. Got three miles in about an hour, usual pace is about 2 ½ mph.  Legs worked well no cramps-also drank a bunch of tonic water prior to setting out-quinine seems to help leg cramps. After rest at maybe about 4 mile legs started to feel heavy and achy but still quite functional with no sign of cramps. Pace slackened back to about 2 ½ mph. Getting pretty hungry by time reached pass by Little Haystack. Misremembered road junction and took wrong road. Arrived at what I thought would be the jump-off point to go into pond but nothing looked right. Discovered that I had walked past spot where I wanted to be so had to backtrack about a quarter of a mile. Ate lunch at jump-off point and took a short nap. Legs were very rubbery and achy when I got ready to go. Had to drop several hundred feet into pond and really didn’t want to. Took force of will to drop down off hill. Pond interesting. Saw several plants that I had never seen before. Worn out by time I was done surveying pond. Very tired but knew I had enough left in me to get back up hill. Made it back up hill and started out. Did okay for first mile or two but after that whole body basically just a mass of discomfort, aching calves and knees and hips and feet. Also knew had enough in me to get out-no sharp pain like something broken, cramping pulled or otherwise seriously damaged. Just dull pain that could persevere and get through. Legs and feet working okay, just aching. Got back to rig and gate was still open. Could have driven in and gone into pond and have been out in a few hours but didn’t know that I wouldn’t have been locked in. Needed the exercise anyway. Soundtrack running through my head for this trip mostly “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and JZ, Its In the Way That You Use It by Eric Clapton, neither of which I had listened to for quite a while, and That’s What You Get by Paramore.

Slash piles in logging unit 3-5 years old at 2800 to 3000 feet in elevation. I heard a number of rock rabbits or pikas (Ochotona princips) in these slash piles. It is pretty common to see or hear these animals in slash piles though one usually associates them with talus and rock slides. I would note that there are a number of rock outcrops in this area where the animals could have migrated from. I also commonly see or hear rock rabbits in talus or slash piles in areas well be low the alpine and subalpine areas that they are usually associated with. The lowest elevation I have ever heard or seen a rock rabbit is about 300 feet above sea level in a rock quarry where there was lots of talus.  

View from northwest side of pond, looking east. 

View from southwest side of pond looking northeast. 

Red dragonfly. The closest to I.D. I was able to come using pictures from the website Odanat.Bogfoot.net is probably the genus Leucorrhinia. I don't know a lot about dragonflies other than certain ways that they differ from damselflies. Someone with more knowledge could probably do a much better job of identified this and the other dragonflies and damselflies shown in the following photos and posts. 

Same red dragonfly as previous photo. 

Bright red-orange dragonfly, quite striking in appearance. I had never seen a dragonfly like this before, though again, I am definitely no expert on Odonata, the order of insects that dragonflies and damselflies belong to. Possibly Cardinal Meadowhawk, (Sympetrum illotum), based on photos on website Odonata.Bogfoot.net. 

Cardinal Meadowhawk. 

Cardinal Meadowhawk

Pacific chorus frog. Hyla regilla, a.k.a. or formerly known as Pseudacris regalia. These frogs specialize in climbing and are also known as tree frogs. Though they are still intimately associated with water, especially for breeding, the webbing on their feet is reduced and they have pads on their fingers and toes that allow them to grip and climb vertical surfaces like tree trunks. They are highly variable in color from nearly solid green like this one to gray and brown mottled. The pigments in the skin of individuals with mottled coloring make quite interesting patterns.  

Little Haystack Mountain from southeast side of pond. 
Old beaver stump. It is quite common to see beaver activity at many of the ponds I visit though many are near the headwaters of streams where the streams are quite small. Sometimes the beavers enhance a pond or lake with a dam or series of dams on the outlet. 

View from northeast side of pond. 

Looking up the Day Creek valley at Day Lake. Deer Creek draining to the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River is on the other side of the low pass at the middle, right hand side of the frame. 


7/3/16 Milk Creek Scout

Went to mom’s Sunday to water cows and take Skyeball for short walk. Legs and feet stiff and sore but not too bad. Headed up Suiattle River Road. Guy at parking lot at trailhead acting crazy. Came up to me and said he was doing a creel survey, what kind of fish lived in the river? Before he stated that there were no fish lived in the river. Talking to himself as he left. Walked past him in parking lot talking to himself next to his rig. My goal was to find log across river to get to Milk Creek side. A likely log that I had been eyeing the previous year was washed out. Scouted up river and finally found log across. Someone else had strung a rope across to hold onto while crossing but this had been knocked down by falling tree. Walk log nice though, a big red cedar with the bark gone and good traction. Crossed river and began a short scout to check terrain for getting up to trail. Stepped through rotten center of log and fell over backwards. Fortunately not too far off ground and was able to catch myself before full weight went sideways on leg trapped in log, possibly breaking it. Extricated myself and looked up slope. Would have liked to go until I found trail but what I saw satisfied me for the moment-might be sorry I didn’t investigate more later but decided this was good enough for now. Headed back out. Noticed several logs across river at trailhead on the way back. Went down to check them out. Noticed Stihl power saw dogged in on big cedar spanning river. Tracks of cork boots leading to log. Had thought maybe it was a saw somebody had found in the river and put on the log but tracks made it obvious that saw had just been placed there. Headed back up to parking lot. Sure enough, crazy guy still there talking to himself and smoking marijuana. As I walked past, I saw he had a brand new pair of cork boots and a gas can and what looked like a pick handle with no head. Made me a little nervous and I kept my head cocked and ears open for the sound of feet running up behind me. Got home and decided someone should know about this guy. Couldn’t get hold of USFS Law Enforcement so called 911 for county sheriff. Of course got Skagit County but site is Snohomish County accessed through Skagit County. Long run around conversation with 911 operator. Finally got connected with Snohomish County sheriff after explaining location in another long run around conversation with 911 operator. Sheriff’s deputy decided not to pursue situation and would turn over to USFS law enforcement. Half hour later called me back for more details on location and guy. After talking to USFS law enforcement decided they had better both go check out situation. Never heard of any outcome.  


7/17/16 Rocky Creek (Day Creek) south side of watershed maintenance trip

Wanted to get started on Lime Ridge Lakes this weekend but weather moved in with chance of thunderstorms on Sunday. Decided to work Friday and Saturday for overtime and do long hike on Sunday to maintain muscle capability. Actually had wanted to start on Lime Ridge previous weekend but weather plus other obligations made me decide not to. Went on long hike Friday, the 8th, about 15 miles round trip into this same place, the south side of the Rocky Creek drainage. This particular Rocky Creek drains to Day Creek on the South Skagit. Access up gated logging road from Lake Cavanaugh Road. This day (the 17th) planned to go even farther, the roughly 7 and a half miles to the pass and then a mile or two beyond that into a small wetland and small pond. Wanted to get early start in order to get back earlier. Got a decent early start but had to go up and check on heifer that had calved the previous day (Saturday). It was her first calf and she lost it. She was down and some concerned neighbors saw and told mom who told me. Heifer looked like she was foundering when I got there, on her side, head laid back over her body. She was having trouble breathing. I turned her head back forward and put my shoulder on her shoulder and pushed her until she was sitting upright. She could then breathe more easily and seemed to be better. I checked back in about half an hour and she seemed okay. Went back next day, the 17th, the day of my hike and she was up and walking around albeit she was rather stiff. Got started walking at about 8:30 a.m. This trip wasn’t as hard as previous week. Had already been up road and knew what to expect which makes a big difference. Also had made trip to chiropractor and he worked on my back and did something to my right foot that made it feel immensely better. Still kind of a grind, walking roads is harder, more monotonous than walking trails. Gave myself over to misery and discomfort. Sound track in my head was rather limited, Mike Posner, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Poco. Kind of strange but that’s what it was. Saw a rock rabbit (pika) at a quarry about 5 miles in at about 2700 ft. elevation. Made it to pass and small pond I had visited previous week at about 11:30 a.m. Route was to go down hill from this pass to road below and follow that for about a mile before cutting up several hundred feet to destination. Legs were a little tired but not bad. Cut down cross country through strip of old-growth timber. Got to lower road a little before noon. Headed up road to take off point, a distinct steep walled valley formed by small creek. Saw first Cascades frog of year. Went to look at map at take off point and realized I had left it at home. All I had was poor quality air photo from Google Earth printed on regular printer. Decided that was good enough and headed up through thick reprod in 30 to 40 year old logging unit. Made to sphagnum wetland and small pond okay. Had lunch. I was tired and really wanted to take a nap but didn’t think I really had time to. Checked out wetland and small pond. Saw some Northwestern salamander egg masses. Got pack and cut over toward other pond which was close by. Wished I had my contour map. Reprod was too thick to see very far and I kept missing pond even though I should have been just about able to see it from the wetland. Contour map would have better showed the lay of the land and I might have been able to find pond easier. Found pond when I was just about to give up because I was running out of time. Checked it out. Interestingly, several species here that weren’t in nearby wetland (at least I did not pick them up) and vice versa. Saw more northwestern salamander eggs and a tan and white damselfly that I didn’t recall ever seeing before. There were a lot of the electric blue damselflies. There was a road system above this pond that connected to the one I had come in on but it looked like it would be really brushy to access. I decided to retrace my steps. Legs were pretty tired by time I had to start back up hill but did okay. Legs felt kind of like lifeless lumps but no cramps and seemed to function quite well even though there wasn’t much feeling in them beyond a constant dull ache. Made it upper road okay and started out just as I heard thunder off in distance. Thunder on all sides of me on the way out but didn’t see any lightning and none of the storms rolled over me. Stayed dry the whole way out. Back out at a little after 6:00 p.m. Continuously on my feet or walking for about 9 and a half hours, except for lunch break of about 15 minutes. No cramps. Appeared to be ready for summer.  


Skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americium) reflected in a small pond I walked into on the 8th of July.  Overall the round trip was about 15 miles. Following are a series of photos of this shot at varying magnification and composition. 




Salamander egg masses probably Northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile) on buckbean (Menyanthes trilfoliata) stem. 


Large rock outcrop on near Pilchuck Creek. There a quite a few of these outcrops or mountains in the Cultus Mountains. They are made of rock that was more resistant than the surrounding rock to erosion by the glaciers of the last ice age. These outcrops are prominent and often quite striking in appearance. Several are large enough to be called mountains in their own right such as Haystack and Little Haystack mountains. 

Rock rabbit or pika (Ochotona princips) in large talus below quarry on road, about 2700 feet elevation. 

Tadpole, probably Cascades frog (Rana cascade) in roadside ditch. 

Looking north at unmapped pond and wetland at the head of Rocky (Day) Creek. I went into this pond/wetland and one just to the north of this one. 

Looking north from south end of mapped pond just to the north of the previously pictured unmapped pond. I had a lot of trouble finding this pond because I had forgotten my counter maps despite the fact that it would have been so close that I could have easily seen it if the reprod hadn't been so thick. I was ready to give up after several failed attempts when I stumble on it. 

Slightly different view from one pictured above. 


Northwestern salamander egg mass on buckbean stem. 

Tan colored damselfly, possibly female Emma's dancer based on photos on website from photos on website Odonata.Bogfoot.net.



Possibly female Emma's dancer. 


Looking south and east at Whitehorse Mountain and storm weather. 


Looking south and east at Whitehorse Mountain (on left) and Three Fingers Mountain (on right). Lake Cavanaugh  at right side of frame just below center. 

Same view as previous photo, minus the foreground trees. 


7/22-24/16 Upper Suiattle River

Started out Friday morning with plan to go up Lime Ridge. Turned down about $150 dollars in overtime, maybe more. Had been wanting to get up there for several weeks. Felt funky, vaguely nauseous the day before, probably because it was a warmer day. Felt funky Friday morning also. A little concerned that I might be coming down with something. Sacha had just started showing symptoms of a cold. Forecast called for 40% chance of showers. Gray day no rain when I started out, then mist. Got to Suiattle trailhead and there was a steady mist falling with ceiling at 2000 to 3000 feet. Knew from past experience that you could walk through mist all day in open areas without getting really wet but in overgrown areas mist is collected by brush and soaks you thoroughly in about half an hour of walking. Route up to Lime Ridge was liable to be brushy. Also low ceiling presented a problem. Having never been there before, it is hard to navigate in heavy fog/cloud. Hard enough to navigate if you have been to a place before and are familiar with it. Finally, crossing river required walking log. Log was big but still would be slick with mist on it. River is such that you wouldn’t want to fall in, the outcome would probably be bad to fatal. Decided this wouldn’t be such a good day to make the attempt. Decided to salvage trip by doing scout to Upper Suiattle to check out part of route into some lakes near head of Suiattle River. Had also wanted to do this earlier but was foiled. Didn’t have all the maps I would have wanted but had one Green Trails that showed the basic route. Since most of trip would be on trails and, at any rate, would follow the river, I would be okay with just the one map. According to map, if I got to where I wanted to be that day, it would be about 20 miles. Trip along trail was fairly uneventful. Looping soundtrack in my head was Mike Posner “Took a Pill in Ibiza” and a medley of other pop songs that were pretty irritating because I didn’t really like them much. Wasn’t quite psychologically prepared. Had planned on doing about 4000 feet up after short walk to get to Lime Ridge. Trail trip was longer and psychologically seemed like it should be much easier but still lots of ups and downs on trail which get tiring over long distance so had to keep mindset to keep going. It was tougher than I expected. Probably not as tough, at least at the start, as climb to ridge but still had to battle expectations that it should have been easier. Got to cutoff for Upper Suiattle trail #798 from PCT. Didn’t know what to expect. Trail no longer maintained and road had only been reopened two years ago after having been closed for ten years. Put on rain gear because expected it to be brushy and wet. Had to wade Vista Creek right off the bat, Crossing was okay. Trail tread was surprisingly visible, looked like quite a few people had been using it but it was brushy and choked with downed logs. Brush was sopping wet. Raingear did good job of keeping me dry but harder to move in and hip belt of pack began chafing right side. Got to unmarked intersection with vague trail leading away from direction of river. Later figured out this was probably Gamma Ridge trail. More heavily used trail headed towards river. Took that one. Trail led down off big terrace, probably outwash or lahar off Glacier Peak, and into river. Followed river up. Going pretty easy until hit a spot where river had migrated over to western valley wall. Big cut in outwash deposit here and had to scramble around rocks, brush and log jam. Back into what I thought was river but soon realized it was a tributary stream. Determined that this was Dusty Creek. Crossed this was okay. Wasn’t as bad as it looked but full of glacial flour so couldn’t see bottom so I was unsure of footing. Bashed in direction of river through tag alders and stunted trees including subalpine fir to get to strip of timber. Strip of timber was growing on slope and at bottom of slope saw a horse skull. Closer observation revealed several vertebrae, a shoulder blade and hip bones. Interesting. No bullet hole in skull. Bones were at least several years old if not older. Teeth in skull were pretty worn so appeared to be an older animal. Spot seemed like a long way from anywhere but obviously someone had been here with horses or this horse had run off from somewhere and died. Took a few photos and started up bank about ten feet high, figuring that I would have to go along the river from here on out. I found the trail again on top of the bank and the top of the bank was actually a knife-edged ridge of alluvial deposits that had been cut away by the Suiattle River on one side and by Dusty Creek on the other. The ridge was just wide enough for a trail. The trail was in really good shape with the tread easily visible. Headed up trail which climbed 800-900 to the top of a terrace. Saw whole bunch of gnome plants (Hemitomes congestum). Never seen them in such abundance. Saw even more along PCT on way out and noticed that they seem to be most abundant in old burns 50-60 years old that are nearing the end of the stem exclusion successional stage. Debated for a few minutes and decided that since I was back on trail, I should have plenty of time so took bunch of photos. Continued on. Trail condition deteriorated further I got onto terrace. Very brushy, had to crawl over or go around lots of logs but was able to follow it to trail junction where trail to Buck Creek Pass took off. Maps showed trail continuing on to Chocolate Creek and beyond. At this point, starting to get pretty tired and it was getting late. Close enough to get to place I wanted to see next day so decided to camp at next creek so I would have water. Maps indicated another creek wasn’t too far away on Chocolate Creek Trail. Started out on that trail and it disappeared in less than a quarter of a mile. I spent several minutes looking but no trace. Struck out off trail for that next creek. Spent next hour or so wallowing through old-growth forest. Walking not easy. Feet often slipped or ground gave way underfoot. Lots of big logs to crawl over or go around and brush to wade through or go around.  Tried to keep edge of terrace in view and river within hearing distance as a reference to keep going in fairly straight line. Still ended up walking a lot of extra distance doing zigzag pattern to avoid things. This is why trail, even brushy one, is more efficient. Generally better footing and keeps you lined out to cover ground more efficiently in a straighter line. Seemed like forever and still no creek in sight or hearing. Was tired at trail junction, now really tired. Hip belt on pack beginning to chafe hips severely. Had moleskin and duct tape in pack but didn’t have time to put any on the spots that were getting rubbed raw, actually didn’t even think about it until later. Finally heard creek. Small creek in steep edged draw cut into terrace. No place to camp. Figured best thing to do would be to go to river and hope for flat area at valley wall where I could camp. Everything wet and slick. Slipped and came down hard on wrist that I broke 21 years ago and never got fixed. Hurt like hell but other than some minor swelling, seemed to work okay with no more pain than usual. Dusk gathering when finally reached river. Sky overcast and in timber so light fading fast. Not a lot of good camping options in timber. Wanted to avoid river itself because I didn’t want to get sand into everything. Found good enough area and pitched tent. Getting dark when got stuff to cook dinner ready. Grabbed headlamp and discovered that it didn’t work. Evidently the “on” button had gotten pushed while in my pack and drained batteries-poor design. In future will have to take at least one battery out so light can’t inadvertently be turned on and drain battery. Cooked and ate as quickly as possible. Got back to tent with just enough light to see. Wanted to get out of wet clothes. Rain gear protected me quite well from most of the wet brush but I also sweated a lot inside it, soaking my pants especially. Started shivering violently when took off raingear and sweat soaked clothes cooled rapidly from the evaporated water and sweat trapped with my body heat in the raingear. Shivering decreased as body got better acclimated. Got sleeping bag ready to crawl into. Got damp pants off and new, dry, socks on. Got in sleeping bag. Warmth was delicious. Had to use lighter (very carefully inside tent, I had pictures in my head of how bad it would be for it to catch fire and melt onto me) to see which buttons to push on SPOT locator so Sacha would know that I was okay (they still didn’t go through, I did something wrong). Very good sleeping spot, nice hollow for my hips. Slept soundly until morning light. Up earlier than usual. Got breakfast and noticed that nice flat spot by creek that I had considered for a camp spot the previous night was actually quicksand, probably not enough to swallow me but plenty to make me cold, wet, sandy and miserable. Hit river and headed for Chocolate Creek. Map showed trail continuing to Chocolate Creek and beyond, almost to where I wanted to go but assumed that trail either no longer existed or would be too hard to follow. River channel open and bare and easy traveling. Confluence of Chocolate Creek was near camp but valley it drained about half a mile up Suiattle River valley. Couldn’t tell for a while if Chocolate Creek was actually a separate stream or just river side channel. Vast amounts of sediment deposited in river channel, very barren with mostly rock and a few tag alder bushes, small trees and patches of moss. Near Chocolate Creek valley, Chocolate Creek had cut down through sediments 10-15 feet. Dead trees that had root crowns buried by sediment at edge of sediment deposit. Small wetland here. Saw tadpoles and small Cascades frogs. Kept heading up river valley following close to river. Lots of forest underbrush and in some places steep sidehill. Cut to river once to see if it would be better travel. It wasn’t but I did see the valley I was planning on going up and, in particular, the spot I was worried about being able to get past. From viewpoint I had it looked hard but probably doable. Cut back into forest next to river. Finally got so steep that I cut up sidehill onto terrace flat and traveled on that. Travel in flat easier but old-growth forest with lots of underbrush and fallen logs to navigate. Terrace I was traveling was bisected by wetland/stream. Got through that and followed river some more. Finally cut back onto terrace where travel easier. After several hours was at spot I wanted to be to go up valley. Navigated brushy wetland and river side channel to get to main river channel. Several hundred yards upstream of where I broke into river channel, found good spot to cross river. Also got another look up side valley at spot I was worried about and it still looked doable. My original plan was to actually go up that valley to the spot and check it out but I didn’t have enough time. Started back. Had lunch at Chocolate Creek valley. Broke camp and headed out. Hoped to see some cairns where trail to Buck Creek Pass came down and take that back up to Trail #798 which I had taken in until I lost it. Saw cairn almost immediately after starting out. Thought this was too close. I had walked for over an hour Friday after leaving the junction with this trail before making camp. This cairn was less than ten minutes travel along the river. Trouble with cairns is that, if you haven’t followed them to a particular spot, you don’t know what people put them up for so they might lead you somewhere you don’t want to go. Hindsight being 20-20 I probably should have poked around to see if I could pick up the trail. But I also wanted to check out a big slide downstream about a quarter mile. Figured if I didn’t pick up trail, I could climb up on terrace and follow its edge downstream until I picked up the trail. I would at least hit the trail at the knife-edged spot between the river and Dusty Creek. Only problem with this plan was that the trail was well back from the edge of the terrace except for a few hundred yards or less where it descended to the Buck Creek Pass trail junction. So, if I was wrong or missed that trail, I would be walking off trail at the edge of the terrace for a long time. This is pretty much what happened. Evidently the cairn was for the Buck Creek Pass trail. Evidently I had covered a lot of extra ground off-trail on Friday so it seemed like it was farther away than it actually was. Checked out large landslide. Not the biggest I have ever seen but very impressive. Shortly downstream river cut to the valley wall forcing me to get out of river bed and start upslope. Initially I tried to sidehill, figuring to cut the Buck Creek Pass trail but after a while I gave up on that and headed straight up. Travel on terrace was better than sidehill but was a mixed bag. Travel was good in old burns with stands of second growth about 50-60 years old. Very little brush and open understory made travel good. Second growth in more recent burns was brushy. Old-growth had lots of understory brush and large fallen logs to navigate. Most of the forest was old-growth. Spent several hours following terrace edge. Sometimes I could stay pretty close, other times I had to circle away to avoid large logs or particularly brushy areas. Sometimes, these conditions would push me farther and farther from terrace edge. Then I would have to work my way back. Finally hit trail not too far from knife-edged area at Dusty Creek. Hoped to pick up trail between Dusty Creek and spot I where I had come down to river on Friday. No such luck. Either I missed it or it simply follows the big bars along the river channel or it had been wiped out in the 2003 floods (most likely). Hit trail on other end okay. By this time it was getting pretty late. Had entertained dreams of camping someplace by Canyon Creek but it was obvious that I wasn’t even going to get back to PCT. Camped at Gamma Creek. Discovered head lamp was working again so finished out field notes after dinner and before going to sleep. No surprises Sunday. Hit Vista Creek and PCT about half an hour after starting out. Then it was just drudgery of walking out at the end of the trip. This always seems like the longest, most boring part of the trip, the last little bit on the way out. Found more gnome plant and noticed that it seems to be much more abundant or at least noticeable in old burns 50-60 years old where shrub layer isn’t very well developed. Hurting a little bit by time I got out. Rash on back. Heat rash or something similar from (I imagine) sweat trapped by rain gear worn and sweated in on first day. Hips chafed badly-still hadn’t thought of moleskin and legs tired. Over next several days right knee really bothered me and seemed to be slightly swollen. This knee has hurt for probably 15 or 20 years and I wasn’t sure if it was just the normal aching or if it was something new. Time will tell.

Dolly Creek at Pacific Crest Trai (PCT) crossing. 

Horse skull and remnants of skeleton below trail #798 on knife edged ridge between Dusty Creek and the Suiattle River. I think this section of trail was originally part of the PCT before the floods of 2003. It is no longer maintained and several sections are washed out. There were no marks on or bullet holes in the horse skull, leaving its cause of death a mystery. Given its position right below a trail whose sides drop off sharply, I would assume it fell off the trail and was killed. 



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Trail #798 on knife edged ridge. This ridge was apparently formed when a terrace was eroded away on both sides by Dusty Creek (valley on left side of frame) and Suiattle River (valley on right side of frame). 

Gnomeplant (Hemitomes congestum). I had only seen this plant once before along the Downey Creek Trail. I saw it in quite a few places on this trip. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. Everywhere I saw this plant was second-growth forest about 50-70 years old in the stem exclusion phase of succession. There was lots of shade and the ground cover was pretty diminished. All of the areas of second-growth looked like old burns. 

Gnomeplant (Hemitomes congestum).

Looking up the Suiattle River valley near Chocolate Creek. The large bare areas where probably deposited in the 2003 floods but I don't know this for sure as this was the first time I had ever been into this area. The river and other streams have cut down over five feet into these deposits and they are starting to revegetate in some. areas. 


A curious deposit along the river. It almost looks to be intentionally built but it is not. 

View of back of deposit from previous frame. 

Same deposit, different view. This looks to have been deposited more recently than 2003. 

Large cut bank in glacial outwash. It is hard to get a sense of scale here but this bank is probably close to 100 feet high. 

Chocolate Creek flowing through deposits in Suiattle River valley. Chocolate Creek has cut down 10 feet or more in these deposits which seem to have come down the Chocolate Creek Valley. The deposits run up the Chocolate Creek Valley as far as the eye could see but aren't found in the Suiattle River Valley above the confluence with Chocolate Creek. They may be the result of a big flood in 2003. 

More tall cut banks on Chocolate Creek at the confluence of its valley with the Suiattle River Valley. 

Looking upstream at Chocolate Creek at the confluence of its valley and the Suiattle River Valley. 

Chocolate Creek. 

Confluence of Chocolate Creek Valley and Suiattle River Valley. 

Looking up Suiattle River valley from its confluence with the Chocolate Creek Valley. 

Looking up Suiattle River valley from its confluence with the Chocolate Creek Valley at Tenpeak Mountain. 

Looking up Suiattle River valley from its confluence with the Chocolate Creek Valley at Tenpeak Mountain.

Looking up Suiattle River Valley from a spot just below the actual confluence of Chocolate Creek and the Suiattle River. The confluence of the valleys of these two streams is about a mile upstream. Chocolate Creek flows along in the Suiattle River Valley almost parallel with the river for quite some distance. 

Large cut bank along Suiattle River below the confluence with Chocolate Creek. This cut bank is well over 100 feet high. In deciding to check this cut bank, I walked past the spot where I could have picked up Trail #798 and set myself up for a long off trail trek through a brushy forest full of downed trees. 


7/29-31/16 Lime Ridge


Finally got three day solid break in weather. Sacha went to Portland with kids and her mom to her cousin’s wedding. Vashti was pretty excited about the wedding. I’m not big on weddings but would have gone if it had been another time of year. Could fill up summer with parties and events and not make a single trip into mountains. So miss a lot of those things along with big part of my kid’s and family’s life. Headed out Friday. Knee a little stiff but otherwise seemed okay. Plan was to follow creek draining Rivord Lake up to Lime Ridge and head northwest along ridge hitting total of 6 lakes, Rivord, several unnamed lakes and Box Mountain Lakes. Had heard of trail called “Pipeline” that led to that area but didn’t know exactly where it took off. Creek draining Rivord looked like good route and hoped Pipeline Trail was in that area and I would be able to pick it up. Plan was to cross river on log with rope on it a little over a mile above trailhead, hit Milk Creek Trail and backtrack half a mile or so to creek draining Rivord. Hopefully, if people were using that as a route, I would be able to find Pipeline Trail. At Suiattle trailhead decided to cross log over river there to see if anyone had been going toward Milk Creek Trail from that direction. Crossed log and saw faint but obvious trail where people had been traveling upriver towards Milk Creek Trail. Followed it for a little way then decided to go with my original plan. Without scouting for a good distance I couldn’t be sure what the way trail was like and if people were actually going to Milk Creek Trail or if they were just roaming around randomly. I figured my original plan was more of a sure thing. Friday was supposed to be warmest day of week and air was very muggy even early in the morning. Must have been some kind of temperature inversion. My face and whole body were coated with fine perspiration within a mile. Reached cutoff from trail to log. About five feet down off bank stepped through rotten log and fell over backwards. Able to flex leg enough not to break it but epic struggle to get back upright with big pack dragging me over backwards. Got to log okay. Log crossing a little sketchy. Nice, big log but if I went in, might not make it out or at least not alive. Original plan had been to make two trips across so as not to have full pack on back so balance would be better but decided to go with full pack to save another trip over river. Had pack well adjusted and balanced so felt okay with it. Had brought some strap on spiked soles for better traction. Mist of previous week had me a little worried about crossing wet log. Log dry today so decided didn’t need spikes either. Started across log and everything went okay until cold air moving along top of river water began fogging up glasses. Could still see well enough to get across (worn glasses most of life and often have to operate with them fogged up). Started up hill towards Milk Creek Trail. Had to go 200 feet or so up from river to get to trail. Ground was steep. Route through old-growth forest was a welter of brush, downed logs to crawl over or around and loose ground where every step sank at least an inch, sometimes closer to six inches and often a step up resulted in foot sliding back to starting point or even farther. Took better part of an hour to get to the trail and was wringing wet with sweat at that point. Wrung out bandanna that I used for head band and continued down trail. Took an hour to backtrack about half a mile. Trail tread intact and decent for part of way but one spot where trail completely slid away and had to use ropes that someone had left previously to navigate. Other spots where huge logs had fallen down length of trail obscuring it for several hundred feet. Obvious that people had been using trail but didn’t look like a lot of people. Finally got to creek draining Rivord Lake. Milk Creek Trail switches back several times east of crossing and figured this was a likely place for the Pipeline Trail. Orange ribbon there so figured that was probably it. No obvious trail but sometimes you have to get going a ways before trail becomes obvious. No such luck this time. Route was more of the same that I experienced coming up from river. By lunchtime had gained probably less than one thousand feet. Pretty depressing. Old friend had always said average travel off-trail uphill was about a thousand feet an hour. I was going 500 feet or less per hour. Had about 3000 feet to go so still had plenty of time. Obvious that I wasn’t on trail but route looked doable and wasn’t going back down to spend a bunch of time looking for trail. Reckoned that I would figure out the trail, if one still existed, when I got on top and follow it down from there. Took lunch a little before noon. Route was next to creek and wasn’t sure I would be next to creek at noon and wanted to be able to refill water jug. Had only one 1 quart jug and wanted to make sure it was full before going rest of way. Quite disappointed by progress. Probably only 2000 feet up hill if that. Ate lunch and tried to nap a bit with not much success, steep hill, hard to get comfortable enough. While filling water jug after lunch saw tailed frog tadpole in creek and seconds later a fish cruised in literally right under my feet. Looked at fish for a bit to try to see what species but could only see it was a trout, rainbow or cutthroat. Tried to grab fish but missed. Experience was worth off trail struggles. Got some info that I probably wouldn’t have gotten on trail. Knew tailed frogs and fish, which came out of Rivord Lake were in creek. Continued on and travel didn’t get any better. Pushed through endless tickling, itching cobwebs and sweated profusely though not as much as at start. Usually sweat the most at start of trip, don’t know if this is because I become slightly dehydrated or body makes some kind of adjustment. This part of trip hardest. Knew still had long way to go. Already kind of tired and definitely hot and uncomfortable. Right knee beginning to hurt. Pushed on. Knew that if I kept at it I would eventually top out in meadows on ridge. After about 2:00 p.m. resolved to stop for break every hour. About this time started looking for change in forest. Still lots of Douglas-fir and western red cedar. In most forests these species get replaced by mountain hemlock and Alaska yellow cedar at about 4000 to 4500 feet. Pacific silver fir and western hemlock are common throughout this elevation range, it is the presence or absence of Douglas-fir, red cedar/mountain hemlock, Alaska cedar that is usually most noticeable. You know you are getting close to meadows when you start seeing mountain hemlock and Alaska cedar. Of course, Douglas-fir occurs at higher elevations. Have seen it at over 5000 feet and and have seen naturally occurring Alaska cedar in river bottoms at about 400 feet and mountain hemlock at lower elevations though not in valley bottoms. What I’m talking about is a change in the entire forest. Not talking about individual trees of a given species being present but a wholesale change from one species being common or dominant to another species  being common or dominant. The forest in this area looked like one of those forests where this dividing line of species dominance was higher in elevation than usual. Either that, or I wasn’t as high as I thought I was. Kept seeing one Douglas-fir after another as I made my way up the hill, and each I expected to be the last. At each hourly stop I took a good slug of water, enough to take edge off thirst but not enough to completely slake it. Taking longer than I expected and tangles of windfall timber, brush and steep ground kept pushing me farther from creek. Change in forest was abrupt. Saw first Alaska cedar and within several hundred feet it was mountain hemlock and Alaska cedar forest along with the ubiquitous Pacific silver fir. I also began seeing a bramble, Rubus lasiococcus on the forest floor that you usually don’t see below 4000 to 4500 feet. At this point it was nearing 5:00 p.m. and I had been pushed away from the creek to a small ridge separating that creek’s drainage from the next one over, which was Twin Lakes. Route had been dry the whole way since lunch. On the good side of things, the footing and duff had become more solid above about 3000 feet. Ridge looked pretty good so I stuck with it, hoping it would take me right into the meadows. One concern was that sometimes such ridges turn into cliffs at some point. This one got steep but was still navigable. Big patch of windfalls had exposed bedrock at steepest point. Able to get through that spot okay but left leg cramped just above it. It had been acting like it might do something like that so I wasn’t too surprised. Hadn’t been drinking enough water and, on top of that, legs were very tired. Wasn’t best spot for cramp. Ridge still very narrow. Every time I tried to lift or bend leg it would cramp. Finally worked my way a few feet to a spot where I could sit and rest. Rested for 15 minutes. Had one good slug of water left but didn’t drink it just in case I ended up having to spend the night at a dry camp. That last slug of water would be all I would have to wash down whatever cold, dry dinner I had. Was able to get up and continue on cautiously without any further cramps. Hit heather and meadows just above resting spot, less than 10 minutes walking, probably more like five. Found good spot to get off ridge and sidehill towards Rivord Lake. At this point, could actually see depression where lake sat. At this point I was also very tired. Still moving uphill and would go ten or fifteen feet then have to rest. Very slow process. Finally reached a point where there was a trickle of snow melt water and what looked like a trail just above. Had been thinking about how good it would be when I finally reached water and how good that water would feel going down once I had plenty again. Chugged last of water in jug and refilled it. Started chugging on that but, surprisingly, thirst was well slaked before I had drunk much. Water was sweet and cold though. Topped off jug and headed up hill. Sure enough, there was a well worn trail just above. Now all I would have to do is figure out where it came from. Started out trail toward Rivord Lake. It was mostly downhill now but by now I was also so tired that all I wanted to do was sit down and rest, probably fall asleep. Pink and white heather in full bloom in meadows and quite impressive and beautiful but I was too tired to appreciate it much at this point. Close to Rivord Lake and had to constantly push myself so I didn’t just crumple in an exhausted heap. Steep downhill into outlet of lake. I had noticed on maps that outlet of this lake was steep and I wasn’t sure I would find a good camp spot. In the original plan, I was going to bomb up the creek, check out Rivord lake and then move on to the next lake to the northwest at 5698 feet on the ridge and camp there where there appeared to be a lot of flat ground. Unfortunately for me at this point, I didn’t have the energy to climb the 300 feet or so up to that lake before dark so the outlet of Rivord would have to do. Luckily for me there was actually a decent spot to camp there. It was about 7:00 p.m. when I finally got to Rivord Lake. I had started out at around 9:00 a.m. Ten hours of walking, much of it off trail on steep uphill on a hot day. I pitched my tent. I usually lay down to check how ground will feel before pitching tent and when I did this this time almost couldn’t get back up. Pushed myself to get dinner out cook it, eat in a swarm of mosquitoes and gnats, clean up and hang food before going to bed. Exhausted. Right leg hurt a little bit but not too bad and seemed to work okay. Wrote down few notes for day. Peeled moleskin patches I had put on my hips to protect spots that had been rubbed raw the weekend before and hadn’t healed yet. Patches had bunched up and hadn’t been too effective by the end of the day. Went to sleep. Very hard to get up and get going next day. Woke up a little after 5:00 a.m. but wasn’t able to force myself out of bed until a little after 6. Little bit stiff but otherwise felt okay. Right leg stiffer than left leg but still working well. Ate breakfast in cloud of gnats and mosquitoes. Gnats were big kind that swarmed and landed and tickled a lot but only bit occasionally. Mosquitoes bit. Seemed to love a bare spot of skin just between bandanna I was wearing as a sweat band and my hat. Only about a quarter of an inch of skin exposed but probably bitten there a dozen times. Got going at around 7:00 a.m. after reapplying more moleskin to hips. Little sore, right knee especially but everything seemed to be working okay. Decided to check out Rivord Lake either when I got back that night or the next morning. Main goal was to get into lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain and find out where trail went. Got to lake at 5698 feet elevation in about half an hour. No sign of fish. Was taking out camera to take a picture of this lake when two little dogs busted through some tree limbs growing over the trail. Two people were about a minute behind. It turned out to be an old friend of mine that I had worked with years ago and his girlfriend. It was like old home week. We ended up talking for probably an hour. He lined me out on the Pipeline Trail. So now I had a good way out. We finally parted ways and I set my sights for the lake west of Box Mountain, planning to drop into Box Mountain Lakes later in the day. My friend was a little skeptical when I told him my plan. He thought it was all cliffs along my planned route. I figured that at least I could try. I aimed for what looked like, and the map told me, was a likely spot to get over the ridge between Box Mountain Lakes and my destination lake. Travel wasn’t too bad, had to circumnavigate a few small cliffs but walking was fairly easy. On the way to ridge, noticed a decent route down into Upper Box Mountain Lake. It was a green chute leading around a big rock outcrop. The green meant it was probably pretty slick but at least it wasn’t vertical. Couldn’t see route directly below me. Lots of cliffs where I could see. Reached ridgetop at arount 10:00 a.m. Slopes on other side were doable but very steep. Decided to backtrack and drop several hundred feet an go through a saddle there. On my map the ground looked more gradual there. Got through saddle okay and across to another ridge and was able to see my destination lake below. I took careful note. There was a stream close by but it wasn’t connected to the lake. And the lake was pretty well timbered. The natural route was to follow the stream valley but I needed to make sure to cut away from the stream before I went too far down it. Ground at top of ridge was steep but doable and I found some good diagonal routes around some rock outcrops and cliffs. Followed stream valley down to point where I thought I was close and checked map. Map showed small flat area between lake and stream. Found that and cut over. Old fire ring at edge of flat above lake. I noticed on way out too that lake sat behind a big rock outcrop that I could have used as a reference as well. Got to lake at about noon. Had lunch and rested a bit. Explored about halfway around lake. Turned around and retraced steps rather than circumnavigating rock outcrop. Noticed on way back that I could have gone a little farther than I did before hitting rock outcrop but too late at that point. Day was passing by and I had a ways to go to get out so I wasn’t going back. Didn’t see much. A few fish surfacing. Caught rainbow trout about 14 inches long with first cast. Turned it loose. Didn’t catch any more fish but also didn’t fish much longer.  Started back out around 2:00 p.m. Hit ridge top at about 3:00 p.m. Followed route I had spied from opposite side of valley on way in. Hit the top of the green chute at just the right point to get into it easily. Green was mostly sedges and footing was surprisingly good though I still busted my ass a few times getting down. Mixture of sitka valerian, lupine and bistort worst for footing and none of these here. Got to Upper Box Mountain Lake a little before 5:00 p.m. Shadows were getting long but figured still had plenty of time to check out lake. Didn’t see a whole lot. Some tadpoles in an isolated pond in the delta of a tributary stream to the lake. Figured that these were probably Cascades frogs-too light to be western toads. Continued on around lake and was surprised to see fish. From higher up this lake looked very shallow and figured that might not have ever been stocked. But sure enough, I saw several fish. At lake outlet ran into my friends again. Talked for a bit before they headed back to their camp at Middle Box Mountain Lake. When I got back to my pack, I rigged my pole and was able to catch several westslope cutthroat between 6 and 10 inches long in lake. Size range indicated that fish population probably self-reproducing. If fish in lake result of stocking only, they are usually all about the same size. Did see some spawning gravel in inlet stream that looked like it had been used. Headed out for Middle Box Mountain Lake which wasn’t too far below. Saw small Cascades frog in sloping sphagnum wetland near Middle Box Mountain Lake. Several Cascades frogs at isolated sphagnum pond near outlet of lake. Getting late so didn’t take too much time to investigate. Got back to camp at about 7:00 p.m., ate dinner and turned in. Wrote up field notes for day by headlamp. Right knee really hurt when I was sitting up to write notes but felt okay once I lay down to sleep. Wanted to get early start next morning, check out Middle and Lower Box Mountain Lakes before heading out. Woke up a little after 5 a.m. and got going. Right knee stiff and clicked and popped a lot when I bent it. This was a bit worrisome but otherwise it seemed functional. Breakfast with the bugs again then broke camp. Fished outlet of Rivord Lake and caught several westslope cutthroat 9-10 inches long. Also stopped at small cove below trail on way out and fished that. Fish here only about 6-8 inches. Apparently this fish population also self-reproducing but all banks into lake appeared to be quite step so didn’t look like spawning in inlet streams. But also didn’t walk entire perimeter of lake so could have missed something or fish could have possibly been spawning in outlet. Continued on. Ran into friends again. They were staying for one more day. Checked out Lower Box Mountain Lake which was near Middle Box Mountain Lake. Looked like some other lakes I had been to over the years that had pretty big fish but didn’t apparently have any fish at all. Didn’t get any bites and didn’t see any fish surface. Lots of small salamander larvae out in open in lake. Salamander larvae out in open pretty good indication that there aren’t any fish present. Salamanders usually hide or get eaten if there are fish. First thought they were long toed salamanders but then saw large, firm egg masses with lots of eggs so knew at least some of them were Northwesterns. Saw interesting dragonfly with gray eyes, metallic green thorax and black abdomen. Half of thorax was missing but dragonfly still alive though not flying around. Afterward fished Middle Box Mountain Lake and caught some more westslope cutthroat. Checked out sphagnum pond near outlet again and saw it was full of what I thought were small salamander larvae at first but which turned out to be tadpoles. Saw a couple more adult Cascades frogs and caught one for close examination to verify my identification. Noticed carcass of another adult frog in pond. Looked like it had died over winter. Tadpoles were swarming the carcass, apparently feeding on it. Could see the vertebrae. Pretty cool if you weren’t too squeamish. After 11:00 a.m. at this point. Needed to get going. Found trail and headed out. Trail was fairly discernible. Few spots here and there where tree had come down and hidden it. Very steep in several spots. Steeper than anything I had come up on the way in. These were kind of places where you wouldn’t want to fall. Made it out and back across river at about 3:00 p.m. Shoes had big holes in sides. Sacha wasn’t coming back with kids until Monday so decided to go Down Below and get some new shoes so I would be ready for following weekend if weather was good. Got home, showered and went Down Below. Right leg quite stiff at this point and having occasional twinges. My left leg was tired too but I had feeling right leg wasn’t going to recover very well. Monday morning both legs stiff and sore but right leg especially. It was clicking and popping and aching. Spent most of the day putting big steel tank into position. Involved hopping onto and off of tank and truck bed at chest level multiple times. Needed to pay attention to what was going on so as not to get squished by either tank or equipment. Hard to do while being generally tired and having aching leg. Got it done okay though. Spent rest of week with right leg slowly feeling better every day though leg still aching Thursday morning. Got appointment to see chiropractor (who also adjusts knees) on Friday. Weather looked like it was going to turn bad over weekend. I had to help out with Community Hall salmon barbeque on Sunday so I figured get knee popped back in (hopefully), do light day trip Saturday and give knee a chance to recover. Then hopefully hit it hard on the next break in weather. 


Lime Ridge from the outlet of Rivord Lake. 

Same view as previous photo near sundown. The outlet of Rivord Lake is at the top of the waterfall. 

Looking across the Suiattle River valley from the outlet of Rivord Lake near sundown. This is in the Sulphur Mountain, Miner's Ridge area. 


Outlet of Rivord Lake and Lime Mountain on the day I left. 

Westslope cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarkia lewisi) caught at outlet of Rivord Lake. My pocket knife included to show scale is 4 inches long. 

Rivord Lake a little west of the outlet. 

Looking across the Suiattle River valley at Mount Buckindy from Lime Ridge. 

Looking across the Suiattle River valley at Mount Buckindy and Downey Creek valley from Lime Ridge. 



Outlet of unnamed (as far as I know) lake at 5698 feet elevation on Lime Ridge between Rivord Lake and Box Mountain Lakes. View looking northwest. This photo taken on the day I left. 


Looking southeast at Lime Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation. This photo taken on the day I left. 

Outlet of unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation on Lime Ridge on the second day of trip. 

Looking southeast at Lime Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation on the second day of trip. 

Add captionLooking southeast at Lime Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation on the second day of trip. 
Box Mountain and Upper and Middle Box Mountain Lakes form the northwest end of Lime Ridge on second day of trip. 

Looking across Suiattle River valley at Green Mountain from northwest end of Lime Ridge. 

Looking across Suiattle River valley at Green Mountain from northwest end of Lime Ridge. The Green Mountain lookout is more visible in this zoomed in photo.

Looking across Suiattle River valley at the Downey Creek valley from the northwest end of Lime ridge. Downey Mountain is at the right side of the frame, Mount Buckindy near center frame and Green Mountain at left of frame. 



Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking west. 

Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking north.

Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking southeast.

Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking southeast.

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) or a hybrid displaying rainbow trout physical characteristics or phenotype. My pocket knife included for scale is 4 inches long. 


Looking east at Upper Box Mountain Lake from the route I took down into it. 

Tadpoles in isolated pond in flat at Upper Box Mountain Lake. These are most likely Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae).

Looking northeast at Upper Box Mountain Lake. 

Looking northeast at Upper Box Mountain Lake. 

Looking northeast from  Upper Box Mountain Lake at Spire Point and Dome Peak (in clouds). Middle Box Mountain Lake in foreground.  

Westslope cutthroat caught in Upper Box Mountain Lake. Notebook included for scale is about 7 inches long. 

West slope cutthroat caught in Upper Box Mountain Lake. 

Outlet of Middle Box Mountain Lake looking west. 

Middle Box Mountain Lake north of outlet looking southwest. 

Tadpoles in sphagnum pond near outlet of Middle Box Mountain Lake. These are most likely Cascades frogs. I caught an adult Cascades frog in this pond. 

Tadpoles feeding on an adult frog carcass in sphagnum pond near outlet of Middle Box Mountain Lake. The vertebrae and legs of the carcass are visible. 

West slope cutthroat caught in Middle Box Mountain Lake.

Outlet of Middle Box Mountain Lake. 



Lower Box Mountain Lake looking east. 

Lower Box Mountain Lake looking northeast. 

Salamander in Lower Box Mountain Lake. The salamanders I observed in this lake were probably Northwesterns (Ambystoma gracile) but may have also been long-toed (A. macrodactylum) or possibly both species were present. 

Salamander egg mass in Lower Box Mountain Lake. A characteristic of Northwestern salamander egg masses is that they are firm with more than 50 eggs in them. This egg mass was firm. I tested it with the tip of my fishing pole. Northwesterns usually breed on smaller diameter sticks or vegetation stems but I frequently see egg masses on log splinters such as this one even when there is other breeding substrate available. 

Looking north at Lower Box Mountain Lake. 

Dragonfly at Lower Box Mountain Lake. It doesn't show it well in this photo but  half of this dragonfly's thorax was gone along with the wings on that side. The dragonfly was still alive. 

Looking north at Lower Box Mountain Lake. 

Salamander in Lower Box Mountain Lake. This salamander looked like it possibly had the beginnings of a yellow dorsal stripe which would make it a long-toed salamander though the stripe was not readily apparent. Paratoid glands which are characteristic of Northwestern salamanders were not readily apparent either. Positive I.D. of these two species of salamander can be difficult in the field. 

Looking southwestt at Lower Box Mountain Lake. 

Another egg mass. There were a number of egg masses. This egg mass is on a smaller stick more typical of the breeding substrate used by Northwestern salamanders. 

Looking south at Lower Box Mountain Lake. 

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