What I Did Last Summer (2015) Vol. III

9/5-6/15 Mount Outram Lakes:

British Columbia. Had planned on going back into Galene Chain Lakes and from them farther on into some ponds on McNaught Creek that I hadn’t gotten last year to because I screwed up. Friday started out nice. Was assigned outside work to monitor guys taking apart boat in drydock. Very cold. Heavy rain shower at about 11:30 got very chilled, hands aching from cold. Left work at noon. Made it to two doctor’s appointments and then headed north. Had the okay to stay at SCL’s cabin at Hozomeen. Looked like it had recently rained cats and dogs from Hope to Hozomeen. Standing water on road all the way in. Stopped about half way in for restroom break and looked up-very clear, seemed like I could see every star in the sky. Arrived there at about 10:00 p.m. Dark. Power off. Checked to see if water was on. It was (gravity system). Found a bed, threw sleeping bag out and crashed. Up at about 6:30 a.m. next day. Cold. Got stuff together and ate breakfast-cold breakfast wrap. Checked outside. Cold, but could see top of Hozomeen Mtn above valley fog that was forming. Before leaving, changed into wool pants. Would have to wade river to get to trail. Trail brushy in spots the year before and anticipated getting soaked because of the recent rains, if the river was even crossable. Started out, ran into Rodney who told me he had turned power to cabin off the day before because it was late in the year and he didn’t think anyone was using it (which they weren’t, my being there was just a fluke). Got to jump of point to access trail and had second thoughts over whether I should attempt the trip or not. There was a valley fog that blocked the sun but you could tell it was going to lift. The most recent forecast I had seen called for 80 percent chance of showers the next day (Sunday) which would be when I would be making the attempt to get into McNaught Creek. I hadn’t counted on it being so cold. More than likely if I was in showers they would be snow. Thought of slogging along the ridge in sleety snow and fog wasn’t appealing and might result in my having to scrap the trip. Even if I did make it in, I knew from past experience that those aren’t the best conditions for observing things in and around the ponds. Still I would probably get some really cool photos of Hozomeen and the higher mountains around Ross Lake with fresh snow. Agonized for half hour to 45 minutes before deciding to scrap trip. Had already been to Galene Chain Lakes the year before and gotten some cool photos so just getting there wouldn’t mean I got anywhere new to me. At this point in life and project, time seems very finite and need to make the best of every situation which means I need to be going somewhere new as much as possible if I every want to finish project. Decided to hit some ponds below Mount Outram that drain to the Sumallo River (and thence the Skagit). Required driving back out to Hope and then taking Crowsnest Highway (Canada 3) to west entrance to Manning Provincial Park where trailhead located. Got to trailhead about 11:00 a.m. and started out. Figured trail would be a bit of a challenge but not too tough. Trail kicked my ass. Have bad habit of underestimating difficulty of ground I have not walked on maps with scales I am used to reading. Map I had in this case was metric, even worse for me. I do have older maps of B.C. in English Standard (feet) and I even screw up with those because I’m not used to scale. This particular trip to the highest pond below Mount Outram required a gain of about 1325 meters over 7.5 kilometers or about 4350 feet over a little more than 4.5 miles, a respectable climb but no worse than Sulphur Mountain which I had already been up three times that year. Still don’t know if I wasn’t psychologically prepared or maybe all the recent driving I had done (driving wears me out even though it isn’t very physically demanding). Maybe recovering from smoke inhalation over previous weeks, heavy inhalation of cold air triggered several somewhat severe coughing fits. Also one doctor’s appointment on Friday had been to chiropractor for adjustment. Sometimes after adjustment, muscles pull on bones differently and some muscles a little weak from disuse due to skeletal misalignment. Or maybe witch’s brew of cold sandwich and lukewarm coffee along with slight overindulgence at lunch sapped me. Maybe it was a little bit of everything. Had quite a few twinges of nausea after lunch. Ate lunch by Seventeen Mile Creek crossing. Destination ponds drained to Seventeen Mile Creek. Very sweaty when stopped. Immediately donned sweatshirt and still chilled with legs threatening to cramp by time I was done with lunch. When finally got near end of trip had to stop every few hundred feet or so to rest. Stopped at first wide open meadow where it was sunny and took about 15 minute nap, hoping to refresh myself and hopefully settle stomach. Met pleasant guy at upper pond and talked for while. Checked out upper pond. Decided to go to lower pond to see if better camp there. Wind blowing whole time. Looked like weather moving in. Farther south and east from Hozomeen. Could see tops of Hozomeen. Silvertip Mountain prominent on skyline. Didn’t know if forecast I had for Hozomeen would hold true for this area. Pretty cold, fingers ached but not to point of numbness. Checked out lower pond. Saw long-toad salamanders. This pond had shrunk to only about one-third of its maximum full pool size. It was down about 6 feet from the full water mark. Decided to stay at upper pond. Wind still blowing. Had dinner. Stayed up to see if there would be any sunset colors. None. Crawled into sleeping bag with clothes still on and finished writing up field notes. Turned in. Took long time for feet to warm up after got them in sleeping bag. Everything else toasty. Woke up about 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Sky gray. Still cold. Fingers and toes ached. Decided not to cook breakfast (oatmeal). Ate some trail mix, packed up and headed out. Wanted to get out before snow or sleet or whatever was going to hit came. Figured on getting home that day (Sunday) and using Monday to take care of some things around house that I had been letting slip over the summer. About halfway down mountain sky cleared off to bright sun and clouds. Cursed myself for not staying at upper pond. Had one more day in trip and could have hit two addition ponds to west and move farther along the path to my goal. Had to console myself that these would be a good backup trip if future plans in area failed. Going to B.C. big investment in time and effort and if original plans fall through need backup so entire trip isn’t wasted. Sunny with clouds all the way to border. Going back south and east I could see that it had rained. Evidently it had rained pretty heavily at home late Saturday night and early Sunday. Maybe I made the right call. Maybe there was some pretty bad weather where I had originally planned to go. Or maybe not. Overall I was somewhat disappointed in trip though I did make some progress towards my goal.

Looking west from small lake/tarn below Mount Outram. 

Looking south from small lake/tarn below Mount Outram. Silvertip Peak is on the right skyline. The drainage in the foreground (not visible beyond lip of lake) is the Sumallo River, tributary to the Upper Skagit. The "S" curve where the Upper Skagit cuts through the mountains was visible to the left side of this frame from the lake outlet. 

Looking southeast, Mount Outram behind me. 

Looking north at Mount Outram. The tent visible at the edge of the lake is the guy I visited with for a while. 

Small lake south of small lake below Mount Outram. The large area of bare ground is visible where the lake has receded and waterline is about 6 feet below the full water mark.  

9/11-13/15 Bath Lakes:

Original plan for this weekend at start of summer was to try to get into some small lakes near head of Suiattle River. Scrapped these. Decided to try Bath Lakes. Two weeks earlier had decided to put Bath Lakes off until next year and try to get in when more snow on ground provided more water so I could camp first night in valley just east of Lookout Lake. Decided to get around this by watering up at stream in Lookout Lake flat. Wanted to do Bath Lakes in case road lost again over winter. Four day trip could become almost a week long under many scenarios if road lost. Turned down 24 hours of overtime at $57.64/hour or about $1400 (roughly the price of a new washer and dryer) to do this trip. Since I was only going in part way on first day, started late and played with kids several hours in morning. Got started up trail at about 10:30 a.m. Day was supposed to be hot, in 90’s lower in valley. Don’t know temp at trailhead but pretty hot. Dripping sweat soaked through pants, shirt and headband. Had to wring headband out after about an hour of walking. Seemed to cool off a bit after gain of several thousand feet. Having trouble getting up trail. Seemed like I had to stop much more frequently to rest than on two previous trips. Don’t know if this was result of heat after cold on previous weekend, or not enough rest after Mt. Outram trip previous weekend or, psychologically having to do Sulphur Mountain trail again this year when expected to not have to deal with it until next year. Maybe a little of each. Had lunch and rested for about half an hour a little over mile from top of Sulphur Mountain. Continued on but break didn’t seem to help much, seemed like had to stop for rest even more frequently. Near top, guy caught up with me and passed me. He mentioned that it was a hot day so maybe hotter than I realized. Got to end of official trail at about 3:45 p.m. After short rest continued on. Dropped into Lookout Lake and watered up. Got into flats of valley to east at about 6:00 p.m. Found that streams in this valley which had been dry several weeks before were now watered, no doubt due to the heavy rainfall over the last several weeks. Very tired. Set up camp, ate, went to bed. Unmapped pond perched above valley that I had noticed on previous trip. This pond still watered when everything else in valley dry. Wanted to check it out but didn’t have enough energy on first day and wanted to save all of my energy for next day. Decided to check it out either next day or on way out. Hard to get out of sleeping bag next day. Pretty good dew and felt cold. Also getting tired of standard oatmeal, nuts and brown sugar breakfast that I had been eating all summer. Got started. Had chosen route that switchbacked through cliffs on talus slope. Another route through chute to east seemed to be popular route judging by tracks I had seen on previous trip. This route probably shorter but looked a little more sketchy. Made it to ridgetop okay and continued on, following trail here and there where it was apparent. Got around ridge and debated dropping 600 feet into small unnamed lake that I had been into several weeks before to get some pics of Glacier Peak. There was a really cool shot from just above this lake but it had been so smoky on previous trip that Glacier Peak had just barely been visible. Decided not to go. Was feeling very tired and hard to get motivated, either hangover from previous day or days or conditions on this day. This day supposed to be cooler in lowlands, in 80’s or so. Supposed to be cooler where I was at higher elevation but still felt pretty warm. Continued on but didn’t pick up any more trail. Got to top of small talus filled valley that provided a direct route almost to Lower Bath Lake. Only trouble was that top of valley was just above Lower Bath Lake and route would require dropping about 600 feet and then climbing back up about 400 which I didn’t feel like doing. Knew there was pretty well used route into Bath Lakes and had feeling that this wasn’t it. However, it was doable so I did it. More rock hopping. Did a lot of it on this trip and really hate it. Though much better than other types of ground, like clinging to steep slopes on slick heather or forest duff, also really hard. Mentally tiring because have to constantly choose and change routes and then be careful with every single step so you don’t step into a hole in the rock and snap your leg or have a big rock shift and pin you. Got to point in talus valley several hundred feet below Lower Bath Lake and saw that I would be able to get back up on west side of lake. This was a relief. Worried  that I would have to rock hop all the way to the east side of lake in order to get up. Got up on bench okay through some steep brushy forest and into more talus. Talus preferable to steep brushy forest for travel but still getting tiring. Rock hopped to Lower Bath Lake. Arrived at about 1:45 p.m.  Had lunch and rested for half an hour. Then checked out lake. Caught several fish, rainbow trout. One was very nice about 14 ½ or 15 inches and easily a pound. Interestingly this one didn’t have any spots, almost looked like steelhead fresh up from saltwater. Continued on to Upper Bath Lake. Picked up trail again at Lower Bath Lake. This section well used and quite obvious. Followed up to ridge above some small ponds or lakes below Upper Bath Lake. Felt pretty tired at this point and decided to go into Upper Bath rather than drop into these ponds first. Figured to check them out the next day. Got to Upper Bath over steep hillside covered with heather. Lake was down several feet and outlet was dry. Well used trails around outlet and west side of Upper Bath and trail continuing on past the lake obvious on west side. Made camp on west side of lake and explored a bit. Decided that I had better check out lower ponds/lakes this day. Figured I still had enough time and had thoughts of trying to get over ridge into lake to north and east the next day. I had been into this lake in 1997 via Sulphur Creek, very rough trip, two days of 12 hours each walking through endless patches of brush and devil’s clubs. It was earlier in the year and still lots of snow and fish in lake but couldn’t catch any so wanted to check it out later in year and see if luck had changed. Higher route should be much easier than Sulphur Creek but didn’t think I would have enough time if I also wanted to check out lower lakes/ponds. Got into lower lakes/ponds in about 15 minutes. Immediately discovered a number of Cascades frogs and was able to get several chytrid fungus samples. I had specifically asked Sacha for a particular red Ziplock container to bring along to aid in taking chytrid samples, after capturing them, you put the frogs in it while you get your sampling stuff together. I forgot and left this container up at Upper Bath Lake so I had to wing it without the container. The small lake/pond just below Upper Bath is shown on maps as single water body but discovered that it was nearly perfectly bisected by a peninsula of land and the two parts only connected by small bit of water about ten feet wide. Lake fairly deep but no sign of fish. Saw several what were probably long-toed salamanders and a number of Cascades frogs. One small frog had deformed hind leg that looked more like a front leg. It didn’t get around very well. Went to another small lake/pond one hundred feet or less below the split lake/pond. This pond not shown on USGS 7.5 minute quad but shown on Green Trails map. This pond very shallow, no more than 5 feet deep at the most.  Saw several Cascades frogs and then, very surprisingly, saw fish. Unfortunately, had fishing pole with me but had left it in pack on bench just above pond and it was getting late, no time to go get it in time to catch some fish and get back to camp. Decided I would have to drop into this pond on way out to see if I could find out what kind of fish were in it. Headed back to camp. Dark by time dinner was cooked and eaten. Turned in after writing notes of day’s observations by headlight. Heavy winds picked up that night and early in morning. Forecast had called for some sort of system to move in and figured this was part of it. Gray and overcast in morning with low ceiling, about 5500 feet. Part of route I took in was fogged over. Decided to scrap attempt to try to get into lake next ridge over. Might not ever make it into there again. After breakfast dropped into lower lakes/ponds. No bites in upper, bisected lake, no fish observed either swimming around or surfacing. Dropped into lower lake, the one not mapped on USGS quad, where I knew there were fish and caught two in three casts. These fish were westslope cutthroat. Pretty nice about 10 inches long and fat. Could see them surfacing and also eating something off bottom of lake. These fish probably self-reproducing population, could see what looked like redds in outlet and around inlet area. Cutthroat trout, both westslope and coastal seem to be masters at making use of very small streams and ponds for habitat. Have occasionally seen rainbows in similar situations but not as often. Headed out to Lower Bath Lake. By time arrived there, low clouds had begun to lift but I was on my way out. Picked up trail from Lower Bath and led to another gap in ridge, avoiding route I took in which involved descent of several hundred feet and climb back out of several hundred more. Several spots along trail out kind of sketchy. Not terrifying but definitely not places where one would want to lose his footing and fall. Extra careful going through these spots but not to point of getting adrenaline rush. Trail much better route. Climbed up about 800 feet and got back to spot overlooking unnamed lake with potentially cool photo of Glacier Peak and had lunch. Again debated dropping the 600 feet to attempt to get photo but clouds never really lifted off Glacier Peak. Occasionally summit could be seen but most of time in clouds. Didn’t think of just sidehilling into lake and going up from there. Decided not to go. At this point toying with idea of going all the way out that day. Still had drop of 800 to 1000 feet into next valley, climb of about 600 feet out of that then another drop of several hundred into Lookout Lake valley. If decided to go out, would need to climb another 400 feet to get to trail and then drop about 4200 feet on trail out.  At this point, lunch, felt pretty good, much better than previous days so thought going all the way out this day was possible from high spot but probably not if I dropped into lake. I probably would have done it if I had been sure of getting the photos. Continued on into next valley. Swung by small pond that I had noticed on previous trip. This pond had still been watered on previous trip when everything else was dry so I wanted to check it out. Didn’t see much. Climbed out of that valley and dropped into Lookout Lake area. It was a little before 5:00 p.m. at that time and I decided to try to go all the way out. I could have stayed at either Lookout Lake or Sulphur Mountain Lake and come out Monday morning. There was a possibility of showers that night (Sunday). I would have been just fine but I would have gotten my tent and other gear all wet and would have had to go to the trouble of drying them out. At this point I was getting a little tired and knew I would be hurting by the time I got all the way out. So the choice was potentially a little discomfort and the bother of getting gear dried out the next day or maybe a little more discomfort, not having to dry gear out and having a little more time on Monday to try to take care of some things around the house and farm. I kept going. Got some nice photos of Spire Point on the way out. The first mile or so wasn’t too bad. Then things started to hurt. Hips and knees hurt by about half way down. Had this overall feeling of being in a haze of pain and discomfort, actually fairly common for me on many trips but hips and knees aching let me know that I was pretty tired. All the way down would occasionally get twinges here and there and wonder if I was going to pull or tear a muscle but twinges all went away. No cramps. Funny thing, once I am in shape for the year can go to near exhaustion without cramping. Not so early in year before I am fully in shape and I cramp very easily. Had to break out headlamp to travel through dark for last half hour or so. Got to trailhead without incident, loaded up and headed home. I had been walking since about 8:00 a.m. and I got back to the trailhead at about 9:00 p.m., something around 13 hours of traveling with a few breaks and side trips but I probably put in a good 10 or 11 hours of walking. My main concern now was waking Sacha up. She had been having trouble getting a full night’s sleep lately and it wouldn’t help if I came into the house and startled her awake, probably making it very difficult to get back to sleep. Lucked out, she was just turning out the lights to go to bed when I pulled up at about 9:45 p.m. Talked for a little bit. Decided I would sleep on couch because usually when I am as tired as I was that night, I get very twitchy and tend to flail my arms and legs around in my sleep, making it very hard for someone to sleep next to me. Hard to get out of bed next morning, very stiff and sore. Briefly toyed with idea of going to work but felt to worn out. Got to hang out with kids for a few hours. Weighed pack. It weighed 71 pounds. Probably another reason I had so many problems on first two days of trip. Finished notes from trip. Went to store and got resupplied for week. Looked into getting power back to pump house at stump farm, a large cottonwood limb had taken out the power line to pump house and power pole we had was no longer fit for service and needed to be replace. Expected to be either working overtime the coming weekend or out on another trip so sighted rifle in to make sure it was accurate for deer season. Since park service closed shooting range at Newhalem this involved a little running around. Had been using a pit about 14 miles up a logging road to shoot and headed up there, realizing just before I got there that some road work was going on in the area and that they were probably working out of that pit. Sure enough they were, so had to figure out another place to go on the fly where I could get a range of 100 yards and it would be safe enough to shoot. This involved a side trip of about 10 miles but found a spot and checked rifle. Didn’t have time to look into getting new power supply to pump at Stump Farm after cottonwood limb had taken out power line and pole.

Sulphur Mountain from small valley flats east of Lookout Lake. This is the same area I traveled through twice already this year on my way into and unmapped lake and some unnamed lakes. 

Miner's Ridge from route into Bath Lakes. 

Glacier Peak from route into Bath Lakes.  

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from lower Bath Lake. This fish didn't have any spots though several others I caught from Lower Bath Lake did. This particular fish probably weighed about a pound. It was 14 1/2 inches long. 

Lower Bath Lake. 

Upper Middle Bath Lake. While it looks like there a two lakes here it is only one connected by a narrow waterway just out of sight behind the trees to the right. This lake is mapped and on the maps it shows one nearly round water body whose perimeter is unbroken by the peninsula and waterway. 

Lower Middle Bath Lake viewed from the south half. The waterway connecting to the north half is to the right along the talus. The north half is much deeper than the south half. This lake didn't have any fish in it from my observations, no bites and nothing surfacing. 

Newly metamorphosed Cascades frog (Rana cascadae). The left hind leg of this individual is deformed. I have read a paper somewhere about a parasite that infests tadpoles and causes deformities in the limbs when the tadpole metamorphoses into a frog. This paper showed that these deformed frogs were significantly more vulnerable to predatory birds like herons (I'm sure the deformities increased predation by other types of animals too but birds are the only ones I clearly remember). This predation is very important to the parasite's life cycle because whatever stage it is in the frog (egg or cyst I'm thinking), needs to go through the gut of an animal, in the case I remember, birds before being deposited back into the water by bird feces where it can infest more tadpoles. I don't know if the deformity of this frog is due to a parasite or some other factor. When I was at Sonny Boy Lake #1 in 1997, I noticed what seemed to be an unusually large number of frogs with deformed limbs. I didn't see any frogs with deformed limbs at Sonny Boy #1 in 2013.

Upper Bath Lake. This is a pretty big lake but there were no fish in it either as nearly as I could tell. I didn't see anything surface and I didn't get any bites. 

Salamander larva, probably a long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum). 

Lower Middle Bath Lake. This lake is not shown on the USGS 7.5 Minute map but it is shown on the Green Trails map. It is smaller than Upper Middle Bath Lake and pretty shallow, about 5 feet at its deepest point.  

However, there are fish in Lower Middle Bath Lake. This is a westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi)  that I caught there. Cutthroat trout seem to specialize in occupying smaller habitats. I have seen them in streams only a foot wide where they are only 5-6 inches long, maximum as adults. Rainbow trout will do the same but I have seen them less frequently in such situations. The fish in Lower Middle Bath Lake were fairly decent sized, the one pictured above was about 8 inches long. 

Spire Point are on route out of Bath Lakes. 

Yours truly at Lower Bath Lake on the way out. I'm not much into selfies, usually reserving them for instances where I need a reference (myself) to show the scale of objects in the photo. However, it occurred to me that I might want to record myself and my rig on this trip. It was a pretty good way in over some pretty tough ground to get to this spot and the pack was heavy. At the point where this photo was taken, I had probably ten hours of walking ahead of me. I am at the point in my life where I can feel my physical abilities beginning to diminish noticeably. I think I still have quite a few years of walking rough country in me but I also realize that, if I live long enough, at some point I will be a shadow of the physical being that I am now and I want some proof of some of the things I did. I have heard a lot of stories scoffed at by younger generations as impossible because the people of that younger generation can't imagine how the stories could be true. 

Blueberry brush. The fall colors were at their peak about 2 to 3 weeks early and the blueberry crop which should have been at its peak at this time was gone. I only saw a few dried up insipid berries.

Dome Peak from route to Bath Lakes. Actually this photo was taken on the way out. 

Large table on route. The Bath Lakes route goes across this large flat area. The unnamed lake at 5737 feet elevation covered in the previous post is below here to the left of the photo. The valley and flats east of Lookout Lake are on the other side of the table and Sulphur Mountain proper is just out of the frame to the left. 

Dike or sill (depending upon how it was originally deposited) on the table pictured above. I thought this one was pretty cool looking, like a lightning bolt. 

Spire Point area from the end of the official Sulphur Mountain Trail on my way out. 

9/19,20/15 Home Bound:

Weather sucked. Rainy all weekend. Watched/played with kids both Saturday and Sunday morning. Spent afternoon doing chores on farm, measured distances to get new power at Stump Farm, cut weeds, charged battery on lawn mower because someone left the switch on, started making preparations for butchering, plinked with rifle a bit (shot empty non-refillable propane cylinders so the metal could be recycled), cleaned rifle, did a little grouse hunting and scouting for deer.

9/26,27/15 Upper Sorenson Creek:

Weather forecast disappointing. Promised to work on Saturday in middle of week when forecast still called for rain. By Saturday forecast had changed to nice weather but too late to get out of work. Worked Saturday and got some pretty good rains that afternoon—they had changed the forecast back to showers at last minute. Wanted to do one good hike to keep toned in case I got chance to do one last trip on the following weekend. Decided to try to get into some more ponds on Sorenson Creek on South Skagit, figuring it to be at least 10 or 12 miles round trip. Took along shotgun in case I saw any grouse. Had been battling another cold since middle of week. Sacha and kids had it too. Felt pretty good by Sunday morning. Hung out with Sacha and kids in morning. Got late start from gate at bottom of road at about 8:00 a.m. Nose still a little stuffy and lungs hurt a bit but everything felt pretty good after about half an hour of walking. Could tell I was in shape and on road that was much less steep than many sections of trail I had walked that year but still hard. Felt awful and for about first mile wanted to quit because it seemed too far. Knew this would pass so kept going until everything, legs, lungs, heart was going smoothly. First pond I went to I had missed on previous trip this year so decided to see if could find again. Maps showed it very near road and it was, probably less than one hundred yards. The only problem was I had to wade through a tangle of fallen trees and devil’s clubs and salmonberries several feet over my head and growing so thick I could only see about ten yards through them to get to the pond. Map showed 2 ponds, I only saw the one. Looked around a bit for the other one, which may have been hidden in the thick brush or may have been ephemeral and dry. Not much to see at this pond, tree canopy thick as well. Got back to road and kept walking. Saw several deer. Decided to take short cut across Sorenson Creek from road system on west side to road system on east side. Got across easily enough and continued on. Next pond was off switchback in road and while I was stopped, making sure I was at the right switchback, a couple guys drove up in a pickup truck. They seemed pretty surprised when I told them I had walked into that spot from the gate at the bottom of the hill. Dove off switchback and was at pond in about ten minutes. Ate lunch. By time I was finished I was beginning to get chilled. There was sun on the north side of the pond but I was in shade and thermometer said temperature was in the mid-40’s Fahrenheit. Tried to walk around pond but was so brushy, could only access at a few spots. Didn’t see any fish or amphibians which doesn’t mean that there were none there. There were probably at least some amphibians but it was so brushy it would have been luck to see one. Headed back up road and continued up. Final goal for day was pond just over the ridge in the Rocky Creek (Day Creek) watershed. Found road through saddle in ridge east of Little Haystack Mountain and got blue grouse on ridgetop. Looked down into pond that was my goal. It was several hundred feet below me and I didn’t think I would have enough light to get down to it, look it over and get back out. Decided to abandon the attempt for the year. This will be a good break-in trip for next year. Started back down the mountain. Saw several more deer and six more blue grouse but didn’t get a shot at a single one (the grouse, it wasn’t deer season and I didn’t have ammo for deer, even if it had been legal to shoot one). Took road crossing of Sorenson Creek this time. Cut switchback at bottom of hill and saved at least half a mile of traveling. Got back to rig at dusk, right hip and knee aching, feet aching and muscles stiff the next couple of days.

Pond on Rocky Creek (Day Creek watershed). This pond will probably be one of my first destinations in 2016. It would be a good break in trip to get me in shape. I didn't have enough time to get into it and back out this year. Day Lake is in the distance. A couple of the mountains on the skyline farther back are Whitehorse and Three Fingers. 

Close up of Day Lake. 

Snag below Haystack Mountain at the Head of Sorenson Creek. I took a photo of this snag from a different angle on a trip I did earlier this year. 

Snag left in a logging unit with a small tree growing on it about 100 feet off the ground. The red ridge in the background is part of Twin Sisters on the Middle and South Fork Nooksack River. The Skagit River Valley is in the middle distance. I took this photo on my way out. 

10/3-6/15 Miner’s Ridge and Plummer Mountain:

Miner’s Ridge. Sometimes I get weather window late in year before deer season and it happened this year. Good stretch of weather Sat, Sun, Mon and part of Tues. Decided to do one last trip. Glad I had done the trip up Sorenson Creek previous Sunday because it kept me toned up pretty well. Plan was to do some errands early Saturday and start up Suiattle and camp close to junction of Miner’s Ridge trail. Sunday go into lake at 5138 foot elevation below lookout, stay night. Monday come out, go to Image Lake and then farther along ridge and try to hit some lakes below Plummer Mountain at the east end of ridge. Got errands Down Below done, ammo for rifle, new headlight for car and a few other minor items. Hit trail at about 1:30 p.m. Got to junction at about 6:00 p.m. Had to backtrack a bit to get to spot with water. Saw PCT through-hiker at dusk hustling to get to Miner’s Creek before dark. Crawled in tent and started to drift off to sleep and heard at least 2 or 3 more people come hustling by in the dark. Hard to get out of sleeping bag in morning. Hit trail at about 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. Got to lookout a little after noon. Checked out lookout and found way off ridge to lake. Little disconcerted. Had expected to be able to see lake from ridge which would make navigation easier but could only see one small corner of it in timber. Noticed interesting thing. South side of Miner’s Ridge almost all second growth timber 60-80 plus years old in old burn, north side all old-growth. Got to lake without too much trouble at about 2:30 p.m. Did walk around survey looking for amphibians, fish, plants and anything else of interest. Saw a diving duck, probably a goldeneye, lots of Cascades frogs and a few salamanders, probably long toed salamanders. Was disappointed to find all inlet streams dry. Only running water was at outlet. Lake water pretty skanky looking with lots of moss, algae and floating bits of stuff. Had no choice, out of water and days was pretty warm, mid to upper 70’s Fahrenheit so made camp near outlet where water was running. Water actually wasn’t too bad didn’t taste funny and, with care, didn’t pick up any floating stuff. Also did walk around of small pond to north of lake that was mapped on Green Trails maps but not on USGS Quad. Went back around to try to catch some frogs to take chytrid samples. Managed to catch 5, several of which had pale undersides white bellies and pale undersides (ventral) legs, which I had only seen before at Sonny Boy Lakes. Lake had lots of scouring rushes which aided frog escapes. Lots of frogs and could have caught more if I had had a net. Lots of sphagnum around lake and got feet and lower pants legs wet trying to catch frogs. Ate dinner and turned in. Wet pants in sleeping bag pretty itchy and uncomfortable until they finally dried out. Next morning fairly cold, frost in places and hard to get out of bed. Feet in wet shoes got cold pretty quickly, especially when walking through frosty vegetation. Got good breakfast and headed out a little before 9:00 a.m. to climb back up about 1000 feet to ridge top. In shade all of the way until ridge top and feet and toes ached from cold but otherwise couldn’t feel ground very well and slipped a lot on way up. Hit sun at ridge top and got some nice photos of Glacier Peak and the mountains along the upper Suiattle River. Feet warmed up pretty quickly and by time I was half way to Image Lake, feeling was back and I overall felt really good. Image Lake very nice. Did walk around and surprised to see diverse leaved water starwort (Callitriche heterophylla). Also saw several diving ducks, probably goldeneyes. Went up on hill a little bit to get classic photo of Glacier Peak with Image Lake in foreground. Lots of photos taken from this vantage point over the years, probably many more in the future. Had lunch and when refilling water jug, discovered two Cascades frogs. Kind of surprised and didn’t have chytrid sampling stuff so captured one for close observation to verify that it was a Cascades frog and then turned loose. Headed east on trail. Getting close to 3:00 p.m. by time I got to switchback where I had planned to take off towards the lakes below Plummer Mountain. To get to lakes would have to gain 600-800 feet contouring around ridge and hit just right at small valley below lakes. Debated for 10-15 minutes whether had enough daylight left to safely make attempt. Finally decided to make attempt. Took full pack because plan was to hopefully cut down from Plummer Mountain to trail below and find a spot to camp for night along that trail. From switchback, followed horse trail and some sort of older trail for about quarter mile then just side hill through meadows. Expected rough going but meadows so dry going was quite easy though steep side slope hindered progress. Maintained a fairly constant up angle whole way across. Cut several vales or gullies that were kind of a pain in the neck, had to do a lot of rock hopping. Kept expected to round high spot in ridge and be at lakes but had to go through several before finally arriving. Had to cross vale full of very loose scree just before lake basin. Scree nasty mixture of large, 1 to 2 foot diameter rock down to sand that more often than not caused me to slide downhill several feet with every step, often with large falling rocks to avoid. Finally got to lakes and discovered that I had come in several hundred feet too high. Backtracked and followed edge of scree slope down to where I could get into lakes. Noticed what looked like a well used trail on side of small valley below lakes and this brought my spirits up. Hopefully the way out would be fairly easy. Very pretty and interesting spot. Some old boards and structures evidently left over from mining activity at lakes. Got to lakes at a little after 4:00 p.m. Time getting short. Effectively dark at about 7:00 p.m. and if I had to backtrack this didn’t leave much time. Looked over lakes. Upper lake not shown on USGS quad but shown on Green Trails map. Had hoped to possibly get into one more lake/pond above Suiattle Pass and go down easy ridge from it to pass and hit trail at pass, finding a camping spot somewhere on the trail out. Could see this lake/pond probably less than half a mile away. Route looked doable except for one sketchy spot right below lower Plummer Lake. This spot also looked possible doable but would take some time to scope out. Would be coming down through it which is harder than going up. Decided not to try. Didn’t want to waste a bunch time on a possible failed attempt or even worse, get pressured into hurrying because light was fading and make a bad mistake. Decided to try trail I had noticed on the way in. This trail probably well used once but now mostly maintained by runoff and animal travel. Followed it down about 100 feet before it disappeared into some krummholz trees. Might have picked it up on other side but looked so disused that I stood chance of losing it again halfway down hill which was steep and would be a bad place to lose a trail. Briefly debated just diving over the hill and started in that direction but ground got really steep and it was in an avalanche track full of scrubby, brushy trees that would be difficult to move through and impossible to see through. In past had gone through an area like this and ended up standing over several hundred feet of empty space with just small Alaska cedar stems to hold me. Looked like the hill might break off steep into cliffs in the avalanche chute but couldn’t tell for sure. This would be a very bad place to get stuck in the dark, too dangerous to move, no water, very steep with no flat ground to stretch out an get some sleep. Probably bad idea to sleep anyway because you might roll over a cliff. This was kind of place where, if you got stuck, you might take some bad chances and make bad decisions in effort to get out of it before dark. Decided to abandon the plan and just backtrack out the way I had come in, figuring that I would be really late getting out. Had to climb back up several hundred feet in order to get in good spot to sidehill. Stuck to lower route with a little flatter sidehill on way out and found it surprisingly easy, only slightly slower than actually walking on a trail. Also interesting lots of whistle pig (hoary marmot) holes and trails that looked quite fresh in meadows but didn’t see or hear a single whistle pig. Back at jump off point in about half an hour. Time was about 5:30 p.m. and wanted to get back to spot where I camped on the way in, a distance of about seven miles. So knew I would be walking in dark part of the way. Last 2 hours to camp by headlight in dark. Everything hurt. First just right hip and knee and left ankle, then left hip and knee and then shoulders. Many times took what seemed like a normal step that caused some kind of distinct, sharper pain to flare up. Fortunately each of these pains faded away. Skin of left hip rubbed raw by pack waist strap. Dinner kind of nasty, not enough water to make noodles, which I wanted. Made instant potatoes instead, less water and quicker. These are usually good but I was getting a little tired of them and there still wasn’t quite enough water to make them properly and have some water to drink without making an extra trip to the creek which I didn’t want to do because I was so tired. Potatoes a little too thick but wolfed them down anyway, sunk dirty dishes in creek for night, refilled water jug and hit the sack. Figured I would fall asleep quickly because I was so tired but I was too warm and achy to get good sleep quickly-which often happens when really tired, end up tossing and turning for several hours because no matter what position you take, something starts hurting pretty quickly. Toss and turn until aching subsides enough that you can get comfortable enough to sleep. Next morning up a little late, about 7:30 p.m. On trail by about 9:00 p.m. Was able to get out, as I had hoped, with enough time to go to doctor’s office and straighten out problem with getting an appointment and then get home and mow the lawn. Sound track for whole trip: Major Lazer was serious ear worm for most of trip, finally got it into background. Taylor Swift, Neon Trees, Phoenix, Tove Lo, Tegan and Sara, Maroon 5, Charlie XCX, Kings of Leon, 5^th Harmony, Pink, Katy Perry and some stuff from the ‘70’s some of which I hadn’t thought about in years, Dr. Hook, Triumph, Peaches and Herb.

Glacier Peak from trail to Miner's Ridge.

Upper Suiattle River and Glacier Peak (to the right) from Miner's Ridge.

Miner's Ridge Lookout. 

I took photos from several different angles trying to incorporate the lines created by the cirrus clouds. 

Lake at 5138 feet elevation northeast of Miner's Ridge in the Canyon Creek drainage.  Looking northwest. This photo was taken at about 3:00 p.m., shortly after I arrived. 

5138 Lake looking southeast. This photo was taken about two hours after I arrived. The light doesn't last as long in October and I am always surprised at how fast it leaves many spots in the mountains. It was dark enough here to require a headlamp by about 6:30 p.m.

5138 Lake, looking southwest, morning. 

5138 Lake, looking southeast, morning. 

Diving duck at 5138 Lake. Waterfowl identification is not my strong suit but I believe this particular bird is in the genus Bucehphala which includes the Common Goldeneye (B. clangula), Barrow's Goldeneye (B. islandica) and Bufflehead (B. albeola). October is not breeding season so this bird was in eclipse, displaying more drab colors which makes identification even harder for the novice. But I believe this bird was a goldeneye because its wings whistled as it flew, a characteristic I have noticed about goldeneyes. And, based on the shape of its head, or at least the plumage on its head, I think it was probably a Barrow's goldeneye. These birds spend quite a bit of time in saltwater but they are also common in freshwater habitats. I am familiar with them in freshwater settings in the late winter and early spring in the lowlands but I am always surprised how many times I run across them in high lakes. 

Duck pictured above backlit by sunlight reflection. 

Cascades frog among scouring rush (Equisetum hyemale) in deeper water.  There were a lot of Cascades frogs in this area but I was only able to capture about five for chytrid fungus samples. This photo illustrates why. Much of the lakeshore broke off rapidly into deep water and there was a lot of vegetation along the shore. So, if the frogs could make it to the water, it was almost impossible to catch them because they could easily get out of reach and many that were within reach were hard to capture amidst the vegetation. I didn't have a net which would have been helpful in many situations. 

Scouring rush (Equisetum hyemale) in small pond near 5138 Lake. This pond was not shown on the USGS 7.5 Minute Quad. It was shown on the Green Trails Map but in the wrong location. 

Cascades frog with white or bleached ventral (underside) surfaces. I captured several frogs that were missing the yellow hue to their skin that is common for Cascades frogs. These frogs aren't albinos, they are merely missing the yellow hue. As is obvious in this photo, this frog's skin still has color but the legs look red to pinkish where in most Cascades frogs they would be yellow or honey colored. The only other place I have ever encountered Cascades frogs with this coloration is Sonny Boy Lake #1. I am wearing a glove because I was taking chytrid fungus samples. 

Upper Suiattle River from Miner's Ridge. This is the crest of the Cascades, dividing east and west. The Suiattle River is to the right side of the frame. The streams on the other side of the divide here drain to the Wenatchee River or Lake Chelan. 

Upper Suiattle River from Miner's Ridge. This is the crest of the Cascades, dividing east and west. The Suiattle River is to the right side of the frame. The streams on the other side of the divide here drain to the Wenatchee River or Lake Chelan. This view is a little wider angle than the previous photo. 

Glacier Peak from Miner's Ridge. 

Fall colors (blueberry or Vaccinium brush) on the last bend before Image Lake. Much of the blueberry brush had lost its leaves by this point but there were still quite a few patches like this around. 

Glacier Peak from Image Lake. There have probably been thousands of photos of Glacier Peak taken from this exact location. There was a pretty well beaten trail to this spot though it wasn't quite as worn in as I had expected. This particular image is iconic, my photos are merely the latest in a long line of photos taken here. 

Plummer Mountain from Upper Plummer Lake. These lakes might be known by other names but Plummer Lakes are the names I  use for the water bodies southeast of Plummer Mountain because none of the maps I have indicate names for them. Note the yellow subalpine larch (Larix lyallii) to the right side of the frame. Larches are conifers or "evergreens" whose needles turn yellow and fall off every fall. Subalpine larches occur west of the Cascade crest but their distribution is somewhat limited here. On the west side of the Cascades they are most common near the divide. 

Upper Plummer Lake. 

Lower Plummer Lake and Chiwawa and Red Mountains. On some maps this lake almost looks like two separate lakes but it is only one. It is very shallow with a deep peninsula that almost separates it. 

Lower Plummer Lake. Chiwawa and Red Mountains on the left, Fortress Mountain on the right. 

Lower Plummer Lake, looking at Plummer Mountain from the lake outlet. 

There are some old mining claims in the area, probably the same ones by which Miner's Ridge gets its name. I understand that they have been bought out and the area is now all designated wilderness. There were a few miscellaneous boards and a couple of benches at the lower lake. 

11/18/15:

Walking Skyeball along Diobsud after work. Creek channel changed and lots of sediment moved around. Many areas where saw humpies spawning two months ago now appear washed away. Probably same for chinook who spawned at that time. Saw coho hen, freshly spawned out and dead in dry side channel. Coho redds probably also hit hard by floods. Flood events certainly knock back species numbers but probably won't result in extinction. Some redds not completely washed away. Several areas positioned behind logs and log jams seemed not to be as eroded. Numbers of fry that survive from egg stage probably low so predators probably won’t be as keyed into them as a prey species resulting in higher survival. Predators often key into an abundant prey species whether it is a hatch of aquatic insects or a run of smolts, young salmon or other fish heading for saltwater, and feed on them almost exclusively. So they prey less on species that aren't as abundant. Also, at least for Chinook and coho, fish stray from year to year, 2 years for coho and 4 years for Chinook not set in stone. So some fish from other brood years will stray to fill in for low returns from this brood year/spawning cycle. Humpies run every two years so there are no year to year strays though there are strays from streams in other areas.

Diobsud Creek has cut down about 4 feet in the area where Seattle City Light's power transmission lines cross over it. What was a fairly flat, shallow run for the past 5 years or more is now more like a deep pool. I have been visiting this spot since I was about 7 years old and it has changed so many times over the years that I can't keep track. This recent change is just another in an endless cycle of changes.