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.
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| 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. |
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| View from northwest side of pond, looking east. |
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| View from southwest side of pond looking northeast. |
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| 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. |
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| Same red dragonfly as previous photo. |
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| 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. |
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| Cardinal Meadowhawk. |
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| Cardinal Meadowhawk |
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| 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. |
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| Little Haystack Mountain from southeast side of pond. |
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| 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. |
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| View from northeast side of pond. |
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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| Salamander egg masses probably Northwestern salamander (Ambystoma gracile) on buckbean (Menyanthes trilfoliata) stem. |
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| 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. |
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| Rock rabbit or pika (Ochotona princips) in large talus below quarry on road, about 2700 feet elevation. |
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| Tadpole, probably Cascades frog (Rana cascade) in roadside ditch. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Slightly different view from one pictured above. |
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| Northwestern salamander egg mass on buckbean stem. |
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| Tan colored damselfly, possibly female Emma's dancer based on photos on website from photos on website Odonata.Bogfoot.net. |
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| Possibly female Emma's dancer. |
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| Looking south and east at Whitehorse Mountain and storm weather. |
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| 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. |
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| 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.
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.
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| Lime Ridge from the outlet of Rivord Lake. |
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| Same view as previous photo near sundown. The outlet of Rivord Lake is at the top of the waterfall. |
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| Looking across the Suiattle River valley from the outlet of Rivord Lake near sundown. This is in the Sulphur Mountain, Miner's Ridge area. |
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| Outlet of Rivord Lake and Lime Mountain on the day I left. |
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| Westslope cutthroat (Oncorhynchus clarkia lewisi) caught at outlet of Rivord Lake. My pocket knife included to show scale is 4 inches long. |
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| Rivord Lake a little west of the outlet. |
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| Looking across the Suiattle River valley at Mount Buckindy from Lime Ridge. |
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| Looking across the Suiattle River valley at Mount Buckindy and Downey Creek valley from Lime Ridge. |
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| 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. |
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| Looking southeast at Lime Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation. This photo taken on the day I left. |
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| Outlet of unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation on Lime Ridge on the second day of trip. |
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| Looking southeast at Lime Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation on the second day of trip. |
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| Add captionLooking southeast at Lime Ridge from unnamed lake at 5698 feet elevation on the second day of trip. |
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| Box Mountain and Upper and Middle Box Mountain Lakes form the northwest end of Lime Ridge on second day of trip. |
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| Looking across Suiattle River valley at Green Mountain from northwest end of Lime Ridge. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking west. |
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| Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking north. |
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| Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking southeast. |
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| Unnamed lake at 5100 feet elevation west of Box Mountain. View looking southeast. |
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| Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) or a hybrid displaying rainbow trout physical characteristics or phenotype. My pocket knife included for scale is 4 inches long. |
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| Looking east at Upper Box Mountain Lake from the route I took down into it. |
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| Tadpoles in isolated pond in flat at Upper Box Mountain Lake. These are most likely Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae). |
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| Looking northeast at Upper Box Mountain Lake. |
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| Looking northeast at Upper Box Mountain Lake. |
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| Looking northeast from Upper Box Mountain Lake at Spire Point and Dome Peak (in clouds). Middle Box Mountain Lake in foreground. |
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| Westslope cutthroat caught in Upper Box Mountain Lake. Notebook included for scale is about 7 inches long. |
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| West slope cutthroat caught in Upper Box Mountain Lake. |
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| Outlet of Middle Box Mountain Lake looking west. |
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| Middle Box Mountain Lake north of outlet looking southwest. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| West slope cutthroat caught in Middle Box Mountain Lake. |
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| Outlet of Middle Box Mountain Lake. |
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| Lower Box Mountain Lake looking east. |
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| Lower Box Mountain Lake looking northeast. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Looking north at Lower Box Mountain Lake. |
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| 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. |
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| Looking north at Lower Box Mountain Lake. |
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| 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. |
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| Looking southwestt at Lower Box Mountain Lake. |
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| 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. |
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| Looking south at Lower Box Mountain Lake. |
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