Lime Kiln Trail, 10-22-11

Even on a rainy misty day, get out there and let the drippy green dark northwest woods enchant you!  Adventure Dog and I felt like we were scuba diving for much of our hike, but it was a really fun day out! We did the Lime Kiln trail for the billionth time, and it was lovely.  It wasn’t all overgrown like when I took my Mom on it, and the abundant maples were dropping big gold and brown leaves all over.  The trail was carpeted with a variety of fall leaves.

The Lime Kiln trail was actually featured as the WTA’s trail of the week, so it was pretty busy despite the rain.  One of the things that led them to feature it is the abundance of fungi.  I had a great time noticing all the mushrooms.  Here are a few (not including the 5 chantrelles I brought home for lunch!)

Orange peel fungus:

Coral of some type:

Possibly a hydnellum:

Probably a type of oyster mushroom:

This one was cool, growing on a sign:

Not sure what these are:

Nor this, and sorry it’s blurry, but I decided to include it here because I couldn’t even find something like it in the mushroom ID book:

The lime kiln and the various relics around there were lovely in the moss and decorated with autumn leaves.  Of course Cedar had to check out everything.  : )

I was surprised that the Stillaguamish was swollen and churning after the rain.  There were barely any rocks to have our lunch on. 

As I was eating, a heron of some sort flew slowly and tauntingly up the gray-green river with the fall leaves behind it.  I struggled for my camera without dropping my sandwich.  My case stuck in my pocket.  I swore softly.  The heron was now directly in front of me, flying in beautiful slow motion.  I ripped the camera out of its case… the heron was a bit up river… the camera turned on, and I lifted it… and the heron was gone. 

I hoped it would fly back down the river, and it did, but too high up for a great picture.  Then it landed right above my head in a tall tree!  So I got its silhouette anyway.  lol

It was after this that I discovered the chanterelles and I got so distracted greedily searching for more, that I nearly went around the loop twice.  An Asian man I had seen earlier though started laughing at me and made a twirling motion with his finger and said, “Go in circle.  Haha.” 

On the way back I stopped at a hive that I had moved under a log.  On the way in, it was laying all squished in the trail and as I looked at it and poked at it with my fingers, I was surprised that there were still wasps or hornets in it of some sort.  I told a couple boys that were going by to be careful of it because it still had residents and one started to run and said he was allergic to bees.  I used a couple sticks and moved it under the log.  The poor insects looked pretty soggy and not long for this world.  They didn’t look much better when I stopped again, but it was interesting to see the honeycomb.

Happy hiking!

Blanca Lake 10-15-11

This Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, although a bit chilly.  Justus, Cedar and I were joined by my friend Dan’s flat-coated retriever, Clark Kent, for our 7 mi round trip Blanca Lake hike. 

This was a hard hike, although I’m not sure why in particular.  It was steep, but we have done steeper.  It was longish, but we have done longer.  Both Justus and I were off our game though and took our time climbing up the switchbacks.  The forest was beautiful though, with the sunlight streaming down, the forest floor scattered liberally with these miniscule orange mushrooms, and all the leaves dappled with dew.  I don't know what the funky little round fungi are.  I have managed to misplace all 3 of my mushroom ID guides.  I'll add a note to this blog when I find out.  : )

When the forest started to thin, we were treated to stunning views of the newly frosted peaks surrounding us, with a beautiful blue sky as a rare backdrop. 

The dogs enjoyed the hike a lot.  Cedar had a good time running around on the trail, and Clark had a good time near any water.  He spent time in this marshy area biting the ice that was in the water.

It was pretty cold near the top of the hill.  This ice had beautiful swirls in it.

Finally we reached the upper elevation of our hike, at the 1^st of the two lakes, Virgin Lake.  It was a very still pretty little lake, more of a large pond it seemed.  It had water bugs in it and Clark went for a swim each way as we passed it.

After eating our lunch on a log near Virgin Lake, we dropped about 600 feet in maybe a half mile to Blanca Lake.  We were dreading the climb back up, but seeing this stunning, large, aqua blue lake was worth it!  Look!  It’s gorgeous!!

Justus had an assignment for photography class, so he took a moment to snap some black and whites.

On the way back up, Clark barked and we looked up in time to see 2 mountain goats running through the brush about 100 ft up the slope between the trail we were standing on and one of the upper switchbacks.  I was really surprised that with a large hiking party we had just passed, and both dogs that they chose to show themselves.  It was quite a treat, but they were too fast to get a picture.

What a fantastic day!  Totally worth the sore muscles.  : )

Chantrelles & Maple Pass Loop Oct 1-2, 2011

Last Saturday my friend Ken, Adventure Dog and I set out in search of the wild chantrelle.  So I can’t really say where we went, since we did find a few and I’m not sharing.  : ) He is a member of the Puget Sound Mycelogical Society, and they had a fungi genius down at the Soda Springs campground near Mt Rainier, so we brought our findings to him and he identified, gave harvesting tips, and blew my mind with the amount of knowledge he had. 

While we were there we crossed a little bridge and sampled the soda springs water.  It is naturally carbonated and I don’t care for club soda, but it was definitely interesting and worth trying.  It bubbles up from a couple little springs under the trees on the far side.

Then we took off looking for more mushrooms.  We did pause to sauté up the ones we had found.  Both a pan of chantrelles and a large lobster mushroom.  Yes, that is smoked salmon and both merlot and chocolate milk at the table.  Don’t be hatin’. 

We looked well past sundown, which was interesting.  Once night fell we could see frogs in the road, hopping across and other creatures like A DEER! ACCK! Whew, he missed it.  Actually during the course of the day, Ken avoided hitting a red shafted flicker which seemed to launch itself at his windshield, a fat old dog that seemed to think it had the right of way on the highway, and that deer that leaped out in the dark in front of us.  It was an exhilarating drive.

On one of our last daylight stops, I smelled something awful.  It got worse the closer to the river I got, and when I stepped out on the river bank I saw why.  Salmon were spawning and dying along the banks in numbers I’d never experienced before. 

It was a fun day and hopefully there will be more weeks of chantrelles to come.

The next day my cousin Vanessa met me at my house and we took Adventure Dog way way out on Hwy 20 just pass Rainy Pass to an amazing trail called Maple Pass Loop.  I love loop trails, since you are constantly seeing different scenery, but these landscapes I wouldn’t mind seeing again.  It had a little of everything… blue berries, beautiful clear lakes, snow, wildlife, and a good workout.

The fall colors had just started, yet there were still wildflowers blooming, including lupine, paintbrush, and various other flowers.  I don’t know what the yellow succulent flower is.  If you do, post it in the comments!  Also represented was one of my faves, Old Man of the Mountain.  You can tell it by the shaggy hair.  It reminds me of a poem:

My beard grows to my toes

I never wears no clothes

I wraps my hair

Around my bare

And down the road I goes.

The larches were not fully gold yet, although a few of them had turned.  They are beautiful trees.  Even the greenest of them had an odd glowing hue to it.  I would like to do some more larch hikes and learn more about these interesting trees.  I can’t look at them without hearing a Monty Python voice saying, “the LARCH.” 

We had a great time on this hike.  Vanessa has a great sense of humor to go along with her terrific sense of adventure. 

Cedar had a great time too. He looked at all the lookout points, played with another dog on the trail, walked over the snow, and charmed several other hikers including one that tried to snap pictures of him. He didn’t hold very still for her. Luckily I have treats in my pockets. ; )

This little pika, gathering tasty greens, amused us with his herby mouthful.

Get out there, no matter what time of year, and enjoy this most beautiful place on Earth!