I had plans to meet Mount Spokane State Park Manager Steve Christensen this morning in order to walk a portion of the proposed new/improved trail 140. This trail will be replacing the old trail 115. The Mountaineers started work on the upper portion last fall, opening up a section that is approximately 1-mile in length. Then there were some delays, some postponements of plans, some angry emails, and finally the approvals we needed to continue this badly needed re-route. Steve was able to bring in some prison crews to finish opening up the entire route--cutting all of the brush and trees that were in the way. That makes me feel a lot better--the Mountaineers do allow volunteers to do chainsaw work, but I generally feel more comfortable just using traditional tools. Now that the route is clear, it's just a matter of using handtools to establish the trail tread. Chris Bachman and I will be leading trailwork on the lower portion of the trail next Sunday.
Steve and I only walked a short section of the trail, so I'm calling it just .25 miles.
Then I returned to the Nordic area for more huckleberries. I wanted to see if I could find any on the Quartz Mountain/Twin Lakes Loop. I didn't find many, but I was still very happy that I walked that way. When I met with Steve I mentioned to him that I was a little disappointed that I haven't seen any moose in the park yet this summer. I heard one crashing around in the bushes a few weeks ago, but I couldn't see it. Steve told me a funny story about a mother moose and calf that had been hanging around his house--apparently the baby walked right on his covered back porch in order to peer though his windows! So again, I was feeling a little sad that I hadn't seen any--and then I saw a big bull moose on the Twin Lakes Trail!
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| Bull Moose at Mount Spokane! |
After that I went back to my usual spot on Shadow Mountain. I ended cutting approximately .5k from the route because there were so many people out picking this weekend that I headed uphill and off the trail to pick my berries. I didn't get the mileage I needed, but I am still at least a little ahead for the month--and I have another 1/2 gallon or so besides!
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| A pretty butterfly I saw while hiking |
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| It would be better if the butterfly wasn't on a thistle flower--I asked it to land on a pretty wildflower, but it wouldn't listen. |
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| View from the Quartz Mountain Trail |
Today's total mileage = 8.64 miles
August total mileage = 157.15 miles
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