Field Trips

[BC witness]

Great pictures, BigTreeWalker, thanks for the report. Looks like you had ideal conditions on a nice quiet week day. I sometimes get a free day during the week, being semi-retired/self-employed, but my buddies still have to work most of the time, so I'm left solo on those days.

[daveedoe]

Lovely pictures! Goat Mountain and Goat Marsh are where I believe to be a very likely place for Bigfoot to hang out. On the Eastern side of Goat mountain is where a friend and I found a trackway while cross country skiing back in 1989. I posted on another thread about the cross country experience. I remember being in the area as a kid with my Dad and brother in law hiking into Goat Marsh and blue lake. The closer we got to Goat Marsh it got real quiet and we all felt very uncomfortable. We just turned around a left the area. 

So many of the roads are gated now, more and more are becoming overgrown, can still hike or ride bikes on most.

[BigTreeWalker]

Thanks. It was quiet out there BC. I don't mind the gates and/or ditches if I can get close to them. But, my usual research area I like to go into and camp is miles behind the gate on Rd 25, so unless they open it early this year, it may be a couple more months before we can get into there.

Dave, that area around Goat Mt is definitely wild and rugged and getting more wild as the roads grow in. I mentioned to my son that there have probably been less people up there than on Mt St Helens!

What was that other thread? I'd like to read about your experience.

[daveedoe]

post 18 and 26

 

http://bigfootforums.com/index.php/topic/41791-gifford-pinchot-national-forestwashington-state-incedent/

 

post 10

 

http://bigfootforums.com/index.php/topic/12030-attn-wa-state-witnesses/

 

I have another post showing the location of the trackway near Goat Mt using Google earth, I can't find the thread. The location was on the east side of GM and was an old gravel pit. We were on a trail or an old overgrown road, we were cross country skiing. If you use google earth look on the east side of GM you can still see where the old gravel pit was, it has become overgrown but still visible. The trackway went right up a very steep portion on the northern edge of the pit. The bone found was just north of there past blue lake and closer to the south fork of the Toutle river.

Edited March 22, 2015 by daveedoe

[daveedoe]

here are a couple google earth captures of the location of the gravel pit. 

 

[BigTreeWalker]

Thanks Dave. I've looked at that area with both topo and satellite maps previously. Always thought it would be a good area to check out. The 1st thread you mentioned is a very good one for that whole area from Merrill Lake to the south side of Mt St Helens. Might have to spend a little more time in that area, along with a lot of others it sounds like. But since I can get out during the week, that helps. Sounds like the bone was closer to the Sheep Canyon area.

I have spent a lot of time over the years around the Ape Cave area to the east of there. We found the Lake Cave in the trail of two forest area (I think you mentioned this one in one of your posts). Also found Ole's Cave south of there. Used to spend a lot of time around the Kalama Falls area, too. It was a little sad to see Weyerhaeuser log so close to that area that a lot of old growth fell down from the wind. It was a really beautiful area before that and before the mountain blew. (In case anyone was wondering when that was, it was in the early 1970's when we used to camp near the falls a lot.)

Thanks again for the links.

Edited March 22, 2015 by BigTreeWalker

[daveedoe]

still a beautiful area. Yes the bone found was very near Sheep Canyon.

 

Have you noticed how many people camp alongside the road around the Kalama Horse camp area? I went up there last summer and I could not believe how many people were camping alongside the road there. 

 

There is another area near there Butte Camp up above on the flank of Mt St Helens. Very beautiful up there I'm gonna try and do parts of the Loowit trail this spring and summer. 

[BigTreeWalker]

I don't usually go up there in the summer. I usually head further east up Rd 25 or Rd 93. They probably camp along the road because they don't have to pay any fees if they're not in a developed campground.

The Loowit trail sounds like some great hiking. I noticed on the satellite map I use that what used to be McBride Lake is now full of ash or silt. Is that the case, do you know?

[daveedoe]

McBride never was much of a lake, Yes had filled in with silt (ash) over the years and the eruption. Check out this link. I'm sorry if I'm hijacking this thread I will get out for more field trips I promise..

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ujelang/sets/72157601102410097/

[BigTreeWalker]

Dave great pictures, thanks for the link. And I was asking questions:-)

Edited March 23, 2015 by BigTreeWalker

[BC witness]

Three quarters of the usual group (MagniAesir, Jason C, and myself) got out this soggy Sunday to scout a road system that none of us had been on in a couple of decades. The rain kept the area pretty quiet for the day, though there were a few shooters out in some of the roadside gravel pits. As we got further back along the trails, we had the area to ourselves, since the roads were deactivated (trenches across to deter access), which raised a little havoc with the undersides of my running boards, but didn't stop our progress till we reached some badly washed out creek channels that were a bit too steep/deep to risk without a winch to drag the truck out if I misjudged. In some places, the water was running down the roadbed, 3 to 6" deep, for hundreds of yards. The trailblazer is getting a lift kit, and taller tires, as soon as my budget allows, I really don't like having to turn around while there's still some kind of road in front of me.

The whole watershed this road system penetrates is second growth forest, having been logged originally between 1900 and about 1960, with a few small operations now harvesting the second growth. Judging from the old growth stumps, it must have been a spectacular forest before the logging, there were some stumps almost big enough to park my truck on! In terms of Sasquatch habitat, it looks quite promising, as there are lakes and ponds at many different elevations, and creeks ranging from 2' wide trickles to 20' wide torrents all through the slopes. There was a lot of skunk cabbage already blooming around the ponds, and salmonberry bushes leafing out and blooming wherever daylight could reach the forest floor. Ferns were already growing thickly in some areas, as well.

We heard some grouse in the trees, and some geese flying over, but saw nothing bigger than squirrels on the ground, and found no tracks or other sign of larger animals anywhere that we stopped to check.

There was a sighting in the lower reaches of this valley reported to Steenburg about 3 years ago, but some doubt is felt about it, as it occured near a paintball/airsoft range, operated by a person known to own a gorrilla costume, as part of that sports operation. Though the sighting happened at about 2AM, it's felt that the costume owner may have been "owning" his neighbours. We'll probably never have the real truth in this instance.

After 5 hours of exploring the possibilities in the rain, we headed out to our usual greasy spoon for a late lunch and discussion of the worth of returning there this season, or sticking with our 2 more familiar areas. That's still to be determined. I didn't take any pictures this trip, but Jason got some video of big roaring creeks and waterfalls that will most likely go up on Steenburg's website in the near future.

[BigTreeWalker]

BC,

Thanks for the update. Sounds like some of that second growth must be getting pretty big by now. I always like looking at the old growth stumps and trying to imagine what that forest must have been like. I wish I could look back in time and see what Lewis and Clark saw when they explored this part of the country.

And I like those roads less traveled.

[daveedoe]

Thanks BC good report.

 

If that was a guy in a gorilla out fit, I'd say he is pretty brave! 

 

Where you're located it must be difficult to decide where to go for field trips. There is so much area to cover around SW BC, I guess that's why you stick to just a couple areas. 

 

My wife and I were at the Washington coast over the weekend, I saw and smelled the blooming skunk cabbage and checked out some nice Sitka Spruce trees. Some of the Sitka spruce appeared to be old growth, but they may have been second growth, not sure if the area had been logged in late 1800's or early 1900's.

I did not see any old stumps, so my guess would be old growth. 

 

I looked for tracks and all I found were some domestic dog and human tracks. 

[BC witness]

On Sat., Apr. 4th, our group of  (Me, Jason C., Thomas Steenburg, MagniAesir, and his wife)  did a run into a FSR that we had checked out a few weeks ago in sleet and snow, to see it in better weather and spend a few hours around a campfire in the evening. Our little convoy consisted of my TB, Jason's 2wheel drive 2dr Explorer, and  Magni's Chev 1500 4x4 p/u. The valley we were headed to is a tributary of a larger river, about 1 hour's drive from our homes, and pavement all the way to the FSR turnoff. Every campsite in the main valley was crammed full, as it's a very popular fishing river, but once we started up the forest service road, we had it to ourselves, except for a few ATVs.

Once off the main road our route became a rough track, following the deep valley of the creek into the mountains,with some very steep sections, some minor landslides and rockfalls, and a few trees across the track, but the surface was solid, though very rough and washboarded in sections. Fortunately, the 2wd Explorer had enough clearance and suspension travel to handle the roughest sections without help.

At 10km in, there was a nice area to park the trucks at an old logging site, so we pulled off the track and set up for the evening cookout. This was pretty much the end of the driveable track for trucks, though the trail continued to be passable for ATVs for several more km., though very overgrown with willow and alder along the sides, and had 1 landslide that would have stopped the trucks about 2 km in. I walked this section in the last hour of daylight, just to check it out. Since this is prime bear country, mostly blacks, but a few recent sightings of grizzly in the main valley, I was carrying my .300 WinMag, just to be on the safe side.

I found some old bear scat, but no other signs of wildlife on my hike. A few sections of the overgrown trail opened up to good views of the lower slopes of the nearby peaks, so I could glass the avalanche chutes for animals, but saw nothing moving at all. At about 7:30, I radioed back to the group that I was headed back, and just before dark, I was there.

Back at camp, the others had cut some dry wood from logs in the old slash piles, and had a good fire going, which was very nice to sit around, as the warm afternoon quickly changed to sub-freezing as the sun set. We spent the evening around the fire, cooking hotdogs and smokies, hot coffee, chocolate and cider, with brownies and doughnuts for dessert.

With the full moon and cloudless sky, it was very bright in the old clearcut opening, so one or the other of us would step away from the firelight, and scan the area for creatures, and we occasionally paused from our talking and laughing to listen for sounds in the area. A few bumps and indistinct noises were heard, one time being loud enough to prompt us to grab the guns and lights and go for a walk along the moonlit trail for a while, but to no avail. I'll even confess to trying a couple of wood knocks, without any response, but the guys threatened to kick me off the "research team" if I tried that again, though in a show of support, Thomas let go with a good Bobo style bellow.

At about 0100 we called it a day, packed up our gear, and headed back down the trail in the bright light of the full moon, and home to nice warm beds. It was an interesting trek into the creek valley, with beautiful scenery, and great company, and we plan to do many more trips like it this year. Here's a few shots from the day:

[BigTreeWalker]

Thanks for the update BC. Looks like your getting a little snow in the high country. Now that it's spring we're getting some snow in the high country in Washington too! Go figure.

My thoughts are mixed on wood knocking. I had an incident last year where we heard a stump being torn apart down the hill from us. I decided to knock a couple times and heard whatever it was leaving in a hurry. We had been talking quietly where we were and that didn't spook the animal. But as soon as I knock.... gone like a shot. I wish I had tried to approach closer instead.