Field Trips

[daveedoe]

The Cabin was at Sol Duc hot springs. Here are a few more of forest plants

Edited June 7, 2016 by daveedoe

[BigTreeWalker]

I like the flowers. It's been probably over 50 years since I've been up at Sol Duc. I remember big trees.

[BigTreeWalker]

Went out last Wednesday to service my trailcams. At about 2000' the salmon berries are ripe. Though it didn't look like much except birds were eating them. Maybe I just didn't notice the bushes that were cleaned off. They're a little too sour/bitter for my liking. The foxglove were also in full bloom. Predator activity will probably be picking up in the area because the elk are calving now. It looked like there were calves running everywhere on my trailcams.

The last picture of the cow and calf elk is from my Bushnell trailcam and seems to be typical of quite a few cameras. Even though it might be daylight out (it was 6:47am) the IR flash triggers and washes out the picture. It may be what happens to some purported bigfoot photos and is blamed on something bigfoot does to cameras. In this case it was an elk and just a camera problem. Which to me is a more likely scenario.

Edited June 14, 2016 by BigTreeWalker

[Guest Cryptic Megafauna]

I wonder if Bigfoot young are moving about, all animals are moving and calving near me.

[daveedoe]

My wife and I went up to get some huckleberry's today. We always head up into the Gifford Pinchot NF just on the western edge of the Indian heaven Wilderness. It was very quiet this morning while we were picking. The only things we could hear was an occasional car on the forest roads and the occasional jet flying over, no wildlife at all. After we picked  a couple quarts of berries we took a hike into the Indian Heaven wilderness area around Thomas lake. I went to Eunice lake and did a little fly fishing for some brook trout. I looked around for tracks and only found human an domestic dog tracks. A few piles of bear scat but no bear, deer or cat tracks to be found. 

I was amazed by how many people were backpacking out. I was also amazed by how many people had dogs. I do believe this area is being used by so many people now more than I can ever recall. It is easy access and not to far from Portland Vancouver. Nice to see people enjoying nature and what it has to offer. I hope all these people take care of this special area.Here are a few pictures of our trip. 

[BigTreeWalker]

Hi Dave, just got back from a week in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest up around Elk pass. I couldn't believe the huckleberries this year. And all the people picking them. Found a couple secluded campsites but it wasn't easy. Lots of bear sign around, probably because of all the berries. Looks like you had an enjoyable time. It was a beautiful day for that. Great country in there. We saw three different varieties of huckleberries, all delicious. 

[BC witness]

I"m glad to see you guys getting out there and enjoying the wild country. Great shots from you outing, Dave. No recent reports from me lately, as I had some very major surgery a month ago, and it looks like I'll be in recovery mode for at least another 6-8 weeks, and on top of that, my TrailBlazer is in need of repairs to the front drive disconnect, so no rough trails till that's looked after. One of our group is organizing a weeklong camp at the end of Oct., so I hope I'm ready to go for that, and will of course report here. I have cabin fever big time!

 

BTW, Dave, it looks like you and I have the same hair stylist. ;-)

Edited August 15, 2016 by BC witness

[Lake County Bigfooot]

I am jealous of all this time off everyone is enjoying, though I did venture into extreme northern Wisconsin and kayaked the upper Wisconsin river near it's headwaters  north of Eagle River. I start to get the impression that these creatures have so many choices of habitat in such areas, the fact that more of them are not sighted moving about begs the question that the numbers of creatures are still fairly low. I know that some areas seem to have multiple locations of activity, but honestly two or three of these creatures running their territory over several weeks could account for that. It explains to me why so many questions remain unanswered, because honestly with their numbers beings small, their territories large, and those who have any chance of seeing them limited, that is why so few individuals ever see one. It is extremely difficult to pin them down and say they will be in such and such a place at such and such time, although patterns emerge. I know that between the second week of June and the second week of July, they will use my area for about 10-15 days. Then I have no signs of activity till later in the fall, and that seems to be very weather related. If deer and coyote serve as primary food sources for these creatures, it stands to reason that where the highest concentrations of deer exist, more of these creatures might exist. Given that assumption, many of the densest deer populations live in agricultural belts, not exactly all forested regions. So places like Iowa may actually have more creatures than some supposed hot spots, this accounts for the fact that Illinois and Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, all have been piling up sighting reports. If you also take into account the reluctance of hard core Midwesterners to report such things, you might realize that the PNW is not the hotspot destination one comes to think of it, although I say it still is the best environment to hide such a creature, and the food sources are more varied in such rain forests. I think we might be talking about two different versions of this creature as well, and the PNW patty type is certainly not what is mostly observed throughout the rest of the country, though the patty type is still present as well.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Lake County Bigfooot

[daveedoe]

thanks Big T W, I usually pick the purplish and reddish berries but not the blue one with the frosty look if that make any sense. I find the two I like have the most flavor. I'm amazed how many people are out there anymore. Thirty years ago I would only see a few and maybe no one, it feels like the areas have gotten smaller with so many people everywhere. I would think the small population of Bigfoot would be high tailing it out of these areas. Need to get out to the less used areas. 

 

Thanks BC I hope you can get out there soon, I miss your field trips. Get that Trailblazer fixed and start blazing those trails! Same goes for you get well soon. I had to laugh with your comment about my hair dresser you said "BTW" at first I thought you meant Big Tree Walker then I realized you meant "By the way" lol. Yes my hair dresser is myself with my Wahl clippers with a #1 attachment, I look bald in my profile but I do have some fuzz on top.

Edited August 15, 2016 by daveedoe

[BC witness]

I usually get trimmed when my youngest boy (heavy equipment operator) visits. I buzz him with the #1, but make him use the #2 on my head fuzz, and the #3 on the beard.

 

The TrailBlazer goes in the shop 8AM Tues for new tie rod ends and alignment, and hopefully the actuator replacement for the front axles, if that's all it needs. If they have to dig into the internals of the disconnect, it'll have to wait for more funds. 4X4 trucks are almost as big a money pit as boats, especially if they actually get used off road, which mine definitely does, just like yours.

[norseman]

Thats why I like solid axles.

 

Good to hear your surgery went well BC!

[MikeZimmer]

Since this looks like a thread about field work, I have a general question on vehicles for back road travel - is there a thread on that? If not, what sorts of vehicles give a good bang for the buck for rough road use? My brother in law suggested a second hand RAV 4. Any thoughts?

 

For those of you in BC's lower mainland, what sort of vehicle would handle the road from Boston Bar to Lillooet along the west side of the Fraser, or the road from Agassiz to Mount Curry?

 

[BC witness]

10 minutes ago, MikeZimmer said:

Since this looks like a thread about field work, I have a general question on vehicles for back road travel - is there a thread on that? If not, what sorts of vehicles give a good bang for the buck for rough road use? My brother in law suggested a second hand RAV 4. Any thoughts?

 

For those of you in BC's lower mainland, what sort of vehicle would handle the road from Boston Bar to Lillooet along the west side of the Fraser, or the road from Agassiz to Mount Curry?

 

 

You're talking my area here, so I know those roads well, though I haven't done either in about a decade. Both are doable in any truck/suv with decent clearance. A late model used compact or mid sized suv of almost any make will get you in and out of most of our logging/mining road systems, but my preference is for one that's a true 4x4, that is equipped with a 2 speed transfer case, rather than just "All Wheel Drive", due to our often very steep grades in the mountains. The "LO" range really eases the load on the motor and tranny when climbing those, especially if the surface is loose or very rough, and saves the brakes when descending those same hills. I can often idle down really gnarly grades in low range/low gear without even touching the brakes in my '05 Chev TrailBlazer.

 

In mid size Suvs, there are lots of choices, but I found the Chev TrailBlazer/GMC Envoy family to be the best bang for the buck, with Dodge Durango a close second. As soon as you start looking at Jeep, Toyota, Nissan of similar age and mileage, the price seems to double or triple.

 

If you want to talk further on this, PM me and we can exchange phone numbers.

[JKH]

Cool pics, Dave. Was checking out Sol Duc myself and whoo, has that gotten expensive! It's been fifteen years since I've stayed there. Heading out to the O Pen. next month for a few days, can't wait.

[daveedoe]

On 8/17/2016 at 10:30 AM, JKH said:

Cool pics, Dave. Was checking out Sol Duc myself and whoo, has that gotten expensive! It's been fifteen years since I've stayed there. Heading out to the O Pen. next month for a few days, can't wait.

Get out there and see if you can find the elusive Bigfoot, have fun take lots of pictures and share a few. Look for evidence of wildlife and of coarse wildlife. When I was young I would run down the trails and would usefully encounter wild life by surprise and one time almost running into the north end of a south bound elk!