Field trips 2.0

[PNWexplorer]

Went into the woods this week to pick huckleberries since they finally opened up the area where my favorite patch was located.

 

Still a pretty big fire in the area, but it is mostly contained and the wind was blowing most of the smoke away from our area.

 

 

The woods are extremely dry!  The dust was over 8" deep in some spots along the road.  But, with a layer of a few inches of super fine dust on the road for miles, it made spotting tracks very easy.  Looked for BF tracks, but didn't see any.  Stopped a couple of times to check out interesting ones, but they were bear tracks in which the rear paw is placed half way into the track that the front paw left.  Going down the road, it looks like a giant human print at first.

 

In this photo, you can tell how deep the powder is and how big of a cloud it makes.  Riding ATVs in a group in this would be miserable, unless you were first.  If you look below my mirror, you can spot some deer and elk tracks.

 

 

The huckleberries were absolutely perfect!  Great crop this year and bigger than last year.

 

 

This patch is huge and has huckleberries as far as you can see.

 

 

Girlfriend and I broke up last month, but I love her parents dearly.  I brought her dad with me.  He's an immigrant from Tijuana and loves to joke how he's built for picking crops, lol.

 

 

Got done picking and stopped by Bald Mountain Lookout.  The lookout has been converted to a cabin that the Forest Service rents out.  I was surprised to see someone was staying in it with the fires in the area.

 

 

Last photo was of me getting a glamour shot of the 4Runner in front of the coolest public restroom in Idaho.

 

 

 

[wiiawiwb]

It's difficult to comprehend the amount of dust residue. I can imagine it might be a challenge hiking in areas like there especially if you're hiking up a lot of that dust as you walk.

 

Do you have a "wet season" other than winter's run off and, if so, when does it begin?

[PNWexplorer]

1 hour ago, wiiawiwb said:

It's difficult to comprehend the amount of dust residue. I can imagine it might be a challenge hiking in areas like there especially if you're hiking up a lot of that dust as you walk.

 

Do you have a "wet season" other than winter's run off and, if so, when does it begin?

The only roads that get that amount of dust are the main dirt roads with a lot of logging truck traffic.  They grind the dirt into the fine dust you see.  On secondary roads with no traffic, it's not bad at all.  This was the jeep trail up to the huckleberry patch...

 

 

As far as a wet season, it used to be pretty rainy and wet from March to June, and again from October to November.  But, the past few years, we have had drought conditions with little snowfall in the mountains and not much rain in the spring.

 

I heard the other day that rattlesnakes have been spotted in my hometown 15 miles away.  That's never been seen before because it's been too cold for them at this elevation.  But the climate is changing for the worse around here.  Hopefully it starts transitioning the other way soon.  The winter I was born here, was the worst winter on record.  My mom was taken to the hospital on a snow machine because the roads were impassable by car.  It got down to -41 degrees officially, but some residents witnessed - 62 on their thermometers. 

 

https://judge3690.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/cold-anniversary-moscow-idaho-resident-recalls-1968-record-chill/

[norseman]

42 minutes ago, PNWexplorer said:

The only roads that get that amount of dust are the main dirt roads with a lot of logging truck traffic.  They grind the dirt into the fine dust you see.  On secondary roads with no traffic, it's not bad at all.  This was the jeep trail up to the huckleberry patch...

 

 

As far as a wet season, it used to be pretty rainy and wet from March to June, and again from October to November.  But, the past few years, we have had drought conditions with little snowfall in the mountains and not much rain in the spring.

 

I heard the other day that rattlesnakes have been spotted in my hometown 15 miles away.  That's never been seen before because it's been too cold for them at this elevation.  But the climate is changing for the worse around here.  Hopefully it starts transitioning the other way soon.  The winter I was born here, was the worst winter on record.  My mom was taken to the hospital on a snow machine because the roads were impassable by car.  It got down to -41 degrees officially, but some residents witnessed - 62 on their thermometers. 

 

https://judge3690.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/cold-anniversary-moscow-idaho-resident-recalls-1968-record-chill/

 

The winter of 68 it took two D 8 cats to clear the county road the ranch was on. I wasn’t born yet. But the winter of 78 it got to -40 for a month!

[BC witness]

Wonderful report, PNWex. I'd love to find a berry patch like that. On my outing last weekend, I found a few small wild strawberry patches, but the berries were long gone, and the leaves brown and curled up from the heat and drought of the last few months. We're now over 50 days with no rain, though some showers are predicted for the weekend.

 

BTW, I liked the look of the wheels on your rig, so I painted my scarred and blotchy old wheels a similar colour. I was going for bronze, but they came out looking more like copper.

Edited August 6, 2021 by BC witness
add note and pic

[Explorer]

Two weeks ago, I spent a week in the High Uinta Mountains of Utah, camping and hiking with some friends.

It is a beautiful area with easy access to high alpine lakes from the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway (Hwy. 150).

 

While the trip was not a BF focused trip, I was fully aware of several BF reports around several of the lakes we visited.

I also was aware of the claim by some Utah BF researchers, that the Weber River drainage was a hot-spot.  

Thus, I decided to take one my hikes overlooking the Weber River drainage and to follow a similar path as one of the BFRO reports (see link below).

http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_article.asp?id=188

 

In this report, two men and their 5 boys,  claimed to have hiked to the top of the ridge between Pass Lake and Cuberant Basin at the head of Weber River drainage.

When they reached the top of the ridge they looked down upon a small alpine lake about one half mile below and saw the BF like creature standing on its edge.

While I don't know exactly where they were, if they were at the ridge above Cuberant Lake, that was about 11,000 ft and Cuberant Lake was down at 10,400 ft.

 

I did not climb the ridge.  Instead I followed the trail from Pass Lake to the largest of the Cuberant Lakes in order to see the Weber River drainage to my west and check out one pond and 2 of the Cuberant Lakes.

 

Below is a map extract showing were Pass Lake TH, Cuberant Lake, Fish Lake and Notch Mountain are located.

That morning it was 48 F at 9:30 AM and had rained all morning. Thus the dark clouds on the photos.  It did not rain anymore until after 2:30 PM.

 

The first photo is of Notch Mountain and the 2nd photo is an unnamed mountain.  Both of these were to the west of our position and you can see the Weber River drainage down below.

The 3rd photo shows the hike down from the pass into the pond on the way to the Cuberant Lakes.

Fourth photo is the first Cuberant Lake and the 5th photo is the largest of the Cuberant Lakes.

 

Overall the whole area is beautiful and I will probably return (with a backpack and to go deeper).

 

 

[BC witness]

Wonderful photos of some truly wild country. My days of long hikes into the back country are about 20 years in the past now, so I'm glad others like yourself are taking those treks out there. I really miss those days, but now make do with 4x4 runs into the wildest places the truck will take me.

[bipedalist]

Nice adventure area, I enjoyed my BFRO trip back that way in 2007, very smokey back then and active fires, that place looks like a tinderbox again but lake levels looked good from what I could see.  Did you see any moose, they were all over one of my campsites?  With a new knee it will be awhile before I build up to any trail work or trekking but I intend to rehab to do some.  

[wiiawiwb]

...

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by wiiawiwb

[Kiwakwe]

On 8/8/2021 at 10:53 PM, Explorer said:

Two weeks ago, I spent a week in the High Uinta Mountains of Utah, camping and hiking with some friends.

It is a beautiful area with easy access to high alpine lakes from the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway (Hwy. 150)....

 

 

I miss those wide skies! Great shots and report.

[Explorer]

On 8/9/2021 at 3:13 AM, bipedalist said:

Nice adventure area, I enjoyed my BFRO trip back that way in 2007, very smokey back then and active fires, that place looks like a tinderbox again but lake levels looked good from what I could see.  Did you see any moose, they were all over one of my campsites?  With a new knee it will be awhile before I build up to any trail work or trekking but I intend to rehab to do some.  

 

Bipedalist,

 

We did not see moose, but the couple camping next to us told us that moose came by camp when we were out hiking one of the days.

 

We camped right next to the Provo River, and my understanding is that moose like riverine regions, so not surprised they showed up.  

 

I wished I had seen them!  

[norseman]

Wynoochee lake area-Donkey creek

 

Queets river drainage

 

Kalaloch area

 

Found one track that wasn't hoofed. Bear maybe coming off the bank to the road. No elk but lots of sign. Glassed clear cuts last night until the ocean mist rolled in around 8 pm.

 

Access is tough. Timber ground is all locked up. Olympic NF roads are all grown over or kelly humped. But State DNR ground was good access and plenty of clear cuts.

 

Made a big loop on dirt about 30 miles and then when we were almost out hit a road closed sign and construction. I wasnt going back the way I came. So I moved the signs knowing the crew went home the same way I was going. It was just woods to my back. My wife wasnt amused but we went through the construction equipment and popped out on pavemet on other side.

 

 

I have a bear tag but its too warm in my opinion.

[BC witness]

Good scouting. I agree, it's way too warm to take a bear right now.

[PNWexplorer]

I like the .45-70 govt shell for track size comparison!

 

That area looks about as "Squatchy" as it gets.

[norseman]

5 hours ago, BC witness said:

Good scouting. I agree, it's way too warm to take a bear right now.

Met one bow hunter in there. It was like 80 degrees over there! 😬