NOV 2014 - STS and Creeping Forest

Growing up in the NE, when it's Fall you know it and it does start in early October.  Here we are in the second week of November and half way through fall with temperatures in the 70's it's sometime hard for me to tell the season.  However, what has been a sign for me is the emergence of mushrooms soon after the first rain.  A week before we got .6" of rain and sure enough the mushrooms have started to show up.

The crew started out in search of a couple of downed trees on STS near the Maddox's Cabin site.  We got to the site but no trees.  One of the crew scouted ahead and found a Fir and Oak just past the site.

Two down

Limbing for ease of clearing

Final roll and trail cleared

After clearing STS, we headed up the Creeping Forest trail and first came across a downed Tan Oak that caused a hiker reroute around the brush pile.

Clear and in contemplation of banana slugs

Another obstacle was a Madrone about chest high across the trail.

This was about 60 ft long

Slug making a break for safer grounds

One last toss and tail cleared

Old man Douglas Fir

Band-tail Pigeon hunter's victim

We finished off the day moving firewood for HQ and the cooler mornings coming.  It's great to have a large group to make a difficult one person job into an easy job (it took 17 minutes to unload and stack about 2 cords of wood).

We put in 66 hours on a beautiful day in the park.  I would like to thank Francis, Dale S., Janette, David B, Shelly, David P., and Jan.

See you on the trails.

Jeff

Birds of the Day

1 Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata

5 Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus

1 Hairy Woodpecker, Picoides villosus

1 Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus

1 Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni

8 Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri

12 Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens

2 Brown Creeper, Certhia americana

1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa

4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula

1 Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus

2 Varied Thrush, Ixoreus naevius