2008-10-10 47 -122

About

Just off the Mission Creek Off Road Vehicle trail in the Tahuya State Forest.

Participants

Thomcat

Expeditions

Thomcat

The third geohash in a row, and of course it had to be a little difficult. Just missing the ferry to go west, and then just missing the ferry coming back east stretches an afternoon well into evening. Here's the story.

From what I could see on the very old and low resolution satellite map, this location was some sort of light forest or clear cut. The terrain map showed it to be fairly flat and at most 1000 feet east of a road, so why not give it a shot?

Upon arrival I discovered a well maintained track leading into the forest, one with banked curves. All terrain vehicle tracks were in evidence. I could only hope that one would lead close to the hash as I followed one snaky curve after another. Finally I turned up a hiking trail that seemed to be leading in the right direction.

After reaching the proper latitude, I discovered I was only a few meters away from the actual hash point. I strode off the trail, walking between what would make good christmas trees, and stepping around small bushes with purplish berries. I found a small clearing with a stump located exactly on the spot, so I snapped photos. To shoot my grinning face, I balanced a stick on a young pine and balanced the camera on that.

With the sun setting, I continued along that trail and came to another track that led back to the road, somewhat north of my car. Glancing down I saw a gash, clearly caused by a raptor hatchling. A bit further along, I spotted a spent cartridge, and was glad the local John Birch'ers were keeping the raptor population in check - "no shooting" sign not with standing.

Had I checked the schedule I could have taken a more southern ferry route and not waited 45 minutes, but the pause gave me time to reflect and plan tomorrow's geohash expedition - hopefully my fourth consecutive.