Not Afraid Of My Shadow

Day 112: Unlike the groundhog, Pacific Northwesterners don't see their shadows often enough to have developed any regard for them other than mild curiosity. On the other hand, we go a little berserk when the grey canopy gives way to blue and white, and a great glowing spot appears overhead, so painfully bright that it makes us put on hats to shield our eyes.

I followed my shadow for several hours today on an eight-mile patrol of Pack Forest's 1000 and 2000 Roads, the literal high point of my adventure on the 2032' summit of Pack's Peak overlooking Eatonville. Although it was a bit chilly on the back side of the hill (snow was patchy), for the most part, my walk was very pleasant. I saw no other hikers once I'd left the parking area, but heard a deer bounding through the brush and had the company of two Golden-Crowned Kinglets briefly. I searched for Snow Queens and violets, only finding leaves of the latter, and stopped to check on a colony of Devil's Matchsticks (the only site outside the Park where I have seen Pilophorus growing). As the day lengthened, my shadow lost its verve and returned to hiding, suggesting that it was time to go home. Who knows when I'll see it again?

Centaurium Umbellatum

Day 9: Called "Common Centaury," Centaurium umbellatum is, in my experience, rather uncommon. In fact, I have only observed it in two locations previously: the Windy Ridge Trail in Pack Forest, and on the west shore of Alder Lake, a site to or from which it may have been transported. A member of the Gentian family, it blooms late into the season, but I did not expect to find its pink stars in the grassy, weedy strip between tire ruts on the road to Pack's Peak. It seems to be quite hardy, arising from a basal rosette rooted in hard-packed, sandy, dry soil which supports little else, a spot of delicate beauty in an unkind environment. It is generally a lowland plant, a factor which may account for its infrequent presence in my area.

Pack Ramble

Day 3: The trail to Hugo Peak is one of the most popular hiking routes in Charles L. Pack Experimental Forest and most people you encounter along its 2.5 mile length will tell you that's because it takes you to "the top." In point of fact, that's incorrect. Hugo Peak's elevation is approximately 1745 feet, almost three hundred feet lower than the high point (ca. 2035') indicated on the map only as "Pack," signifying earlier placement of a survey marker now long gone. Technically unnamed, I refer to this spot as Pack's Peak, a play on words you could hardly expect me to resist.

Pack's Peak offers something else Hugo no longer affords: a view. Twenty years ago, you could see the town of Eatonville spread out in the valley below. Now the trees and brush are too tall, and Pack Forest staff only maintains a narrow "window" onto the scene. Here on Pack, you miss Eatonville, but on a clear day looking westward, you'll be treated to a chain of Olympic summits. Admittedly, there are no panoramic vistas from either high point, but Pack gives you a broader slice of the distant landscape.

For my Pack Ramble, I climbed the trail to Hugo, picking chanterelles along the way, then descended to Kirkland Pass, a five-way intersection of dirt roads not publicly accessible by any means but foot, horse or bicycle. Leaving the pass, I made the circuit of the 2000 Rd. which brought me to Pack's Peak (shown in the photo). On my return to the intersection, I was faced with several options: one, go back down the Hugo trail; two, walk down the west side of the 1000 Rd.; three, go down the east/north side of the 1000; or four, take the wooded Reservoir Trail. I opted for the Reservoir Trail, and thus completed a lopsided figure-8 loop of approximately 9 miles in just under four hours, including time out for photos, lunch and mushroom-picking.