My September 24'th, 2019 Adventure!After my second
adventure on September 6'th, I felt not quite ready to call it quits for the season. But, after that adventure, it rained/showered almost every day for close to two weeks, accumulating around 2 inches of rain at home, which I knew would ruin the dry conditions and reverse the lowering water levels!
But, I figured that if my sinking spot could be underwater, and the weather was a little bit too cool for getting wet, I could finally take the opportunity to explore a new area I had my eyes on for several years,
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.0240176 ... a=!3m1!1e3 ! I was reluctant to explore new areas while my bog was exposed, because I didn't want to miss out on any sinks in case new areas explored yielded nothing.
I was eyeing Saturday, September 21'st for the day (was supposed to hit 23˚C or 73˚F in the valley), but was uncertain because of it being a weekend during hunting season. But, my brother couldn't give me a lift anyways, because he needed to attend his son's hockey game that evening.
But, another decent, but slightly cooler, break in the weather was on
Tuesday, September 24'th, just before the weather was going to go downhill! My last chance! I was also looking forward to searching for
Shaggy Mane mushrooms on the roadside, which I figured would be out around that time, something my dad and I would go up into the mountains for each fall, but because he can't drive for 6 months, this would be our only chance to enjoy them. On the way back, I also wanted to connect the new area I was exploring with the old, by taking other trails to Crescent Road, and checking out the status of my sinking spot, to see the extent of the flooding.
My brother picked me up after 9 am, and I directed him through the forestry roads, which now were a bit muddy with multiple puddles. I hadn't been in that area in years, and there were new turnoffs, but I knew where to go, thanks to me studying Google Earth.
My brother dropped me off near a large pond I knew about in the area just after 11 am. I tested my bike before he left, to make certain it was still functioning well after bouncing in the back of his truck, finding the bike was fine. He left, and I was on my way!
First, I walked eastward down the fence line of a barbed-wire fence (fences are present on Crown(government owned/public) land for open range cattle grazing) to the pond, to get a better look at the rockslide on its south side before heading back up to the road and my bike to head to the two side-by-side meadows south of that pond. The road first led me slightly further south, and then turned east. Heading eastward, I noticed that the west meadow/pond to the south of the road had high water into the grass, making me uncertain about whether it would be good for hiking.
A tiny bit further east, on the south side of the road, I located the marshy grassy entrance to the boggy meadow to the east of other meadow. I then checked areas along the road for the optimum place for hiding my bike, finally choosing a small clearing north of the road, with a path heading north into the forest. Far enough down the path, I was out of sight of the road, and dropped off my bike. I removed my shoes, socks and jeans to be in shorts (which I wore under my jeans), because I needed to be able to walk through water without anything on most of my legs to get wet. I removed my heavy jacket (felt warm enough without it), got my food (2 Pizza Pops wrapped in plastic wrap), drink (Kool-Aid) and bear spray in a plastic shopping bag, and grabbed an extra bag for my shoes for when I needed to walk through water barefoot. With my shoes back on, I was finally all ready to explore new areas I had never been to before, but had been hiking close to in years past without knowing of their existence (was before Google Earth/Maps)!
I headed to the grassy area leading southward to the east boggy meadow. The water in the grass was a little high (ankle to calf deep), forcing me to take my shoes off right away and place them in the bag. I walked through the shallow cold water, and looked around the small grassy meadow there that extended eastward from the main entrance before heading back to the entrance, and heading south to the meadow, which was slightly higher than the grassy area. The meadow wasn't flooded, but was all peat bog with moss, but mostly sphagnum moss - some green, some red, with some other type of moss in places as well. The vegetation was mostly small and stunted, with small willows, swamp birch and cotton grass growing all over. The ground wasn't very soft, finding that I couldn't push my foot down very far (only a few inches) into the stiff peat. There were water-filled bare patches and channels a few inches lower than the surrounding ground, soft for a few inches, but I still couldn't push my feet down much, perhaps at most half a foot.
It looked like this area was going to be a bust in terms of sinking potential.
I snacked on a pizza pop and then some tiny wild cranberries growing there, walked around to the south end, picked more cranberries into the plastic wrap from my Pizza Pop, and snacked on my other pizza pop. I wondered if any sundews were growing there, but it was too late in the season, and they would have died back down to the ground by then (a substantially more extensive boggy meadow further to the west-northwest was full of them when I explored it years ago). But then, any plants would have left brown leaves sticking out of the moss/peat, just like in my bog garden at home.
I then headed to the east side of the meadow, where I followed a poorly defined marshy stream to a small boggy meadow I remembered seeing on Google Earth. I found some soft mud in the grass in the bushes before (west of) the smaller boggy meadow, where my foot sunk down around a foot. I then checked out the meadow, finding nothing interesting. I headed back, checking out the mud in the bushes again, which was only calf deep. I noticed that it was located where a tree had fallen over just to the east of it, facing eastwards, the patch of mud being where its roots used to sit on top. In the area, I also saw a hip bone, and a couple other leg bones sticking out of the muddy ground, possibly a deer.
I glanced around for other bones, such as a skull, but found nothing.
I returned back to the larger boggy meadow, my feet feeling numb from the cold water. I headed to the west side, where I took a picture of a
Western Bog-Laurel blossom:
2019 09 24 3A Western Bog-Laurel.jpg
When I saw two dead brown stalks/seed pods from white bog orchids that were finished for the year, I collected one dead brown seed head with seed pods on it and put it in my other plastic wrap from my other Pizza Pop, to later spread seed around my bog plants in my water garden at home to see if anything germinates. I had thought about taking photos of the boggy meadow, but didn't feel like taking the time to switch memory cards in the camera and go back into the meadow. My time was limited, because I had to leave the area around 2 pm if I wanted to get back to my Crescent Road pond to check out my flooded bog and then get back into the valley before dark. So, I didn't want to delay getting to the other adjacent meadow to the west.
I headed west through a marshy area in the forest, to where it ended in a slight uphill, followed by a steeper, larger downhill to the large grassy meadow below, which was obviously at a lower elevation than the boggy meadow to the east. Here is a map of the area, showing the meadow with the channel meandering to the long pond on its north end, as well as other meadows further upstream (northwest) of the meadow:
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.0260591 ... a=!3m1!1e3Walking through the calf deep water in the meadow towards the channel, I felt a stinging sensation on my lower left leg, and discovered a scratch on my left calf that was bleeding. I noticed other scratches on my left leg too, something I had never felt, possibly because the cold water had numbed my lower legs.
I walked around to the south end of the meadow finding nothing of interest, before heading back to the wide channel from the pond to the north that extended westward. I had to deviate southward away from the channel briefly to find a spot where I could cross a smaller side channel extending southward before returning back to the main channel, finally stopping at a beaver lodge. I wanted to follow the stream westward through the forest to other meadows to the northwest, but heard a rifle shot from that direction, although sounds do echo and get redirected
Wanting to keep my distance from any hunters, I decided not to head that way, instead turning around and following the east side of the main channel northward to the pond, partially through the edge of the forest alongside the pond, wondering if the high water concealed any deep mud that could get exposed when water levels are lower.
Just a short walk further northward, and the next thing I knew, the road was in front of me, much sooner than I had expected!
I still had a bit of time left, so I headed across the road, and continued to follow the stream northward on the east side through the forest, past some small beaver ponds surrounded by bushes such as willows, all with high water as well. I checked below at least one beaver dam to see if any mud was exposed, but nothing.
It would have been too cold to sink anyways. Then, I finally reached the clearing, with the stream becoming a wider channel, shallow with a gravel bottom at first, before becoming deeper with a muddy bottom as it approached the main pond I had visited in the past, with a rockslide on its south shore. On the southeast side of the pond, the grassy meadow was floating/bouncing, which was a very promising sign.
It was a shame the water was so high, but it was too cold for sinking anyways.
I wanted to continue hiking further, but had to turn around because it was getting close to 2 pm, and I needed to get back to my bike. I thought about crossing the stream and then heading across the rockslide on the south end of the pond back to the road there, but decided on heading back roughly the way I came, but on a different path. I first headed back southward, up that channel to where it was shallow enough to cross, where it was gravelly. Crossing to the west side of the stream, I then headed back upstream, before heading towards what looked like a cutblock to the southwest, taking a picture of some coral fungi before heading away from the stream:
2019 09 24 3B Coral Fungi.jpg
I put my shoes back on, and then had to make my way over an obstacle course consisting of lots of fallen trees. When I got to where I thought was the clearcut, it turned out to be the stream again. But, the road was now just a short distance away. I was back at my bike shortly after 2 pm, perhaps around 2:06 pm, put my things away, put my long pants back on, and was on my way back down the road, headed for my Crescent Road pond!
Along the way, I kept my eyes open for shaggy mane mushrooms, picking any that I came across. I was taking it easy, because I didn't know how my knees would react to cycling such a long distance compared to what I have limited myself to over the past several years, and especially with the climbs! I had long forgotten how long it took to get through the road, because in my memory, most landmarks got squashed closer together than they actually were, and things looked much different from when I was last there, with more turnoffs and larger regrown trees in the clearcuts that the road used to go through. I spotted a black cow and a smaller brown one, with lots of cattle tracks on the road, with some shaggy mane mushrooms being trampled. The clay road was a little soft on the surface, with lots of puddles from all the rain.
It took a while, but I finally reached the main road!
The easiest thing to do would have been to just turn east, and head back the way my brother drove me, and all the way down into the valley. But, I was determined to get back to my Crescent Road pond to check out the extent of the flooding, and I didn't want to take the steep Crescent Road turnoff that I was usually driven up, because it would be hard on my knees. Instead, I was eager to take a small road between Wilma Lake and Min Lake to get there (Min Lake is the lake directly north of Wilma Lake:
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.1294086 ... a=!3m1!1e3 ), avoiding the steeper road access from the other side because I was already higher up in elevation where I was! I hadn't gone that complete route in many, many years, and had made one attempt in the other direction
back in mid July of 2017 (looking for a tiny pond containing a certain kind of snails), but turned around then because the road was going on and on for too long and I wanted to get back to my Crescent Road pond sinking spot.
So, hoping I wasn't going to get lost or get back into the valley too late, I headed westward up the main road, the opposite direction from where it would have taken me into the valley. I kept on watching for the northward turnoff to Wilma Lake, something that I hadn't seen in years, and was hoping that I could recognize.
I passed by a smaller road, but it didn't look right, with no stream to the east of it, and it seemed to go up a hill to the northeast. I finally came across another road heading to the north that looked the most obvious, since it was the first decent looking road that looked like it had been there for a long time, and I had passed a stream a ways back, which I had hoped was the one that flowed into Wilma Lake. Hoping that I had found the correct road, I turned onto it, and heading northward up that road, I came across a clearcut and a fork in the road that matched what I had seen on Google Earth, and figured that it was the right one! I had to remember all the turnoffs I had to take to get to Crescent Road from recent scrutinization of imagery from Google Earth. I took the left fork at the bottom of the clearcut as I remembered, but an expected subsequent right fork turned out to be further up the road than I thought, way past the clearcut instead of in it, making me question whether I was on the right track (I had apparently forgotten that Google Earth showed it past the clearcut, in the woods).
The thought crossed my mind to go back and take the right fork past Wilma lake, which would have connected to the correct road further up, but it would have cost me more time, and I wasn't certain of the condition of part of the road. I kept hoping that I was on the right series of roads, because if I was on a wild goose chase, I would be stranded in the mountains in the dark!
I kept my faith in my intuition, and kept on going, having to walk my bike around lots of large puddles across the road. I eventually reached a fork in the road that I had expected, where I knew that I had to keep left, which made me feel a little more relieved that perhaps I was on the right track. Finally, I reached Crescent Road, I hoped (or was it Min Lake Road at that part
), and headed eastward, concerned about how late it was getting. My legs were aching from the various short climbs I made up the rough connecting road to get to where I was. Normally, at the time I usually traversed these roads (summer), they would be a bright sandy color and powdery. But now, the roads looked totally different in appearance, because they were darker from being wet, and were full of puddles, some of which stretched across the roads. Finally, I reached the branch where it joined with the main Crescent Road, where I turned right, and finally headed down the road through more familiar areas, much to my relief, recognizing turnoffs that I knew exactly where they went!
I found some more shaggy manes on the roadside along the way, which I picked. I noticed that there was more water in a pond south of the road that was usually mostly empty (often the first place I would check out on most of my outings).
Finally, I reached the turnoff to my pond and headed up that sideroad!
But, it was already around 5:45 pm, and it got dark shortly after 7!
Nevertheless, I still wanted to check things out there before calling an end to my outings, especially since I went through all the trouble to get there! I walked my bike around the fallen trees down the cattle path to get to the sidetrail, and to save time, dropped it off on the upper part of the sidetrail this time, but out of sight of the sideroad. In the open area, there were a lot more trampled vegetation all over the place from cattle than last time, but no cattle. I sat on a rock and switched memory cards in my camera before heading to my sinking spot. Sure enough, it was once again underwater, a whole month of dropping water levels undone in a couple of weeks!
But, it wasn't warm enough to go sinking anyways, and too late in the day as well. I snapped a picture of the flooded bog:
2019 09 24 3C Crescent.jpg
With the area checked out, I quickly headed back to my bike, sat on a log, switched memory cards in my camera, and headed back to Crescent Road, the time being already after 6 pm! While heading down Crescent Road, I had some slight initial uphill climbing to do before the downhill coasting to the main road, and during the brief climb, cramps suddenly started up in my right leg!
But fortunately, it didn't last long, and before I knew it I was back on the main road, and heading back, picking more shaggy mane mushrooms along the way, even though it was getting late. It was 6:30 pm, and I was
STILL in mountains, but I was half an hour earlier than last time, but back then, it was dark around 8 pm, but now it got dark just after 7 pm! I got worried about the light levels starting to go down, and I hadn't reached the big descent into the valley yet! When I finally began my main descent towards and into the valley, the lowering light levels prompted me to coast a bit faster, but still within my comfort level. The coasting also helped to relieve my aching legs. Normally, I would contact my ride as soon as I got a signal on the cell phone. But this time, I never bothered to text my brother until I reached pavement close to the valley bottom, because darkness was closing fast and I wanted to get off of the dirt/gravel road before it got too dark! My brother, with my dad along for the ride, picked me up some time around 7:30 pm, when it was really dark, but at least my night vision helped me. That evening, my mom had one nice grocery bag of shaggy mane mushrooms to clean and cook for a couple of nice meals.
For a day that was too cold for sinking, with high water levels and not enough hours of daylight to check out everything, with all its disappointments, it was still a fairly fulfilling day. I managed to finally check out much of an area that I had my eyes on for years, but had been reluctant to, due to uncertainty of what amount of stress my knees could take. I was disappointed I never had a chance to explore a couple of other meadows further to the west due to hearing a rifle shot in that direction (as it turns out there is another forking road in that direction, according to Google Earth/Maps), and I noticed that on Google Earth/Maps, there was a "V" shaped meadow through the trees just east of the small grassy meadow by the entrance to the north end of the large boggy meadow, something I had seen on the imagery, but had forgotten about. But, if I had checked out all those other places, I would have never had time to go back to my Crescent Road pond to see it one last time this season. I was disappointed that water levels were so high, because I couldn't determine whether the large pond and channel in the west meadow contained any deep mud. I was also disappointed that I had no time to check out my mud lake pond and large meadow east of Grizzly Hill to the northeast, since I was in the area, and they were not too far away. Too many places, and not enough daylight, one of the problems of going on outings so late in the year!
But, I also surprised myself, finding that my knees were able to handle cycling longer distances without knee pain, although there was some aching, and perhaps some burning. I was also happy to find that my neck wasn't bothered much by the outing, meaning that the
Thudbuster LT was still making a difference!
Looking back, I kind of regret not taking photos of the meadows, even though there was nothing there.
I could have at least provided pictures to go with the descriptions and Google Earth/Maps imagery. But, I wanted to save time and move on to other areas at the time, and as it was, I still didn't get down into the valley until after dark.
Weather-wise, it was a fairly decent day, with some clouds and sunshine, and apparently, I missed out on some rain that fell in places just to the north, especially north of Vernon. The temperature in Vernon that day hit 21.8˚C or 71.2˚F, which was fairly decent, with it being cooler up in the mountains. I was glad to get up there when I did, because a few days afterward, an early cold spell brought
SNOW into the higher elevations, with the weather being an up-down roller-coaster ride edging ever closer towards winter since then!
So now, I wait for next season, and hope that I don't get any new injuries, or worsening older injuries to hold me back. My dad will be able to drive by then, and he is a lot more available for taking me than my brother.
But, he is suspicious about me always wanting him to drop me off in the same area each time. But, perhaps I could start having him drop me off in an older dropoff area where things are more open in terms of destinations (although it would delay the time for me to reach my sinking area), since I discovered my knees aren't as sensitive as I had been worried about, although I might have him drop me off closer again for the first outing or two.
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, and I was on my way! Finally! 
Also, it makes cleanup faster and easier, keeping mud out of my ears as well, and keeps my hair dry, which makes me warm up faster. 
I also decided to scoop up water from the pond into a pail that I had kept there for transferring mud to my sinking spot on occasion for topping up. I wanted to see if I could clean my head off with it more quickly and easily without having to go to the edge of the pond. It was starting to warm up slightly, but was still cool, with the sun behind the clouds. Still, I was feeling warm, and was now ready for my first sink of the day! 
I then dragged myself out of the hungry mire onto the grass on the west side, pushing mud off my body back into the bog, especially the thicker stuff around my legs and feet. I then tried to clean my head with the water in the pail first, but it was not enough. I still had to go to the edge of the pond, where I had to bend over and rub and splash my lower head with water, resting my left hand on the rhizome of a 
I headed to the water and cleaned up, sitting on a yellow waterlily rhizome, using my junk shorts as a wash cloth to reach my back, and removing a couple of large leeches from me during the cleanup before they had a chance to break the skin. I headed further to shore to clean off the lower parts of my body in grass that sagged down under my weight, and then my legs and feet in shallower water in the grass, which sagged down less into the water under my weight. I then air-dried off, and headed to my things, to watch my newly created video. I discovered that there were TWO videos on there, the second of which that captured some footage of grass and stuff when I was removing the camera from the stick. I guess that the recording did stop when I first pressed the button, and started again when I pressed the button again, stopping when I turned the camera off. I deleted that unintentional video, and then watched the actual video, finding that the camera had shifted slightly to the right, causing me to be off center, closer to the left side of the screen, but still mostly in the picture. Aside from being off-center, it seemed to be all right. 