Sunday, July 24, 2011

Weekend Near the Skagit

It was an eventful weekend. I went up near Concrete to go trailing with Brian McConnell and some members of the tracking team.

I got to:
-Follow the trail of a pair of elk around for several hours
-Get eaten by mosquitoes
-Get eaten by flies
-See some black slugs copulating (Just learned from the wiki article that they were used in Sweden for axle grease. A much better use for them than mine which is so I can avoid eating my home grown veggies)
-Follow a couple of bear trails
-Touch the still warm insides of a next recently occupied by thrushes
-Get my first ever bee sting - it reminded me a lot of a nettle sting, though a bit more potent. Somehow the bee made it up my pant leg and near the top of the inside of my underwear before I got her out - fortunately the sting occurred on my knee!
-Sleep on a mountainside
-Follow another bear trail for several hours
-Discover that at least one bear really likes the brush - particularly it enjoyed going through thick patches of devil's club. At one point we were trying to figure out where it had crossed the creek, having lost its trail shortly before. Hugh decided he knew where to find it - he figured it would be in the thickest patch of devil's club around and he was right! And that was near the beginning of our travels through devil's club
-Find out what it is like to crawl through thick patches of devil's club on all fours somewhat like a bear, turns out bears can fit through pretty small places - I don't think I've ever had as many devil's club thorns in my head before
-See where the bear had knocked over and eaten on large chunks of devil's club
-Oh, yeah - last and probably least (as far as size is concerned) - got to see/walk through/get dripped on by/accidentally taste/etc. a profusion of spit bug froth.

All in all a great way to spend a summer weekend in Washington.

6 comments:

possum59 said...

OK. Sounds like...not fun, exactly, but...adventurous.

Anonymous said...

Dear Jonfen,

Its been a little while, and I do most assuredly hope that you are doing very fine, but I was wondering if I might ask you a question. Would you ever consider joining together with some folks to buy some land and start a farm?

Your friend,
Sean Byrd

Jonathan said...

Hi Sean,

Yes, I have thought of doing such a thing and would be open to considering it some more. Have you got a place in mind?

Jonathan

Anonymous said...

Jonfen,

My Mom and I live in Port Angeles these days, and apart from it being pretty darn cool here, we also found this really great place; 566 Dan Kelly Road, Port Angeles, WA 98363. If you feel inclined to chit chat about it at all, or just in general (as I found a third person to be a part of our expedition to England to do our study of Shelob and Acromantulas) the phone number is 209-985-6975.

Anyways, hoping you are well,
Sean

Anonymous said...

Jonfen, and can't find your phone number in the telephone right now, but anyways, the Dan Kelly house is sold, but there is another super cool house at 473 Sandhagen Road that is quite possibly better. I was hoping to chat with you at tracking club this last weekend, but you weren't there. Anyways, if you are interested, take a look.

Your friend, Sean

Anonymous said...

Jonfen, there is a math instructor job at peninsula college opening up for the summer just so you know. The number to call is 360-417-6298. We looked at another really great 3 bedroom house outside Sequim at 123 Wadsworth Drive today as well, and are going to try for it. Hope to hear from you my man.

Sean