Fuller Mountain Partial Fail, Weyerhaeuser "Loop"

Before I talk about Fuller Mountain, I am going to talk about the owl again. On Saturday I spotted this owl in the plum. Notice how angelic he looks. So peaceful. So serene. I thought to myself, how lucky am I, and proceeded the mow the lawn with him never leaving.

After mowing the lawn, I realized Nim had exposed a baby bunny nest. He was curious, and I am sure they were nosed, but thankfully no carnage. I did some quick reading, repaired the nest, and then prepared myself for adult bunny monitoring to make a decision on taking the babies to rescue.

Well I think that owl knew that nest was there all along. The evening ended on a crazy note in which the mail person arrived late with a package and witnessed me chasing off the owl. :|

In happier news the adult bunny has returned, I can tell she is going to the nest as she fixed my repair job, and I appear to have about 4 baby rabbits with eyes almost open. I would have a better feeling about this if it was not for the owl and that they have taken over the dog yard.

Fortunately. It is hiking season.

I don't know why I tend to think of Fuller Mountain is an "easier" hike. I suppose it is because I know it well and because it is not terribly high mileage, but my own history should have long ago taught me otherwise. If nothing else, it can be an unpredictable hike and shouldn't be underestimated.

On Sunday Nim and I hit the trail a bit later than we should have with the heat. We started at the Weyerhaeuser "Loop" which isn't a loop at all. Campbell Global recently purchased the land from Hancock. Somehow I think this trail will never happen, but I really wish it would. I wish they would ask me to design it.

As you can see, there is basically no trail left. In the above photo Nim and I are about to cross the creek on an overgrown log which happily is still there, however it was slick in spots and I wasn't very happy about that. The fall wouldn't kill you, but you wouldn't be happy about it.

We made it across and Nim went into the creek while I negotiated with my day pack which is long overdue to be retired.

Against all odds, I found the Fuller Mountain "trail head" on the first try. That doesn't even always happen when it has higher use. Can you see it?

The Fuller Mountain trail itself is honestly not much worse off than normal. Someone came through a did a lot of work on the blow down from 3 years ago which is a blessing. There was one area with an alarming amount of flagging that I am going to assume was for bees, but I didn't see them.

This particular crossing never makes any dog happy. On the way back I accidentally let a large log loose. Nim was definitely not happy with me then. Truth be told, I wasn't happy about it either.

Because of the heat, I made Nim rest on the hike up. He seemed sort of ambivalent about it, but it made me feel better. The large flies were out of control. Had I had any bug spray I would have sprayed his vest or collar.

The closer we got to the top, the harder the trail got to find. Nim is resting in the ferns on the "trail" while I tried to figure out my route.

I am sure were were about 1/4 mile from the top, but this is about where we gave up. We had started too late, and it was too hot to deal with me tromping all over the place. I have decided we will do it again early fall when the vegetation has died down a bit, it is cooler, and I leave early enough to deal with getting off trail.

Despite not finding the top, it still remains one of my most favorite areas.