Mini-Gathering at Monty's
November 12-13, 2004
Mad Monty, one of the legendary class of 1977 PCT hikers, invited local hikers over to his place in Olympia for a mini-Gathering and a viewing of Walk, a documentary about PCT hikers in 2003 (I'm not in it). Walk was being shown at the Olympia Film Festival on Saturday and on Friday night, myself, Ron Moak, and Jonathan Ley descended upon Olympia for the evening.
A larger crowd from Portland was supposed to come up, but had to cancel at the last minute, and several CDT hikers, fresh off the trail, intended to come but where unable to. After an evening spent relating old trail stories and shop talk, Ron, owner of Six Moon Designs unveiled his new Lunar Solo Tent.
Feeling sluggish, we went for a walk in Capital State Forest to a stream where the salmon run. The water flow was very low and most of the salmon were beginning to die, but there were a few nice specimens, mostly of the chum type.
The nature trail we were on led through the rain forest and along beaver streams and was quite pleasant. Although I do not think this really rises to the level of an "Outdoor Aventure", it was a nice way to spend a couple of hours and I learned how to identify a hemlock, courtesy of Ron.
After our stroll we drove into Olympia for some food and to see Walk. This was the first time that I had seen the documentary and it was really quite well done, particularly the editing and composing. I started two weeks behind the main pack of hikers and so missed the initial interviews. I was actually close to the film maker when I rolled into Agua Dulce, but did not encounter him. After that, I was far to the north of the main group and so missed being in the film the rest of the time. Several 2004 hikers were in attendance and a good time was had by all.
Logistics
There is a mile long nature trail that makes for a pleasant stroll in Capitol State Forest. Take I-5 south to Olympia and exit on HWY 101 heading toward Aberdeen. Drive to the Black Lake exit and turn off. Take a left of Black Lake and drive five miles to the first stop sign, at Delphi Road. Make a right and the forest will be on your left.