This is how I spent today: After morning chores of busting apart pallets and chopping kindling (really), I spent the rest of my day working in my native plant garden. I found that if I concentrated on digging in the mossy soil, trimmed some ferns and just smelled the sweet foresty smells I could imagine myself in our wonderful mountains. In my backyard, among the trillium, salal, star flower, emerging deer and maidenhair ferns, I could forget for a few moments that there is a virus keeping us away from what we love the most. There are many joys to be found as we hunker down and it's been wonderful to read so many posts from folks who are finding creative ways to comply with the gov's order and sad to read that others are not, since the more we cooperate, the sooner we can get back to business in the backcountry. This is an opportunity to enjoy the close-in places that we usually overlook. Harvey Manning wrote something that seems appropriate right now. For those who weren't around then, he was the trail guide author for many.....the Craig Romano of the 1950's through 1980's. Anyhow, as he got older, his days of first assents and explorations were over, but he wrote that he would now need to (this is very much paraphrased), "rather than know a little about a lot of places, know a lot about a few places".  There can be adventure everywhere. Let's support each other in this outdoor community with as much positivity as we can muster. It helps me to feel hopeful when I know you all are keeping yourselves and others safe.

I heard about a new place that was supposed to be especaily good for car camping. Handy water source, bathrooms well lit and with hot water! Sign me up!!!

Turns out that parking is a considerable distance from the campgrounds and I would have to haul in all my stuff. I was disappointed to find a substantial amount of what looked like canid scat at the tent site and no staff to be found to clean it up (so I took care of it). On the other hand, the tent sites are very large...plenty of room to easily set up my camp shade and tent. Good thing I brought the shade! The weather has been very wet and rainy. There was even hail and a bit of snow today!

Overall, a great place to hang out. Very green and pretty, roomy sites, and the neighbors are quiet. I'll be visiting here again!

In keeping with the 'stay-at-home' order, I decided to do the My Back Yard hike. Since there was no travel involved, I was able to hit the trail early. Just to note, the driveway conditions were good, a few potholes, but it should be OK for 2 wheel drive if you take it slow. There was one car in the parking lot all day, except for the Amazon delivery.

I decided to do the clockwise loop (around the house) to take advantage of the better lighting from the morning overcast.  One of the first things I noticed was that the lawn is growing a lot faster than I want, it means mowing will soon be on the honey do list. I quickly got past that area, to the back yard, only to find it overrun with squirrels and ducks, clearly not paying any attention to the social distancing rules. As I made my way along the trail, I saw a lot of things budding out, and my first trillium and Mahonia bloom. The trail is in pretty good shape, it needs a little brushing, and some drainage features cleaned, but has weathered the winter fairly well.

I think I will be back soon, to take an extended hike, including around the pump house, and may even try doing it counter-clockwise.

We decided to follow guidelines to avoid established trails, opting for a more obscure one not found in any guidebooks.  This short loop is packed with features that require different outdoor disciplines.  It's somewhat overgrown and the tread varies from stepping stones to grass to duff with a few obstacles to step over or around.  We observed a variety of wildlife including, rabbit, squirrels, and robins.  Wishing you health and happiness no matter what you do!