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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
June 18, 2009     Shelton Mason County Journal
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June 18, 2009
 
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Journal Shelton native finds success on Utah gridiron By CHRIS WEST As a kid, Jordan Afo loved to dance like Michael Jack- son. As he got older and bigger, the Shelton native and cur- rent Utah prep football star adapted his dancing style to include flips. birthday party. We were all hanging out downstairs be- cause that's where the dance party was," Afo said. "The girls told me to get the dance started and I tried to a back flip that I usually do. The ceiling was too short and my foot hit the ceiling. I landed Last March that move on my neck and I couldn't feel almost paralyzed the defen- from my hips down." sive lineman and ended his Afo's cousins carried him chances at playing Division I to the car and drove him to college football, the hospital where doctors "I went to one of my friend's discovered he had a broken bone in his spine. Three days later the 6-foot- 4, 300-pound Afo surprised doctors by getting out of bed with the aid of a walker. A week later he was sent home to recover. Afo still faces a long road back to the field, but his chances are good. Afo lived in Shelton until his freshman year of high school when his parents de- cided he had a better chance of succeeding in school and sports in Utah. "He wasn't doing too well in school. My boys never had the grades in Shelton to play anything," Afo's mother LoaLoa said. The move worked and Afo has become a highly coveted recruit. BYU and Utah State have already extended schol- arship offers. He plans to visit with coaches at the University of Washington when he returns to Shelton this summer to visit his parents. Nebraska, Michigan and Wyoming have also contacted him. "Everyone thinks I am go- ing toward BYU, but I am still looking at a number of schools," Afo said. Afo lives with his uncle and cousins in Utah and stays busy with school, sports and with his participation in the Mormon church. "They are kept so busy and football is a big thing See Gridiron on page C-2 Jordan Afo YOUTH TRACK Photo courtesy of Victoria Meadows Runners from South Side Elementary, Mason County Christian and Hood Canal Elementary compete at the Shel- ton Rotary Track Meet last week. For complete results from the Rotary meet and the City meet, see page C,3. Mt. Jupiter will leave you thirsty for more By CHRIS WEST The name was intriguing. I haven't had time to explore the Olym- pic Range since I moved from Montana late last year and I couldn't resist any fur- ther. The temptation to scale a mountain named after the king of the Roman gods overpowered me. Mount Jupiter is one of the hikes that guidebooks and forest rangers recommend in spring. The trail is free of snow earlier than other trails in the area. In fact, that is the most important thing to know about the trail to the peak of Mount Jupiter - it is bone dry. ~F YOU GO To get to Mount Jupiter from Shelton, take Highway 101 20 miles past Hoodsport and turn onto Forest Service Road 2610-010 (Mount Ju- piter Road). Drive 2.5 miles to turn onto 2610- 011 and find the trailhead at the end of this Spur road. This spur (011) is gated in winter, and sometimes in summer during periods of high fire danger. If the gate is closed, add 2.5 more miles of hiking to the 7.2-mile trail. Al- though the trail passes through national forest land, a parking permit is not required because the trailhead is not within the national forest. It was a hot day in May as I headed past Hoodsport on Highway 101 searching for the turnoff onto Mount Jupiter Road. About a half mile past the entrance to Duckabush Recreation Area, the road ap- peared on the left. It is about six miles up to the trailhead. The gods, specifically Jupiter, weren't with me on this trip from the beginning. The gate about three miles up the forest service road was locked. I decided to carry on with my hiking plans despite adding about five miles to my trip. After walking up the hot and dusty log- ging road, I reached the trailhead, which sits at the base of a recent clearcut. The first half-mile of the trail traverses a clear- cut on a switchback trail. The abundance of rhododendrons and other wildflow- ers are the highlights in this otherwise bland portion of the trip. Mount Jupiter is the prominent peak situated between Mount Constance and The Brothers. While only reaching 5,701 feet in eleva- tion, Jupiter provides significant vertical relief. The Duckabush River on the south and See Jupiter on page C-4 Journal photo by Chris West The views of Hood Canal and the abundance of wildflowers make the hike to Mount Jupi- ter worthwhile. Trout on the prowl in Walker Park water Last week I was driving by Walker Park and noticed a familiar-looking eddy on the far side of the inlet. The tide was on its way out and the water flowed by the spot as if it were a river. There in the back-swirl of the eddy (a depression on the shore causes the water to swirl and create a calm spot behind it), even from across Hammersley Inlet, I could see the cut- throat rav- aging the chum salm- on fry or the candlefish, whichever Was more available at that spot. Cut- MASON throat trout are a well- COUNTY known spe- cies around OUTDOORS here, and for good By KELLY r e a s o n . RIORDAN They are vicious eat- ers, and for their size put up a great fight. Every year I hook into one in the 20-inch range somewhere in the south sound. Even when I land a 10-incher, I still stare at the red slash under the gill plate (which gives them the savage name) and enjoy every en- counter big or small. All salt waterways, and as far as I know, all rivers, streams and cricks in Mason County, are full of these feisty trout, and every spot that I can fish for them I do. Back to my drive by Walker Park. I pulled into the park en- trance for a brief moment and thought about taking a few casts, but no, I had my son's baseball practice to go to. So as I often do I drove away and thought about my last experi- ence fishing for cutthroat. Last year, about this time, I found myself at that very same park casting away with my needlefish lure, and, I might add, catching quite a few fish, when this fel- low came strolling down the beach with a rod of his own. It was not just any rod. It was a fly rod. Now, in my experience the fly-guys and the "normal" fishermen don't always see eye to eye on our preferred methods of fishing, and this was to be no exception. Con- tinuing to cast over my patch of beach turf, I watched as the fly,guy opened his fancy fishing vest and pulled out several flies and just stared at them. Minutes went by as this fellow just kept looking at the assortment of flies and talk- ing with himself, presum- ably asking himself what fly to use. Finally he tied one on and then started wading out See Trout on page C-4 Thursday, June 18, 2009 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page C-1 .... ~.~-': ...... v'~t/~cwP~'l~:"~.-~=~"':~ ........ :' ~. °" ....... " ......... :' ....... " ..................... ~ ........... " ..... . ~~ i