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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
December 24, 2015     Shelton Mason County Journal
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December 24, 2015
 
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Page B-2 - Mason County Journal - Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015 ON THE TRAIL In the spring of 2013, I was mushroom hunt- ing for morels in the Wenatchee National Forest northeast of Cle Elum. Afar two days of huffing hot, dry hills and finding nothing but dust at my normally productive spots, I was about to give up. I couldn't tell if it was too early or the soil too dry for the morels to come up. Timing is important. It has to be warm enough for morels to start fruit- ing, but you need mois- ture too, ideally melting snow combined with spring showers. This was my second year in a row for a really poor harvest. After a five-hour drive, over $100 for food and gas, and all the pack- ing and time spent setting up camp, I had found only 11 mushrooms. My spirits were sagging to the point that even starry nights and a By MARK crackling camp- WOYTOWICH fire could not console me. I broke camp early the third morning. I stopped to get a last espresso at Kelly's stand on Highway 97. She asked how my hunt had been going. "Nothing," I said. "Pretty much skunked." "Some guys came by yesterday," she told me, "and they had shopping bags full of morels." "Kelly, don't tell me that." "Well, it's true," she said. "I saw them." "I mean don't tell me if you can't tell me where they got them from." "Well, Iql just have to do you one better," Kelly smiled. "They said they had been to last year's logging spots in Liberty. Getting them out of the clear cuts." SOIL REPAIR An hour later, I was in the forest northeast of Liberty, where I could hear the whine of the rigs and the big timber falling before I even reached the logging op- eration. A man with an orange flag signaled for me to hold up. As I waited a forest ranger in a white pickup came up behind me. I Timing is impo anto it has to be warm enough for morels to start fruiting, but you need moisture too, ideaiJy me|ring snow combined with spring showers, for the week of December 24 through December 31,2015 ALLYN I Case Inlet 24 5:36am 15.025 6:20am 15.626 7:00am 15.921 12:24am -2.2 Thu 10:55am 7.3 Fri11:49am 7.3Sat12:39pm 7.1Sun 7:37am 16.0 3:48pm 15.0 4:34pm 14.6 5:20pm 14.0 1:28pm 6.9 11:00pm -2.6 11:42pm -2.6 6:08pm 13.3 28 1:05am -1.529 1:45am -0.630 2:26am 0.6 31 3:08am 1.9 Mon 8:13am 15.9 Tue 8:49am 15.7 Wed9:24am 15.5 fhu10:01am 15.2 2:17pm 6.5 3:06pm 6.1 3:58pm 5.6 4:52pm 5.0 6:57pm 12.5 7:49pm 11.7 8:46pm 10.9 9:51pm 10.1 SHELTON I Oakland Bay 24 6:14am 15.0 25 12:00am -2.2 26 12:48am -2.2 21 1:30am -1.9 Thu 12:01prn 6.3 Fri 6:58am 15.6 Sat7:38am 15.9 Sun8:15arn 16.0 4:26pm 15.0 12:55prn 6.3 l:45prn 6.1 2:34prn 5.9 5:12prn 14.6 5:58pm 14.0 6:46pm 13.3 28 2:11am -1.329 2:51am -0.530 3:32am 0.5 31 4:14am 1.7 Mon 8:51am 15.9 Tue9:27am 15.7 Wed 10:02am 15.5 Thu10:39pm 15.2 3:23pm 5.6 4:12pm 5.25:04pm 4.8 5:58pm 4.3 7:35pm 12.5 8:27pm 11.7 9:24pm 10.9 10:29pm 10.1 UNIONI Hood Canal 24 4:29am 12.7 25 5:15am 13.3 26 5:58am 13.6 27 6:40am 13.7 9:39am 7.4Fri10:33am 7.3Sat11:24am 7.1Sun 12:15pm 6.9 2:42pm 12.0 3:28pm 11.7 4:12pm 11.34:56pm 10.7 9:55pm -2.7 10:38pm -2.6 11:20pm -2.2' 28 12:01am -1.529 12:41am -0.4 30 1:22am 0.831 2:02am 2.1 Mon 7:21am 13.5 Tue8:01am 13.3 Wed 8:40am 12.9 Thu9:18am 12.5 l:05pm 6.6 1:58pm 6.22:51pm 5.8 3:45pm 5.2 5:41pm 10.0 6:29prn 9.2 7:27pm 8.4 8:46pm 7.8 THE SUN and THE MOON 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Sunrise 7:57am7:58am7:58am7:58am7:59am7:59am7:59am 7:59am Sunset 4:27pm4:27pm4:28pm4:29pm4:29pm4:30pm4:31pm 4:32pm Moonrise 4:24pm5:22prn 6:23pm7:26pm8:29prn 9:31pm10:32pm 11:33prn Moonset 6:48am7:45arn 8:35am9:18arn 9:55am10:26am 10:55am 11:21arn Full moon December 25 Tidal Information courtesy NOAA I Astronomical Data courtesy U.S. Naval Observatory got out of my car and ap- proached the ranger. "Have you heard of anyone getting morels out of the clear cuts?" I asked. The ranger explained that morels come up in areas of soil disturbance from the year before. Most famously, they follow the path of wild fires, but they will flush up in logged areas as well. Soil disturbance. They act as a filtering system, removing toxins and re- balancing soil PH. With the remain- ing daylight, I set off for some areas logged the previous summer. Unfortunately, I only found a small handful of scattered morels, mostly dried. What I did see was lots of tire tracks and footprints; a guarantee that the place was picked over. Journal photo by Mark Woytowich Author holding average-size black morel, one of nearly a dozen found on a waste pile at a suspected meth lab in Lilliwaup. area exists on both sides Springs Resort; and Iron of Highway 97, beginning Creek (FS 9714), also on at the turnoff to Liberty, your left and just before and in full force by the the left turnoff for Old time you reach MineralBlewett Pass. Springs Campground Morels come up in and Mineral Springs May. Traditionally, the FIRE ZONE MAPS Resort. end of May is when they Last summer saw the Keep traveling north are most abundant, but biggest wildfire in the and youql see forest weather patterns are history of Washington. roads branching left and anything but traditional Much of it was around right as you climb to anymore. the Lake Chelan-High- Blewett Pass. To celebrate the New way 97-Methow Valley The most productive Year, I will be taking one region, with lots of Na- mushroom areas are (inweek off from writing for tional Forest and Bureau order, going north) along the Journal. We'll hit the of Land Management Hurley Creek (Durst trail again in January. (BLM) acres affected. Creek Road - FS 9711);Okanogan-Wenatohoo In years past, the For- Discover Trail Read atNational Forest Head- est Service has provided Blewett Pass (FS 9716); quarters: 509-664-9200. burn maps to help mush- and Upper Tronson Wenatchee Field Office, room hunters locate their Road, which is on yourBLM: 509-548-2550. quarry; included at the right about a quarter end of this article are a mile AFTER cresting • Mark Woytowich is couple of numbers to call. Blewett Pass. a writer, photographer Generally speaking, Excellent car camp- and video producer with or without soil dis- ing can be found at Blue who lives in Potlatch. turbance, a huge swath Creek (FS 9738) on your He can be reached at of good mushrooming left just past MineralWoytowichdesign.com. This Non-Members Welcome AT THE RANGE Memberships Available December 24, Thursday Winchester Rifle Marksmanship program has been re-scheduled to Wednesday December 30, at 6:00 P.M. December 25, Friday 6:00 P.M. Bullseye Canceled due to Christmas. December 27, Womans Ladies of Caliber canceled due the long holiday weekend. December 29, Tuesday 5:30 PaM. PPC Match This is a revolver friendly match, shooting two targets in varying courses of fire and at different distances for score. Equipment is a .38 special, 9mm and/or larger pistol. This discipline requires drawing from a holster. Full equipment list is on our webs|to. Members shoot for $6.00, non-members $8.00, and juniors shoot for a 1 dollar. Juniors must have a parent or guardian present to participate. December 30, Wednesday Winchester 22 Rifle Marksmanship Firing 60 plus rounds, bring any .22 sporting rifle in safe operating condition. Self-paced awards based program, fun and rewarding for all ages and skill levels. Coaching usually available. $6.00 members $8.00 non-members. Coming Soon: NRARange Safety Officer Course January 23-24. 10:00 AM -4:00 PM both days. Non-shooting course. Members $100.00 Non- Members $120.00. NRA Personal Protection Outside the Home. February 27-28. An advanced course requiring skill with a handgun. Previous NRA course experience needed or by permission of the instructor. $185.00 NRA First Steps Pistol Class March 5, 2016 10:00 AM4:30 PM. Basic class offering safety and pistol handling. Firearm and ammunition provided. See more details and application on the MCSA website. $50.00. Did you know: MCSA donated mohies to the following local charities in 2015, Girl Scouts of Washington, Habitat for Humanity of Mason County, River of Life Fellowship, Splash, Sound Learning, The Tom Pearson Scholarship Fund, and the Washington State Kiwanis Youth Law Enforcement Camp, NJROTC Booster Club, Boy Scouts. MASON COUNTY SPORTSMAN' S ASSOCIATION W. 521 Business Park Rd., Shelton Message Phone 427-1102 www.masoncountysa.eom N .Apple.Dell .Sony.IBM .Gateway ,Compaq.HP ,Toshiba & MORE Battedes s. Where's All The To Advertise call 426-4412