What are people like on the Olympic Peninsula?

[Frood]

Too bad we don’t have a hobo sign code usually carved in a big tree just before you enter a developed area or farm like they did last century to let others that came after them know how they would be treated!

We can post little QR codes on things...

 

[CosmickGold]

. . . .

I have not asked anyone else, but with your long experience, you might have some very useful answers. I want to learn to be self-sufficient from my van living up there. In the region from Port Angeles and Nea Bay to a ways south of Forks, where/how can I learn to feed myself from the sea and from the vegetation? The books I purchased have convinced me I must learn these things from someone experienced, not written words. For example, do you know of classes I could sign up for that teach these things through experiencing them? You might have other very useful ideas about what I need to learn and experience, but food seems pretty basic and essential for starters.

 

[CosmickGold]

. . . .
A quote:
* "She thought those thoughts to herself as in her mind's eye, she ran naked through the woods, hugging trees."
. . . .
I hope this helps!

About running naked through the woods: My girlfriend Tamara and I did that together in the Northwest woods about 40 years ago. We were on the far side of the lake outside Bellingham, WA. We intended to be alone, but a young couple came down the path (oops!) The guy then trailed a little behind his girlfriend so she wouldn't see him repeatedly turning his head to memorize every beautiful curve and texture of Tamera's body. Tamera had long wavy golden hair, smooth skin, was 20, and truly was totally beautiful. She smiled at him a knowing smile, realizing he was going to vividly recall that memory -- again and again -- when alone. Tamara felt honored.
__________________________

And about "hugging trees": Yes, that is a meaningful thing to do. Trees can even memorize human emotions and radiate them back when hugged. But more importantly, they are fully alive, as I have explained below:

Forty-one years ago, I could hear the sounds of logging equipment in the Olympic Peninsula foothill above me, so climbed that foothill to see the logging in action, thinking I might like to help, might like to become one of their workers. But the climb took hours, and by the time I got there, the workers had just left and I was alone.

But to my utter bewilderment, I felt a lot of pain and sadness up there; so much so that I instantly knew I would NEVER want to be involved in logging if it causes anything like those feelings. But what/who was all this pain and sadness coming from? I couldn't tell. It seemed to be everywhere over the freshly logged area, wherever I stepped. Was it small animals who had just lost their homes? I didn't see any. Was it "tree spirits"? (...if they are real.) I just couldn't tell, but felt truly sorry for whatever thing or person was feeling such extreme unhappiness.

Forty years later, I watched a documentary called "Intelligent Trees" on Amazon Prime Video. It explained at length how with advanced scientific equipment, we have learned how trees do things that seem highly intelligent, such as feed neighboring trees root-to-root who are having a hard time, worn other trees of insect infestations so they can chemically prepare, choose to feed their young who have the best chance of maturing, grow branches at angles that allow others needed sunlight, etc. Sometimes they connect to the root system of a fallen tree, keeping those roots alive and healthy for many years after the tree above has vanished.

The scientists discovered that their root systems are wired together like complex brains, with as many synapses as our human brains have, communicating with each other through both electrical and chemical signals as do our brains, letting countless fungi maintain feeding and connections just as countless glial cells do the same in our human brains. The consensus from the scientists was that trees are apparently alive and conscious like we are, knowingly making decisions and acting on them.

Oh my gosh! THAT's where all the pain and sadness was coming from which I felt as I walked through the cleared area. All those helpless brains right under my feet, in such despair over having lost their bodies! I would never never want to be involved in logging; so necessary, and yet so cruel.

 

[jacqueg]

I have not asked anyone else, but with your long experience, you might have some very useful answers. I want to learn to be self-sufficient from my van living up there. In the region from Port Angeles and Nea Bay to a ways south of Forks, where/how can I learn to feed myself from the sea and from the vegetation? The books I purchased have convinced me I must learn these things from someone experienced, not written words. For example, do you know of classes I could sign up for that teach these things through experiencing them? You might have other very useful ideas about what I need to learn and experience, but food seems pretty basic and essential for starters.

https://wildfoodadventures.com/
I haven't taken any of his courses, but he's been doing this for quite a while...

 

[Frood]

I have not asked anyone else, but with your long experience, you might have some very useful answers. I want to learn to be self-sufficient from my van living up there. In the region from Port Angeles and Nea Bay to a ways south of Forks, where/how can I learn to feed myself from the sea and from the vegetation? The books I purchased have convinced me I must learn these things from someone experienced, not written words. For example, do you know of classes I could sign up for that teach these things through experiencing them? You might have other very useful ideas about what I need to learn and experience, but food seems pretty basic and essential for starters.

Not so sure about the foraging but you have some absolutely tremendous opportunities for fishing up there... You have your choice of salmon (when in season), tons of delicious rockfish (rock-cod sometimes called), decent opportunities for Halibut, and a huge variety of surf-perch...

Now, if you are more interested in bio-mass than gamefish you can generally catch significant amounts of smaller fish (not sure about your area but generally Sardines, Anchovies, Mackerel (not up there though, they are further south), herring, and a really wide variety of smelts. I think you even have Eulachon up there (basically a mini-salmon also called a candlefish).

The Puget sound has a huge variety of bivalves, mollusks, clams!!, oysters, scallops, crab!!, snails, etc. available too! All of which are delicious and nutritious all available for a few minutes with a shovel/clam gun/or any other number of tools. YouTube is a great resource, but make sure you don't harvest out of season or during red-tide!

Check your local regulations but for the smaller fish (often called baitfish but they are delicious themselves!) a Hawaiian style cast net works wonders if legal for use in the area. You can use a-frame nets and dip nets too. For the gamefish you need a pole and set up accordingly. Host of edible sea-weeds and kelp up there too! You definitely don't need a course for fish, shellfish, and a lot of other types of seafood. If you are into free-diving you have even more options available.

If you find a course you like the forest in the peninsula there is home to a massive variety of delicious and edible mushrooms and fungi... I don't forage mushrooms myself though because I have no confidence in my ID ability. It's not that there are a lot more mushrooms that are poisonous, but that the ones that are poisonous tend to be horribly more toxic (with higher fatality rates) than mis-identifying most non-fungi plants (including lack of available effective treatments for some of the more severe and more commonly misidentified mushrooms). But for most wild plants a good guide and selective choices should be sufficient as long as you choose to forage things that do not have toxic look-alikes (which is the big problem with mushroom foraging).

Sorry about the verbal hemorrhage. Fishing (mostly), foraging, gardening, and food is kind of my passion and you are in a great area for it!

 

[CosmickGold]

Not so sure about the foraging but you have some absolutely tremendous opportunities for fishing up there... You have your choice of salmon (when in season), tons of delicious rockfish (rock-cod sometimes called), decent opportunities for Halibut, and a huge variety of surf-perch...

Now, if you are more interested in bio-mass than gamefish you can generally catch significant amounts of smaller fish (not sure about your area but generally Sardines, Anchovies, Mackerel (not up there though, they are further south), herring, and a really wide variety of smelts. I think you even have Eulachon up there (basically a mini-salmon also called a candlefish).

The Puget sound has a huge variety of bivalves, mollusks, clams!!, oysters, scallops, crab!!, snails, etc. available too! All of which are delicious and nutritious all available for a few minutes with a shovel/clam gun/or any other number of tools. YouTube is a great resource, but make sure you don't harvest out of season or during red-tide!

Check your local regulations but for the smaller fish (often called baitfish but they are delicious themselves!) a Hawaiian style cast net works wonders if legal for use in the area. You can use a-frame nets and dip nets too. For the gamefish you need a pole and set up accordingly. Host of edible sea-weeds and kelp up there too! You definitely don't need a course for fish, shellfish, and a lot of other types of seafood. If you are into free-diving you have even more options available.

If you find a course you like the forest in the peninsula there is home to a massive variety of delicious and edible mushrooms and fungi... I don't forage mushrooms myself though because I have no confidence in my ID ability. It's not that there are a lot more mushrooms that are poisonous, but that the ones that are poisonous tend to be horribly more toxic (with higher fatality rates) than mis-identifying most non-fungi plants (including lack of available effective treatments for some of the more severe and more commonly misidentified mushrooms). But for most wild plants a good guide and selective choices should be sufficient as long as you choose to forage things that do not have toxic look-alikes (which is the big problem with mushroom foraging).

Sorry about the verbal hemorrhage. Fishing (mostly), foraging, gardening, and food is kind of my passion and you are in a great area for it!

Such wonderfully useful and hopeful info. You could put your "verbal hemorrhaging" to great use and write a book! I'm sure it could be a great seller, for your style is so smooth-flowing and friendly.

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^Note he didn’t say exactly where and when, the sign of a true fisherman! Lol!!!

 

[bebewanna]

Such wonderfully useful and hopeful info. You could put your "verbal hemorrhaging" to great use and write a book! I'm sure it could be a great seller, for your style is so smooth-flowing and friendly.

Hey... Sorry for the slow response. I am in intensive care at Taos hospital after a near respiratory arrest from getting stuck in mud, ice and freezing water and getting chilled.

I read Frood post and most of what he wrote dittos what I would have told you.

WA is really strict about fishing seasons and collecting shell fish. You have to keep up on the mussels collection days because they can be short. But people with buckets on those days are everywhere... It's really popular.

All of the lakes along above Hood Canal are stocked like crazy from Port Townsend south... There are fish hatcheries all over that area .... I am not fisherman, I like to fish, I don't like to kill fish lol... So I stopped. But everyone I know that fishes are catching stuff

Salmon... Clearly the prizes, sometimes they don't allow it at all. And the Natives run the Salmon show and at times only they can catch them. I cannot tell you about open ocean waters but I don't think you would find the information difficult to find, once you are there.

Washington residency or a WA DL is a necessary item because wildkife
. permits in WA are not cheap.

One thing he did not mention is the never ending supply of delicious blackberries growing along the water in July.. I used to pick gallons of giant ones. I also had a personal area I found first year there hidden in the bush for wild Black Raspberries, my favorite.

Collection of mushrooms is great... But some crazy people think that they own an area of Govt Land to collect them and people have been shot over stupid mushroom wars....some are extremely valuable ... I only picked a few chanterelle I knew where they grew and you can find some morels in Spring .. I knew those were safe to eat.

Even with weed legalized there are still people growing weed in the forests... That can get kind of crazy too lol....

I would get myself a copy of this year's WA fish and game dates and rules... And permit fees... I don't know if like in Florida where my family live you can salt water ocean fish with no permit in WA...

Remember one thing about WA.. I am a far left liberal so it's not an issue for me lol... But WA loves taxes and fees and the Govt always has its hand in your pocket..

Cigarettes not on a reservation are outrageous.... If you smoke weed it is cheaper in parts of WA than anywhere in the country. I would be happy to point you in the best direction on both of those if need be.

For me, if I had to do it all again there I would be looking for a tiny lot around the Ho River inlet into the ocean. Peaceful places.

 

[user 22017]

For me, if I had to do it all again there I would be looking for a tiny lot around the Ho River inlet into the ocean. Peaceful places.

Thanks for your post. I did a search for Ho Inlet (River). Never knew people tracked the quietest places. Much like "dark skies". Ho River area is visually stunning, but also quiet:

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/ol...me-to-the-quietest-spot-in-the-continental-us
This is same article, but more photos:

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/washington/hoh-river-valley-quiet-wa/

 

[bebewanna]

Thanks for your post. I did a search for Ho Inlet (River). Never knew people tracked the quietest places. Much like "dark skies". Ho River area is visually stunning, but also quiet:

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/ol...me-to-the-quietest-spot-in-the-continental-us
This is same article, but more photos:

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/washington/hoh-river-valley-quiet-wa/

There is an old town site north side of the river above the sea that was platted as a small town a long time ago... They were selling 1/4 acre lots for like 12k a long time and I passed it up for the 5 acres I bought outside Hoodsport, a mistake I regret... It's Only accessible through a timberland locked gate you must get permission to use

There are usually still lots for sale and it's unbelievably lush and green there.
If you search Ho River lots they will appear... I am sorry I am kind of spacey sitting in the hospital and I can't remember the name of the town site

I spent 20 years there and the first 15 I bought land, built small cabins (illegally lol) and sold them, some to 1st person that looked...I made good money for years .. Sadly WA prices are out of control now and it put me out of the outlaw builder business.... My last one was a 2 story square log cabin on 20 acres overlooking Columbia river/lake Roosevelt I sold in 2007 before the crash and made 5x what I put into it.. Nothing lasts forever I guess...

 

[CosmickGold]

. . . . I am in intensive care at Taos hospital after a near respiratory arrest from getting stuck in mud, ice and freezing water and getting chilled. . . .

Wow. What a bad experience. I'm sure glad you are still with us! And hope you never have such a thing happen to you again!

I never wander far from my van, which is loaded with Havelock wool on walls and ceiling (plus 1-inch foam under the floor). I installed a toasty-warm propane furnace I never set below 38F. If that failed, I'd use my propane hot plate already piped to the same two five-gallon propane tanks. If that failed, I already wrap myself in a small electric blanket under my jacket at night, plus long-johns and thick socks. And if I had no propane nor electricity, I'd still have my down-filled coat, and a fiber-filled jacket, plus five warm insulation-filled blankets, including one filled with goose down.

I thank you for all your info and advice, and certainly wish the best for you in all your future.

 

[Frood]

^^^Note he didn’t say exactly where and when, the sign of a true fisherman! Lol!!!

Only because I don't have direct experience up there yet. I would never give GPS coordinates because frankly it's pointless, but I also disagree with trying to keep spots super-secret. I would rather encourage people to go out and harvest in an ecologically friendly manner (and let them know it's encouraged to report poachers and rule-breakers, as well as WHY it's a good thing to stop these activities) than to conceal a general location that really most people will be able to find with minimal effort anyway. The only time I won't share a spot is if it's a private area (or a dangerous area to reach... like fishing off a ledge on a cliff 40 feet above the water), but for any publicly known areas where extra people wont cause problems I've never seen any reason to not share the location.

Such wonderfully useful and hopeful info. You could put your "verbal hemorrhaging" to great use and write a book! I'm sure it could be a great seller, for your style is so smooth-flowing and friendly.

Thank you for your kind words. They are much appreciated!

 

[vanbrat]

Sooooo.... did you make it there yet ..?

 

[CosmickGold]

Sooooo.... did you make it there yet ..?

I certainly wish I had! But, nope.

I'm still taking care of a handicapped girl, and just can't seem to find a good alternative for her; so I'm still here.
I realized I couldn't leave yet after waking up from an emotional dream in which she was crying. In the dream, I asked her why the tears, and she sobbed "Because you are leaving me." That woke me right up with a startle.

Such a simple and short little dream. But so emotional, as though a lightning bolt struck straight to my core.
I feel a lot of anxiety over my dilemma every hour of every day, as though sitting on the front edge of my chair ready to spring into action, but I can't leave her like this.

 

[vanbrat]

I understand that one. Good that you are there for her.