Scott Gregson

A Laodicean seeking an escape route.

Green Mountain — Wildcat Trail to Beaver Pond Trail Loop

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Kitsap County, WA
April 2021
10.9 miles, ~1700ft elevation gain, 6.5 hours
My AllTrails map

The way in.

Starting from the large parking area at the Wildcat Staging Area trailhead, the trail is wide and easy on the feet. As you progress and start climbing the trail, being a multi-use trail, it is not the best for foot traffic. Since dirt bikes frequent the trail, reasonable erosion control requires a heavier hand. The path varies from soft forest to exposed broken rock. At times it is flat; other times it is deeply rutted (dirt bikes).

The views are good including, Alder forest, expansive vistas, 2nd growth Fir forest, and a few creeks with bridges. More on one of the creeks later under The next visit.

There are some nice forest views and some invigorating grades (>30°) as you continue along south. As you gain elevation, you are treated to several peek-a-boo vista views. We had cloud cover limiting the view but could see east to Seattle, the Cascades remaining hidden behind the clouds.

You get a peek at the Hood Canal to the west as you take Vista Trail up to the peak.

At the top.

Along with a great view, you’ll find several picnic tables placed around the peak. On a clear day, you’d surely be able to view the Cascade range from Mt. Baker south to just north of Mt. Rainier. The rock peak is bordered with a chain-link fence on the east side for your protection. The rock face drops off sharply.

Both the Seattle Skyline and Bremerton’s PSNS with its historic crane are in view from the peak.

The way out.

After that brisk trek up to the top, the picnic tables and a hearty lunch both sat well with me. There is no water and no place to put trash so plan for that.

Back down Vista and heading east on Gold Creek trail you’re treated to expansive open views of the Olympics and Hood Canal.

You’ll continue around to Beaver Pond trail and take it back north to complete the loop. Then back on via Wildcat Trail to the trailhead.

The next visit.

I am thinking I won’t make the whole loop on the next visit but will trek in as far as this first little bridge. I could not find the name of the creek it crosses. I think I can spend a few hours there getting shots of the stream with different lighting as the sun moves across the sky. I’ll eat and take a nap between photo sessions. It’ll be fun.

Overall.

Great hike! The 10+ miles, 25+ lbs. pack, and 1700ft elevation gain was all I had in me for that 6-1/2 hour trek. I usually over-hydrate, so that was good. I had decided to carry a stove and Mountain House meals. That hearty meal at the top probably was the extra detail that ‘saved’ the day, at least for me.

We met two new friends on the trail. This is one of them (the other was chocolate-colored):

Getting off of the Chessboard – No.2

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Today will include more office setup.
– Swap in new monitors (on the chessboard)
– Setup router
– More on the Chessboard stuff
– Off the Chessboard Stuff

Swap in new monitors – The first set of monitors suck. I tried their default setting profiles as well as adjusting them manually. The issue is contrast, can’t get any. Blacks aren’t black. They will be going back to Amazon. I walked into Costco expecting to find similarly priced monitors that would do a better job. I wanted 27″ LED monitors with good contrast. They did have what I normally would have bought, but… they had Samsung 32″ curved monitors on sale for the same price.

I might post a separate post about the monitors. The Samsung monitors will work fine.

Setup router – They have a shared customer LAN here at BremertonWorkSpace.com. They also could setup a VLAN. I think the VLAN has a monthly fee, the router was a cheaper solution. There is a printer on the shared LAN but NAT!

More on the Chessboard Stuff – I have a few more must-do things and then…

Off the Chessboard Stuff – Well, hopefully I’ll get there today. I do expect to do so.

Getting off of the Chessboard – No.1

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Many writers are writing what writers write. Some write to express themselves, some to entertain and some to inform.

When I commute, I listen to audiobooks. These are most often related in some way to my vocations jack-of-all-consulting and running a niche printing business. One theme I find in many of these books, and one that speaks to me is the need to focus. In a recent listen Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, the author Gino Wickman discusses to a great extent the need of the management team to spend time focusing.

Focus is a narrowing of thought to such an extent that unrelated materials become unseen.

I have heard people describe me as very focused. I find myself in a continuous struggle to focus. I am inherently self-distracting.

As we depart the riverbank, the pram gently rocking as the pole man does his work… That time apart to focus, time “off the chessboard” yet focusing on the same, that is what this is about. We embark on an experiment to prove the practical effect(s) of focus.

I will spend some time, 1-2 days a week for 5-8 weeks in a monitor-lit room with limited input from outside sources. This will be a sort of self-imposed exile (here). It is also a pilgrimage to clarity. Let’s see what we find…

“Not so” Yakisoba Recipe

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My daughter asked me for my Yakisoba recipe. OK, I will tell you what I make. By definition, I doubt it is truly Yakisoba. Maybe we’ll call it Scotty-soba.

So, Yakisoba is basically a stir-fry. The Chinese originated the dish, and the Japanese adopted it with their own variations to the recipe including the noodles themselves containing buckwheat. I think the Japanese brought it the popularity it might now have.

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