The Kaleberg Journal - April 2025

04/10 - Elwha to Altair - Springwatch

It's springwatch, and one of our favorite places to watch for signs of spring is the Elwha valley. We start at Madison Falls, the end of Olympic Hot Springs Road, and make our way via the detour through the hills behind the old campground, to the Altair Bridge. We've already spotted fawn lilies and trilliums and checked out the skunk cabbage. There were more trilliums this time and the skunk cabbage was going strong.

Along the detour route, we spotted some park people redoing the trail a bit. They were carrying some heavy boards to shore up parts of the trail. There were sections where the trail had been recut since runs along the face of a ridge. It looks like they are doing serious maintenance which is good to see. For example, there was an extremely muddy section of the trail, and, some time back, they set up a new route on higher ground.

From the Altair Bridge we saw a couple of park workers doing some kind of measurement. This involved setting up a rope and wading across the stream a bit downriver of the bridge. We've seen this before. We still aren't sure what they are doing. Measuring the flow? Setting up to count fish? Again, it was good to see them wet and at work as yet another sign of spring.


Fawn lilies


Fawn lily leaves


Mountain view

The twins - double trilliums

More trilliums

The Elwha River


Olympic Hot Springs Road


Clouds

Clouds and snow

Skunk cabbage

Mystery bird



From the bridge

Getting ready to wade

Currant



The mules are back.

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spring, trilliums

04/07 - Dungeness Spit

We lucked out at Dungeness Spit with an extremely low tide. We mainly wanted to take the Primitive Trail, the alternate route from the trailhead to the spit itself, but with the low tide and lots of beach available, we made our way past the half mile marker. The footing was good, and we should note that we are now in the season of daylight low tides suitable for hiking out to the lighthouse.

The Primitive Trail is a less used, slightly longer route, but it takes one through forest, so we were rewarded with birds and trilliums. There was some early mock Solomon's seal with just a few leaves, so we'll have to come back later in the season. We avoided the nettles and had a lovely springtime walk.


Trilliums

The wide beach

An offshore duck

Driftwood

Looking back at the Olympics

The spit

Mount Baker and the lighthouse

The spit again


The Primitive Trail


Springtime slug





A forest bird - a lucky photo


Keywords: birds, dungeness spit, spring, tides, trilliums

04/01 - Elwha to Altair

Now that spring is here, we've been hiking from Madison Falls up along the Elwha to the Altair Bridge. Most of the route follows Olympic Hot Springs Road, but the road is cut off by the river not far from the trailhead, so we take the detour through the hills around the old, now flooded, campground.

We were well rewarded. Our goal was skunk cabbage, and there was lots of skunk cabbage, especially past the ranger station as we approached the bridge. It grows in the drainage ditches and flooded areas of forest.

We also saw the fawn lilies. The first few are out with their delicate stalks and lovely hanging flowers. There were also a few trilliums, not many, but enough to convince us that spring has come.


A fawn lily

Our first trillium of the season






Skunk cabbage

The old work area across from the ranger station

Skunk cabbage in the forest


The view from the bridge



The road is getting tired.


A fiddlehead




The mules are back in town.

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trilliums

The Kaleberg Journal - March 2025

03/29 - Cherry Blossoms at UW

We made a quick trip into Seattle to check out the cherry blossoms at the quad at the University of Washington. It was a beautiful day, and the quad was full of people admiring the full bloom. There were lots of families with children, picnics, dancers and people in their Sunday best. You could tell that a lot of people were eager for spring. There was even a group of cosplayers, angels and devils, having a tea party complete with an etagere full of cupcakes.

The trees were in full bloom with every branch full of flowers and even flowers bursting from the trunk. The university was ready for the event with signs and facilities. We made a full loop of the quad stopping here and there to admire the flowers and to let people take photographs. Who could blame them? It's not like we didn't take a lot of photos ourselves.





Cauliflory


Cosplay tea party

They sure looked like they were having fun.















A guest magnoia

This one had a lovely fragrance, but we still haven't bothered finding out what it is.

Keywords: seattle

The Kaleberg Journal - February 2025

02/05 - Little St Simons - A Stop at Fort Frederica

En route to Little St. Simon's Island we stopped at Fort Frederica to eat our left overs and stretch our legs. There are ruins, historical gardens and the view of the coastal waterway the British fort once defended from the Spanish. It was February, but we did spot a violet in bloom and ripe oranges. Oranges are green until cold weather ripens them into the form that turns up in grocery stores.






Some oranges, too high up to reach, so probably sour

Keywords: georgia

02/04 - Little St Simons - Flatboat to the Island

We took a flatboat out to Little St Simons Island. It was a very pleasant ride on calm waters. On our previous visit, it had been wet and icy. All of us passengers huddled under blankets. This trip was quite different.









Keywords: georgia

02/03 - Little St Simons - Arrival, Needlerush Trail and Sunset

We took the flatboat from the Hampton River Marina to Little St Simon's Island. As soon as we were on land, we took a short walk north up and along the Needlerush Trail. We felt right at home. Then, we went and watched the sunset before dinner.





















Keywords: georgia

02/02 - Little St Simons - Sancho Panza, Controlled Burns and More

One of the guides at Little St Simons took us up north to an area of the island we had not explored. We visited the Twin Oaks, two old gnarly live oaks with long almost horizontal branches twisted and warped around each other. It's hard to capture this in pictures since the trees wrap around one. There were bones and feathers on the ground.

We passed through one of the controlled burn areas with charred vegetation and black ash on the ground. This is part of the island management plan. The burned area was a real contrast to the lush local vegetation.

We also stopped at Sancho Panza beach. It was once wild dunes, but now most of the dunes are covered with grasses. It's one of the many transformations. We didn't spend a lot of time exploring, so we're hoping to get back to the area on a future visit.


Welcome to the island





Welcome to the island


A burned area




The Twin Oaks








Sancho Panza Beach



Keywords: georgia

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