April 2019May 2019 June 2019

05/28 - Little River Trail

The last time we wandered along the Little River Trail, the trail was lined with trilliums. They were all over the place. This time, the trilliums were passing, but the false Solomon's seal, tiarella, Pacific dog wood and others were taking up the slack.

We pushed past our last stopping point and made our way to a log bridge over the river. We crossed and continued for perhaps a few hundred feet. There was another log bridge heading back over the river. We aren't sure what this is about. There also seems to be a trail that doesn't cross the river twice, so one day we'll try it.


The trail through the forest

The Little RIver

Trilliums senescent

Mahonia

A last white trillium

One of the log bridges

False Solomon's seal with a wonderful scent

The Little River again

Where we stopped to refresh our feet

Devil's claw

Another very green bit of the trail

An older trillium and others

Pacific dogwood

A fern wall

Woodruff - It probably escaped from someone's garden, but it smells good.

Tiarella

More Pacific dogwood

Indian pipes

A bit more of the trail

Keywords: little river, trillium

05/27 - Dungeness Dike Roses

The Dungeness Dike Trail off Towne Road is another hike that changes dramatically from winter to summer. The grasses grow taller, the bushes and trees leaf out and block the views of the river. The brush by the trailside grows higher and encroaches on parts of the trail. This time there were a few red poppies and bushes full of fragrant wild roses.

A red poppy

Spanish moss

The trail by the pasture

Another bit of trail

And another bit

Roses

More roses

A bit of the river

The trail home

Keywords: dungeness dike trail

05/25 - Hurricane Hill - To The Summit

We went back to Hurricane Hill again, and this time we made it to the summit. The trail is still closed every other week and never open on Wednesdays, so it if you want to enjoy it, check the Olympic National Park website. Be prepared to walk maybe ten minutes from one of the two picnic area parking lots to trailhead proper. The road there is closed. On the plus side, there are bathrooms at both parking areas.

The alpine flowers were spectacular. There would be waves of sweet scent from the phlox as we walked by. All of the snow on the trail has melted, but there is still snow in the shade and on north faces. There isn't much more to say. Enjoy the pictures.

One of the many views of the Olympic Mountains

A view from the summit

As the season progresses, this snow on the north face melts and fills a little lake, now visible as a few blue spots.

Another view

And yet another

Still another view, follow that strip of white down ...

... and at its base, the snow melts and forms a stream.

It's hard to know where to look.

Patchy snow in a bowl below the trail

Glacier lilies

More glacer lilies

An arty view

Sweet smelling western wallflower

We looked these flowers up once, but forgot what they are.

Phlox

More phlox

Even more phlox

Paintbrush

Yarrow

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill

05/22 - Olympic Discovery Trail West of Morse Creek

We took one of favorite easy walks near Port Angeles, from the parking lot off route 101 near Morse Creek down to the sea. We often take this walk during the winter when the trees are bare, but now the trees are covered with leaves and everything is lush and green. We didn't go very far, just down to the sea and a bit farther, but the yellow lupines were in bloom and smelled as sweet as summer.

The dike along the water

A bit of the trail

And another bit

Very green this time of year

Red grasses

Yellow lupines

Pink roses

A hummingbiird

Caught red wing patched

More roses

Another bit of the trail

Trees arching over the trail

Again, very green, quite unlike winter

A snail

The bridge over Morse Creek

Keywords: morse creek, port angeles

05/19 - Again, to the Altair Bridge

We have been turning this into a regular walk, starting at Madison Falls and heading, by way of the detour, to the Altair Bridge over the Elwha. The columbines are gone and the trilliums and dogwood almost past, but the tiarella is now in bloom as are other late spring blossoms.

As usual, we stopped to soak our feet in the river. A bit later, we had to step to the side of the trail to let a mule team get by. The park service people and animals were heading out to do trail work. The mules were new to the area and a bit skittish. We did our best to keep them calm.

The river is still pretty high, so the park service might just be waiting for it to go down, but we're guessing that they won't be setting up the temporary bridges the way they did last year. Despite this, we'll be back in a week or two to follow the spring progression and we'll let you know the latest.


The Elwha as seen from the Altair Bridge

Another view of the Elwha

Yet another view

The river is so high that the river branch that cut the road has flooded. The gap may grow.

The forest detour

Tiarella

Elderberry flower buds

Another tiarella

Stinky bob on an old maple tree

A mushroom

The Elwha from the bank

An entire forest growing on a tree

A fading trillium

Paintbrush

More tiarella

More of the forest trail

Across the river, lupines in bloom

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium

05/16 - Hurricane Hill

The Hurricane Hill Trail is open. It is still being rebuilt, so it is only open about half the time. Check the park web page and scroll down to the calendar before you head up expecting to take this hike. Note that the trail is ALWAYS closed on Wednesdays. Also note that the road is closed at the second picnic area, so the trailhead is now an additional ten minute walk from parking.

That said, the view from the trail is as beautiful as ever. Most of the trail is free of snow, and the snow is melting rapidly. The glacier lilies are out as is the phlox, so keep your nose peeled for that latter flower's wonderful scent. There were many marmots about which was a nice treat. We didn't quite make it to the summit, so that's for our next try. We had a long winter this year, so it's great that the high country is finally open again.


The Olympic Mountains

Phlox

A view from the trail

More of the mountains

A late winter scene

One of the many marmots

Another mountain view

Another marmot

A marmot in a field of delicious, to a marmot, spring flowers

The marmot by the trailside

That marmot checking us out

That marmot again offering us a closeup

A bit of snow on a shady stretch of trail

More spring flowers

Some of the trail work, a stone retaining wall where the trail has been widened

More phlox

Glacier lilies

Glacier lilies in closeup

Goodbye to the mountains

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, marmots, spring

05/14 - Russian Easter

We held our Russian Easter party again. That meant pelmeni, home made sausage, grilled lamb loin, smoked salmon and blini with salmon roe and butter and more butter. There was also champagne and the Defense of Moscow. Once again, the Monster Napoleon was on the march, and once again Moscow was defended by fire, ironically ignited by means of French brandy. It was an excellent defense, so there was lots of Moscow / baked Alaska left for all present.

The spread

Champagne

Moscow, sometime before 1812

Keywords: russian easter

05/06 - To the Altair Bridge

We've been slowly reclaiming the Elwha, hiking farther along now disused section of Olympic Hot Springs Road. This time we made it all the way to the Altair Bridge, sort of a breakthrough for us. The bridge is still there. It's just farther away. It was great seeing the view of the Elwha from the bridge again, and we're hoping to go farther, perhaps to dam site overlook. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy the river and the flowers.

Along the detour

Paintbrush

Flowers

An orchid

Mahonia

Trilliums

More flowers

The view of the Elwha from the Altair Bridge

The view in the other direction

Skunk cabbage

One of the Elwha's new branches

A view of the old Elwha campground

Another orchid

Tiarella

More flowers

Forest

Dogwood

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring

April 2019May 2019 June 2019