May 2019June 2019 July 2019

06/30 - Day Trip to Seattle

We took a quick day trip to Seattle and made it home before dark. Granted, it stays light until ten o'clock this time of year. The Seattle waterfront has really changed. The viaduct is almost gone except for the piece that goes over the Marion Street walkway. Presumably, that section's days are numbered, and there will be all kinds of confusion while the ramp is closed for the demolition.

One last piece of the viaduct

The waterfront is almost unrecognizable.

That last piece of the viaduct

Construction at the ferry terminal

West Seattle

The Seattle skyline - It has been changing too.

Mount Rainier

Keywords: seattle, mount rainier

06/28 - To the Altair Bridge Again

We took another walk along the Elwha from Madison Falls south to the Altair Bridge. We actually went a bit past the bridge to take a look at the waterfall across the river. The roses are all gone, but the summer flowers have been coming in.

If you make it past the Altair bridge, watch for this little waterfall across the river. It is visible just a bit past the gate.

A waterfall closeup

Another closeup

Olympic Hot Springs Road where we turned around

Olympic Hot Springs Road towards the new branch of the Elwha

The Elwha below

Another Elwha view

Elderberries

Elderberry closeup

Fern forest

More fern forest

One of the summer flowers

Ocean spray

The detour

Tiger lilies

A butterfly

That butterfly again

That persistent butterfly

A bellflower

Keywords: elwha, flowers, summer, waterfall

06/26 - Hurricane Hill - Last Visit for a While

With the construction, Hurricane Hill is only open a few days this summer, but we managed to get up there one more time. We were pleased to see the lupines in bloom but a bit worried by the advanced state of the snow melt. Still, the flowers were beautiful. We are going to miss the corn lilies, but we could see them coming up. We are also going to miss the marmots, but they seem to be do fine without us. If we manage to synchronize our schedule and the construction schedule, we'll try for a visit later this summer, but it doesn't look promising.

An amazing sky

Two marmots

The same two marmots sparring

The Olympic Mountains

Another view of the mountains

Alpine flowers

That's the little seasonal lake in the background.

Field of corn lilies

One of the corn lilies

Another view, so very green

A view north and west

Soft skies

Blue and green

Another marmot amidst the dirty sock plant

A view through the trees

Avalanche lilies

We are sure we looked these up once.

A floral arrangement

Larkspur and wallflower - if your browser supports the SCENT tag you should smell the wallflowers.

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, marmots, summer

06/24 - Port Angeles Sunset

We had a dramatic sunset back at Kalebase in Port Angeles. Let's hope it's not smoke from forest fires.

Dramatic sunset

Keywords: atmosphere, port angeles

06/22 - Little River Trail

We've been regulars on the Little River Trail. We've following spring into summer. The trail is more hidden as the deciduous trees have leafed out and the trilliums have vanished, replaced by Pacific dogwood.

The trail

Plant life

More plant life

The river

Another view of the river, hidden by green

A trillium gone to seed

A salmonberry

Pacific dogwood

Even more plant life

Another bit of trail

And yet another

Keywords: little river, spring, summer, trillium

06/20 - Rialto Beach

We have been avoiding the West End because of the massive construction delays on 101 along Lake Crescent, but we finally decided to brave the gauntlet to get back to Rialto Beach. The delays were awful. The WSDOT web site said 30 minute delays, but we were stopped waiting well over half an hour on the way out and about 45 minutes on the way back. Then there was the additional time slowly following the pilot car at 8-10 miles an hour for the miles of road closed for repaving.

That's enough fuming. Rialto Beach was as beautiful as ever. The sand was soft, so the going was rough, but the beach was cool and refreshing. We made our way up to the hole in the wall, stopping along the way to check out the tide pools. There were a few anemones, but no starfish. It was great to get back, but the extra hour and a half travel time was wearing. We'll probably try again in the fall when the construction is over.

Driftwood

The beach

Rocks and sea stacks

A Pacific beach scene

Anemones

Sea stack silhouette

The ocean

More coastal rocks

The sea stacks, but darker

Beach erosion

Forest and driftwood

Keywords: rialto beach

06/11 - Hurricane Hill - Up Close

We were so excited to be getting back to Hurricane Hill, that we took a lot of pictures, so many that we need a double post. This post has the close ups.

The setting

Golden marmot

A seasonal pond frequented by bears, but not today

Early stage corn lily

Pasque flower

Spot the chipmunk

Chipmunk posing

Phlox and some more drama

Avalanche lilies

Lupines

Wallflower

Yarrow

More lupines

More avalanche lilies

More phlox

A rock garden

Lupines up close, with beads of water

Keywords: hurricane hill, flowers

06/10 - Hurricane Hill - Wide Angle

We made another trip up to Hurricane Hill. We're trying to make the most of the few days that the trail will be open this season. Right now, the trail will only be open 6/22-23, 7/4, 7/21, 8/2-4, 9/1-2, 9/13-15, 9/27-29 and 10/11-14. That's only 19 days, and that's it for the year.

It was a sunny day, but there were dramatic clouds coming in from the east. That meant spectacular views, but also spectacular cloud-scapes. The flowers were in serious bloom with phlox, western wallflower, pasque flowers, glacier lilies, avalanche lilies, paintbrush and even some early lupines. The corn lilies were just green shoots, but we'll probably miss them this year.


The setting

Some cloud drama

Phlox on the fields

A bit of snow and cloud

Another view

Clouds from the south and east

The seasonal lake below the summit, just forming

The sidespur

Dramatic light and flowers

Mountains near and far

Even more drama

A study in green

Another study in green

Keywords: hurricane hill

06/09 - Around the College

Where is all this greenery? What little stream is that? It's Ennis Creek behind the college. There's only one college out here on the North Olympic Peninsula, so that makes it obvious. If you start at the south east corner of the college, there's a little trail down to Ennis Creek. There's a sort of improvised foot bridge down there and a trail up the bank leading east. We aren't very good at improvised foot bridges, but it was tempting.

Wild greenery

A real retreat from school

A bit of the foot bridge

More trail

Yet more trail

Keywords: port angeles

06/08 - Lake Angeles - Exploring the Stream

We've been climbing the Lake Angeles Trail for years, but even now there are new nooks and crannies we find to explore. We had been climbing for more than a decade before we realized how to get to the campground next to the foot bridge over the stream at around 700 feet above the trailhead. This time, we explored a bit upriver from the that little foot bridge. It was a bit of a scramble, and we didn't get very far, but it offered new views of the stream.

The stream under the foot bridge

The foot bridge over the stream

Cascades upstream

More flowing water

The going gets rougher for us and the stream

Smooth water

Looking back at the footbridge, maybe 50 feet downstream

Pacific dogwood

More dogwood

Transition, dogwood with a late trillium

A green scene

A mysterious little bird

A curious mushroom

Keywords: lake angeles

06/06 - To The Elwha Dam Overlook

We've been taking the scenic detour and making our way farther and farther along Olympic Hot Springs Road. We finally made it all the way to the dam overlook. It was a long walk, especially with the detour, but it was a cool sunny day and easy going.

Olympic Hot Springs Road and green forest

Maple pods, bright red in the sun

Maple pods in the shade

One of the many, many roses that scented the trail

A peek at a peak

The waterfall into the Elwha

Another view of that waterfall, worth stopping for

The dam site

The Elwha upstream, formerly Lake Mills

A view downstream

Another view upstream

Green forest and bright sunlight

Another study in contrast

The Elwha River from the Altair Bridge

Foxglove

A duck to look up

A butterfly in the sun

Keywords: elwha, spring

06/04 - The Last Trilliums

We've been building up our climbing by working our way up the Lake Angeles Trail. So far, we've managed to get up about 1150 feet out of about 2380, less than halfway. The trilliums along this part of the trail are passing. They've turned from white to pink or they already have seed pods. Meanwhile, the Pacific dogwood is coming out, and its petals have been turning from green to white. Progress climbing has been slow, but the trail has its rewards however far we climb.

Across the little creek about 700' above the parking lot

One of the many trilliums now turning pink

A white trillium

This may be the trillium vale

Another trillium, for luck

Tiarella

Second growth forest and sunlight

Pacific dogwood

And another cluster

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium

May 2019June 2019 July 2019