April 2023May 2023 June 2023

05/31 - Pacific Dogwood in Bloom

We headed up the Lake Angeles Trail again. The trilliums have almost passed, but the Pacific dogwood has started to bloom. There are always changes along the trail this time of year.

Where we turned around, far from the lake

Forest

More forest

Sparse undergrowth

A few trilliums past bloom

Indian pipes

Very early Pacific dogwood

Forest on our way down

Oregon grape

Further down, Pacific dogwood

Some Pacific dogwood in bloom

More dogwood

Even more dogwood

Late trilliums

More late trilliums

The stream

The bridge across the stream

More early dogwood

Mushrooms on a log

Tiarella in bloom

More along the trail

A slug

Undergrowth

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium

05/29 - Farther Along the Dungeness Dike

We sometimes just take a short walk at the Dungeness Dike. Sometimes we make the full 90 minute loop from the school house parking lot to the south end of the trail. That lets us leave the dike and head down on a trail that follows the path of the old dike. This late in the spring, it's tall grass and green. We even took a short side spur to take a look at the river.

Setting the scene

More of the scene

Mountains and marsh

Along the route of the old dike

The Dungeness RIver

Further along

And further still

The old dike was completely removed

A familiar field

And farther along

Here is where they planted a forest. Give it time.

One of a few lupines

Another lupine

Pattern of stones

Last view before we left

Keywords: dungeness, spring

05/27 - Pineapple Upside Down Cake

These are surprisingly easy to make and surprisingly delicious if you avoid the usual recipes. We've made rather awful ones with whole wheat flower and sugar concoctions that stuck to the pan. We just use Edna Lewis's caramel cake recipe, butter, brown sugar, maraschino cherries and canned pineapple. We use an 11"x11" cake pan and melt a couple of tablespoons of butter to line the bottom. Then we sprinkle a few tablespoons of brown sugar. Then come the pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. We fill in the gaps with bits of pineapple - the recipe takes about a can and a half. Then, we pour on the cake batter - see recipe below - and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 350F. We let it cool for a bit. When the pan is still warm but cool enough to touch, we just flip out our cake upside down.
Edna Lewis Caramel Cake Batter

  • 5 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • juice of 1/2 lemon (1 tsp officially)
  • 1) Cream the butter.
  • 2) Cream in the sugar & salt, until fluffy.
  • 3) Mix in one egg counterclockwise; mix in the other egg clockwise.
  • 4) Add 1 cup flour, partially mix; leave some dry flour.
  • 5) Add 1/3 cup milk, partially mix.
  • 6) Add 1/2 cup (roughly) of flour, partially mix.
  • 7) Mix in vanilla & lemon juice.
  • 8) Add 1/3 cup milk, partially mix.
  • 9) Add final 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, mix until smooth.

Keywords: recipes

05/25 - Dungeness Highlands

We took our usual walk at the Dungeness Spit. We start at the main parking lot and head south along the bluffs then head east across the access road. There are views of the strait from the bluffs and views of the mountains from along the trail. It's a nice trail with a lot of variety, grasslands, forest, brush and salt water.

First mountain view

Grasslands

Mountain view

Thicket

Brush

An arty view of the mountains

Catkins or fluff

A forest peep

Open area

Forest tunnel

Flowers

A miscellaneous bird

The strait

A tunnel along the bluffs

More of the tunnel

Yet more tunnel with a view of the strait to the left

A miscellaneous squirrel

Keywords: dungeness, dungeness spit

05/23 - Foggy Day on the Lake Angeles Trail

We've been building up for the summer season by climbing as far up the Lake Angeles Trail as we can manage. So far, that's been about 1250' from the parking lot. The trilliums are gone, but the Pacific dogwood have yet to bloom. We climbed up into the clouds and didn't let a little fog stop us. We made it half way up to the lake, but the season has just started.

The stream at about 750' above the parking lot

Into the clouds

Looking down

Along the trail

Foggy forest

A cluster of trilliums

Down into the mist

Up again

Another trail view

A clearer stretch

Green forest floor

An Indian pipe

Green forest

Pacific dogwood in progress

An old tree trunk

The walkway

Funghi

And more funghi

More forest

Heading down

Along the trail

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium

05/21 - Dungeness Dike - Spring Progress

We took a short walk at the Dungeness Dike. Everything was so green.

The new marsh

A California poppy

More marsh

Even more marsh

A robin

Towne Road

A future forest

Keywords: dungeness

05/19 - The Fourth Plague

With summer approaching, we figured we had better toughen up and get into shape for climbing. The Lake Angeles Trail is a good trail for this with a steady ascent 2450' from the trailhead to the lake. We didn't even get halfway to the lake, but one hiker who had told us that the area is clear of snow. Maybe next time.

We expected to see trilliums, and we did. The big surprise were the frogs, little Pacific Tree Frogs. There were swarms of these little guys at several points along the trail. We have been hiking the Lake Angeles Trail for over twenty years now, and this is the first time we've seen frogs along the way. They came in green, brown and red, and they hopped about furiously then froze making them very hard to see.

We ran into another group of hikers and mentioned seeing frogs. "Did you see the frogs on the trail?" "Oh yes, the fourth plague." We all had a good laugh. Frogs, or perhaps toads, were the fourth of the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians in the Bible. We tend to avoid plagues, but we're more than willing to put up with a few frogs when out on the trail.


The first frog

Another frog

Possibly the same guy after some hoppage

A little frog hiding

The stream, in full spate, one crosses at about 750' above the trailhead

The foot bridge

A trillium

More trilliums

Greenery

Yet another frog

Yet another trillium

Water under the bridge

Carnivorous plants

Still another frog

And a froggy friend

A big flowered trillium

An older, pinker trillium

Looking down off the trail

A curtain of drips

More along the trail, no frogs

The big rock about 500' about the trailhead

A trillium collection

Heading back down

Keywords:

05/17 - A Beautiful Day at the Dike

We've been having some lovely sunny days out here on the Olympic Peninsula. We took a short walk on the Dungeness Dike to soak it in.

Old Towne Road

High water

Old Towne Road again

More high water in the marsh land

Amazing sky

More marsh and sky

Mountains half hidden in the distance

Keywords: dungeness

05/13 - Spruce Railroad Trail

We hiked a bit of the Spruce Railroad Trail. It was a bright sunny day, but it is late enough into spring for the trees to have leafed out and provide a canopy. The sky was blue. The lake was blue. The forest was green. We were pleased to spot a few trilliums and enjoy the views of the lake and mountains.

A forest orchid

Paintbrush - first of the season

A last piece of the old trail

Clear water

The lake

More of the trail

Plants growing out of rocks

A piece of the new trail

One of the tunnels

Mt. Storm King

Trilliums and ferns

More trilliums

A shady bit of trail

The forest floor with a trillium if you look closely

Green life

Keywords: spring, spruce railroad, trillium

05/06 - On to the Waterfall

We're not sure how it happened, but we were more energetic than usual on our last Little River Hike. We usually turn around at the second log footbridge. This time we continued. If nothing else, we knew there was a pair of waterfalls with a good overlook beyond.

So, we made our way over the second bridge with its peculiar turn where one changes from the low log to the high log. Then we went on. The trail climbed so we had great views of the river below. There were trilliums and a great bank of fawn lilies. (We had been calling them columbines, but it turns out we had guessed wrong. What we had been calling shooting stars were actually columbines. This is what happens when one is enjoying the beauty of the trail and not fighting with a flower identification app.)

Then came the waterfalls, maybe 20-25 minutes past the bridge. Two tributaries meet here, and with the start of the snow melt and the recent rains, they were full of roaring waters.


Gateway to the forest

Trilliums

A fawn lily

Another fawn lily

A forest scene

More trilliums

The trail

The river, one of many photos

One of the waterfalls

The other waterfall

The twin waterfalls

A young trillium, not blooming yet

Mahonia

Along the trail

Living rock walls

More of Little River

Another fawn lily with its mottled leaves

Even more of the river

So many fallen logs

Another bank of trilliums

Another stretch of the river

One of our rain forest trail companions

Last view of the Little River

Keywords: little river, trillium, waterfall

05/04 - Bright Sunny Day

It was a bright sunny day just south of the Dungeness Spit. We wandered the highlands and soaked in the sun and mountain views. It even looks a bit like parts of California here, especially when the sun is out.

A flat part of the trail

More of the trail, out in the sun

An eagle

A mountain

More spring green

The vegetation thickens

Bright flowers

An easy walk

A thicket

The view from the picnic table

The Olympic Mountains

More mountain views

A forest tunnel

An old orchard

A shadier bit of trail

A hummingbird

Fields and mountains

Returning along the trail

A very peaceful trail

Some variety

More forest

Keywords: dungeness spit

05/03 - Elwha Spring

We were back along the Elwha. The river is fuller and wilder, and the spring flowers have been progressing. There were lots of trilliums and lots of water.

The trail

A local snake

A local orchid

It turns out these are fawn lilies, not columbines, but we're not going to correct all our old posts.

More fawn lilies

A trillium - We're pretty sure of this one.

The Elwha

Trilliums and tiarella not yet in bloom

Red winged insect - click for a better look

Another trillium

Dicentra - probably

Violets

Another bit of the trail

Another bit of the river

The old pavilion at the old campground

High water

High snow

More high water

And more high water

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

April 2023May 2023 June 2023