Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: obstruction point, Page: 1

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Upcoming Hiking Tides

These are low tides of under three feet at least two hours after sunrise or before sunset.

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For more on Obstruction Point, see our Obstruction Point Trail web page.

07/27/23 - Obstruction Point - Part 1 Ever since the lodge at Hurricane Ridge burned down, only a limited number of cars have been allowed to drive up to the ridge. There is the city bus, but we wanted to get out to Obstruction Point, so we rose early and had only a short wait at the entrance gate. The drive out to Obstruction Point was its usual spectacular self with tight turns, a narrow road and vertiginous drop offs. There were also amazing views of Mount Olympus, the other snow capped mountains in the Olympic range and the green river valleys below. We headed out on the trail and slowly got more used to the altitude. Usually, by late July, we're comfortable at 6000', but we haven't been getting up to the high country much. We made our way up to the plateau then down the staircase and across the fields to the ridge with its cirque of winter snow still melting and the lakes forming below. We headed up and on a bit, out to Eagle Rock where we soaked in the view before heading back.	The high country, at last!
Greeting us was a grouse.	The start of the trail
A typical view	Alpine flowers, we missed you.
More along the trail and some distant snow	More trail and clouds
Clouds playing with a mountain ridge	A peek at Mount Olympus and the Blue Glacier
The little lake we always check as we descend the staircase was doing well.	A stone garden
Our first few lupines of the year	More along the trail
Not shown, but we found a last bit of phlox with a touch of its wonderful scent lingering..	Another look at Olympus
One of the seasonal lakes	A high ridge
Lupines!	More lupines!
More lakes!	Paintbrush
A deer, an unusual sighting up here	Another mountain view

Keywords: high country, hurricane ridge, obstruction point, winter

07/26/23 - Obstruction Point - Part 2 Here are some more photos from our magical journey to Obstruction Point and beyond. Back in 2020, we had worried that COVID would have made the high country off limits. We were wrong. It was a great year for the trails and wildflowers, but this year, 2023, has been different. The fire that destroyed the lodge also destroyed the electrical power system, the water pumps, telecommunications and the septic system. The lodge was going to be closed for renovations, but the park service had made arrangements. The fire changed that. Instead, they have had to limit the number of visitors, so we haven't had much opportunity to explore. We made it up to Obstruction Point despite this. We were hoping to do some more hiking in the area, but a cougar attack led to the closing of the Lake Angeles Trail, Heather Park and Klahane Ridge. It's a sensible precaution, but this is not going to be a great year for the Kalebergs and the high country.	A view from near Eagle Rock
The lakes below	The hiking trail
Yet another mountain view	Mountain garden
Mountain trail	Paintbrush and snow
Harebells	More of the garden
The Olympic Mountains	Snow below
Lupines	Mountain clouds
Another bit of the trail	And yet more
Another peek at the peaks	Lupine leaves
Clouds again	More mountain rock garden
More flowers	A fascinating flower
The staircase	Returning to base

Keywords: flowers, high country, obstruction point, trails

08/26/22 - Obstruction Point Road - Part 1 We took what is probably our last hike of the season out from Obstruction Point. The park is closing Obstruction Point Road on the day after Labor Day, and probably not reopening it until 2023. Hurricane Ridge Road is going to be closed a few weeks later as well. According to the park service, Hurricane Ridge Road was collapsing onto Obstruction Point Road below it, and they're hoping to have both roads more or less rebuilt and repaired in the next few months. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the hike across the high country, down the staircase, then along the ridge with its spectacular views of Mount Olympus. We took the side spur out to Raven Rock and looked down at Moose Lake and Grand Lake way far below. I doubt we'll ever make the thousand foot plus descent. If nothing else, we'd have to climb back up which seems daunting. We're past the peak flower season. Colors are already starting to change. We did see a blue grouse and her chicks scrabbling about in the dry grass not far from the trail. They are so well camouflaged that seeing them was just a matter of good fortune. We may get another chance to get up to the high country this season, but it we don't, this was a great way to say goodbye to it.	Top of the world
The high country trail	A bit of the staircase
Mountains across the valley	Our first peek at the plains of Mars
Foliage just starting to turn red	Still some lingering snow
Another bit of trail	Two lakes below
Another seasonal lake	Mountains and sky
Friable rock	Another spectacular view
Way down below	Early autumn colors
Fading fields	We'll miss the trail.
Blue mountains beyond	More on the hiking theme
Some more fall color and great scenery	More trail, color, snow and sky
Mount Olympus	Yet more of the trail

Keywords: high country, hurricane ridge, obstruction point

08/25/22 - Obstruction Point Road - Part 2 This is a continuation of our post on our last visit of the season to Obstruction Point Road with a bit more focus on details.	Some late lupines
Some flowers	Harebells and others
Paintbrush	Juniper
Yarrow	We're not sure what this is, but it's a great composition.
More flowers	And more flowers
Some fall flowering phlox	Paintbrush
Another bouquet	And another
A blue grouse	One of her chicks
Grousing	More grousing
There were three or four grouse chicks.	Another chick, or perhaps the same one again
Bright flowers	Lithiculture
Amongst the rocks	Magenta

Keywords: high country, grouse, flowers, obstruction point

08/02/22 - Obstruction Point Revisited We made another trip out to Obstruction Point. The season has been progressing. Most of the snow is gone, and more flowers are in bloom. The lakes have melted out from the snow. As usual, the scenery was magnificent. Our bonus sighting this trip was a bear down in one of the lakes.	On top of the world
The trail up there	Mountains and valleys
Another piece of the trail	Phlox - It's a pity we can't take a snapshot of its amazing scent.
More flowers	Plant life
Raven Rock, as we call it	Clouds in the distance
Still some snow in the mountains	Melting snow and a lake below
Growing from the stone	Another view down, melting snow
More clouds and a valley	Another mountain view
The trail again	Harebells
The bear sloshing around in a lake	The bear emerges - The photo is blurry. That bear was quite far away.
More flowers	A stone garden
Flowers and stone	Pink paintbrush

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point

09/30/21 - High Country - High Vistas We made a late season trip out to Obstruction Point. We got an early start to avoid the crowds and enjoy the low sunlight and its long deep shadows.	Mount Olympus
Blue grouse	Another grouse
View from the staircase	The trail
Another top of the world stretch	Lakes below
Another late season lake	A bit of lingering snow
A hillside in the morning light	It's hard to get contrast like this.
More morning light	High country trail
The ridge beyond	Mount Olympus again
Rocky ground - look up friable	Mount Baker, a distant ghost mountain
The ridge as seen elsewhere	Another grouse or perhaps one of the same

Keywords: obstruction point

09/29/21 - High Country - Autumn Color Text of entry goes here	Gold and red
More autumn color	A view across the river valley
The trail	Another bit of color
Red foliage around a lake below	Did we mention autumn color?
Red and green, a bit early for Christmas	The trail through red and green
Those two colors again with rocks for white balance	Another bit of trail
Autumn colors set ablaze by morning light	More intense color
Calmer colors	The Plains of Mars
Color by the trailside	Golden grasses
More red	More lakeside color

Keywords: autumn, obstruction point

08/06/19 - Obstruction Point - The Hike We went out to Obstruction Point again and took our usual walk along the ridge. Most of the snow had melted, and there was just a touch of late summer color - a bit of red and a bit of gold - creeping in. There are more pictures of flowers and marmots in another post.	This is actually a view from the start of Obstruction Point Road at Hurricane Ridge.
The trail	The little lake one sees descending the staircase
The stone staircase	Distant mountains with melting snow
Another bit of trail	Yet another bit under a big gray sky
The Olympic Mountains	Three recently melted lakes below a cirque
More of the trail - Can you guess which side is the north face?	Another view with a bit of autumn color
Distant mountains in the cloud	A peek at the big mountains
Still another bit of trail	Another spectacular view - The whole trail is like this.

Keywords: obstruction point, summer

08/05/19 - Obstruction Point - Flowers and Criters Here is that post full of flowers, marmots and a butterfly mentioned in the next post.	A happy marmot - Look at that smle.
Another happy marmot - Look at that banquet of lupines.	A resting butterfly
Late phlox	Pink paintbrush among others
Another assemblage of flowers	Some lupines, some snow
More phlox	Some asters among the rocks
Rock plants	Flowers and scenery
Dark headed grasses	Lupines and snow, again
Seen by the trail	Harebells

Keywords: flowers, marmots, obstruction point

07/20/19 - Obstruction Point, First Look Obstruction Point Road has been open for a while now. We finally drove out and took our usual walk along Lilian Ridge to check out the wildflowers, the marmots, the snow melt fed lakes and the beautiful scenery. Most of the snow had melted, but there were still scraps of it around. We caught some of the last glacier lilies and first lupines. We weren't used to the altitude, so even the 200' or so initial climb from the parking area was a bit of a struggle, but we made it.	Clouds in the sky, color on the ground
Another look	Fields of red and green and melting snow
Distant mountains, descending the staircase	A last patch of snow on broken rock
Glacier lilies	Harebells
The trail	One of the lakes
Phlox	Ripples on a lake
Rock garden	Striking red paintbrush
Four little lakes	Lupines
The trail again	A bit of the view
Another field of color	One of the marmots

Keywords: flowers, marmots, obstruction point

08/19/18 - Obstruction Point - Lupines and Grice Hiking the trail out of Obstruction Point is a lot like walking through Venice. It is hard not to take a picture postcard perfect shot by just raising one's camera and pressing a button. This time, we captured the brilliant sun, the late summer scene, some grice or grouses, or perhaps both.	Instant picture postcard - It's instagrammable up there.
Lupines	Mountains
Little lakes below	More mountains
Flowers	More lupines - This wasn't a great season for them, so we really appreciated these.
Green	Another picture postcard
One grouse	Another grouse - To paraphrase Walt Kelley, The grouse is a singular animal; no one can say two of them.
The trail	Even more flowers

Keywords: grouse, obstruction point, summer

07/16/18 - Obstruction Point Road - Early Light We've been getting up early to avoid the summer traffic to Hurricane Ridge. We drove out to Obstruction Point, and the early morning light gave everything an amazing glow with the bright colors set off by deep shadows. These pictures barely capture it.	Morning light
A hare	A butterfly
The trail	Distant mountains
Less distant mountains	A lake below
More mountains	More morning light and melting snow
The trail	Flowers

Keywords: obstruction point, summer

06/30/18 - Obstruction Point - Flora and Fauna The drive to Obstruction Point has its hairy moments along with its spectacular scenery. In the forested areas, where one cannot see the mountains, the forest floor is covered with avalanche lilies this time of year. In the fields as one approaches the point, there are marmots out foraging.	One of the marmots with glacier lilies
Glacier lilies up close	Early flowers
More blossoms	A little bird by the trail side
Phlox	Avalanche lilies
Glacier lilies	A view from the road
Another marmot	Pasque flowers

Keywords: marmots, obstruction point, flowers

06/28/18 - Obstruction Point The road from Hurricane Ridge out to Obstruction Point is usually closed well into July, but this year it opened in mid-June.Despite all the road construction, we made our way out there a few days ago. There was still a fair bit of snow, perhaps more than we have ever seen, but we ventured forth anyway. There were marmots and wildflowers and lakes melting from the snow and ice. We made our way down the staircase and followed the trails to the overlook with its view of Grand Lake. It was still early in the season with phlox and glacier lilies here and there.	Right before the staircase
One of the little lakes	Another lake melting out
The trail, north and south	More of the trail
One of the smaller lakes on the way to Grand Lake	Walking on top of the world
Another view	There are amazing views from this trail.
A view from the staircase	More high country

Keywords: obstruction point, trails

07/31/17 - Obstruction Point We made another visit to Obstruction Point to see how the season has been progressing. The snows have continued to melt and more flowers have come into bloom.	Flowers and mountains - That's why we come out here.
A view down	Lupines
More lupines	The trail as it goes
More flowers	The less shy of two birds
A seasonal lake	Another seasonal lake aforming
Even more flowers	Another seasonal alpine lake

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point

07/12/17 - Obstruction Point All of Obstruction Point Road is now open, so we drove out to the end and took a little stroll. The air was high and thin. There was still a little snow to deal with on the trail, but otherwise the going was easy. The fields and hillsides are full of flowers. The distant mountains are covered with snow, but it is melting and the seasonal alpine lakes are forming. It was a magnificent hike, one we hope to repeat soon.	Melting snow on the trail
There were lots of lupines this year.	Mountains in the distance

Glacier lilies	More flowers
One of the alpine lakes	Even more flowers
Spring is here.	An avalanche across the way

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point