12/01/18 - Olympic Hot Springs Road Closed

Olympic Hot Springs Road is feeling the wrath of the unleashed Elwha River. This time, the road was closed just before the Madison Falls parking lot. We stopped at the road closed sign and watched men and machines at work digging dirt and moving big rocks in an attempt to rebuild the road. This year, 2018, seems to have been the year of "road closed", but we're hoping they'll have this small stretch repaired soon.







Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs

10/20/18 - End of the Season

While Olympic Hot Springs Road has been closed to general motor traffic at Madison Falls for a while now, the road was open for hikers, bikers and park vehicles thanks to a pair of temporary bridges. Those bridges are now gone for the season. The detour hiking route is still open, but it is longer and not good for bicycles.

The mules are vanishing too. They're probably off to their winter homes. The area is closing down for the season. It isn't going to close completely. There is a trail, but the wide easy road is closed.


Click and you'll see a log across the road.

The road looks like someone has been chewing on it.

No more bridges

The leaves are vanishing too.

It's still pretty.

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, winter

07/20/18 - Farther Along The Elwha

The park service has put in another pair of temporary bridges along Olympic Hot Springs Road, so we took an easy walk all the way up to the Altair bridge. The road is still closed to cars from Madison Falls on, but accessible by foot or bicycle. We crossed the first temporary bridge at the north end of the old campground and continued. The road had been destroyed by the river, and it is still pretty beaten up. The park service has scraped and smoothed it, but clearly doesn't trust it.

We made our way to the next new tributary of the Elwha, where the river had carved a pair of passages across the roadway. There were now a pair of bridges in place. We continued on and were soon at the ranger station and construction facility across the way. We continued past the turn off for Whiskey Bend Road and on to the bridge right before the old Altair campground.

That was far enough for us. We were just out exploring. It is going to be some time before this area is open to public vehicular traffic. Supposedly, the park service is evaluating an alternate route around the new branch of the Elwha. For now, the temporary bridges let the park service keep up trail maintenance and make it easier for visitors to walk in. Unfortunately, they'll be gone this winter. The Elwha is a wild river now, and no one wants to lose those temporary spans to the winter flood.

Along the road the river has claimed

The new temporary bridge

Still the old wild forest

A view from the Altair bridge

Another view from the Altair bridge

A view from the temporary bridge

A view from the road

Another view from the road

One of our favorite views, and not very far from the parking lot

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spring, winter

05/25/18 - Elwha River Update

We drove out to Madison Falls, the current end of Olympic Hot Springs Road. We took our usual walk along the Elwha, past the relocated mule camp, over the temporary bridge, and down to the latest washout where the Elwha meets the road. The Elwha won, as you can see in the pictures.

The park is making the best of the situation. They can't conjure a road from nowhere. Along with many of our favorite trails, there's a park ranger station and work area cut off by the river. There is a temporary trail around the wash out, and while it isn't suitable for cars, it is apparently human and mule friendly. We saw a group of laden mules taking the route.

The river is as beautiful as ever, but the trails out of Whiskey Bend and to Olympic Hot Springs are still inaccessible. This will probably be the situation for some time.

You can see two branches of the Elwha crossing the road here.

Elwha versus Road; Elwha wins.

The park service mules in action

The Elwha

Another view of the Elwha

An artfully framed view of the Elwha

White water

Madison Falls, worth the two minute walk

Upper Madison Falls

Snow covered mountains

A last look at the Elwha

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spring, trails

12/14/17 - Why Is Olympic Hot Springs Road Still Closed?

Like many, we've been wondering when Olympic Hot Springs Road is likely to reopen. We want to get back to the trails out of Whiskey Bend and to Olympic Hot Springs. We drove out to take a look and see how the river was flowing. We parked at Madison Falls and walked past the gate and followed the road over the temporary bridge. We could see that the road wasn't in great shape, but last time it was completely flooded. Now the waters had receded, so we pressed on.

We didn't get very far. Maybe a quarter mile past the temporary bridge there was a gap in the road and a branch of the Elwha river running through that gap. It wasn't just some little stream, but a full fledged torrent, maybe thirty feet wide. This wasn't something that could be easily stopped or bridged. The remainder of Olympic Hot Springs Road, including the ranger station, was cut off.

On our way back, we stopped to study one of the signs describing the temporary trail that the park service has blazed. It cuts inland near where the road gets its first view of the river. According to the sign, the trail runs inland and uphill and continues south past the east side of the campground. It appears to rejoin Olympic Hot Springs Road down near the ranger station and the junction with Whiskey Bend Road. In other words, it is possible to head further down the road on foot, but not otherwise, and this isn't likely to change very soon.

The road wasn't in great shape.

We could see a gap up ahead.

That's a new branch of the Elwha.

Some more road damage

Even more road damage

The river wild

More of the Elwha River

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, trails

11/19/17 - Elwha River and Madison Falls

Olympic Hot Springs Road along the Elwha has been closed at Madison Falls again. This time because of flooding. We took a walk up along the road. Indeed, there was a stretch of it under water. We made the most of our wandering and got some nice views of the river. We also checked out Madison Falls. This has been a wet autumn.





Keywords: autumn, elwha, olympic hot springs

12/26/16 - The Elwha River and a Bobcat

Like many, we have been waiting for Olympic Hot Springs Road to reopen so we can return to the trails out of Whiskey Bend and revisit the hot springs themselves. To see how things were going, we parked at the Madison Falls parking lot and walked along the road, now closed to motorized traffic. The river was winter beautiful with snow on the hills and a cold gray light. The new temporary one lane bridge is in place and a fair bit of work has been done on the road.

We had some wonderful views of the river itself, but then, on our way back, we saw something else, a bobcat in the open field not far from the parking lot. We had seen a bobcat here before, but only briefly as it bounded away in the distance. This bobcat was closer and calmer. We were barely 50 feet away, close enough for an excellent view. It was a real treat in the face of a snowy winter and with so many trails closed in the park.


The Elwha River

Another view of the river

The river and snowy mountains

Across the river

The new bridge

Yet another view of the Elwha

Across the bridge

Through the woods

The bobcat

A closer view

And an even closer view

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spring, trails, winter

06/14/16 - Elwha Update

Olympic Hot Springs Road is still closed at Madison Falls, but the wild river is still there. One rainy day, we went to take a brief look.

Even more river excitement

A view upriver

A view downriver

A view of the river bed

And another similar view

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs

05/16/16 - Elwha Update

The temporary bridge that would reopen the road to the Elwha and Olympic Hot Springs trail is still delayed. The last we heard is that there was a problem with the environmental impact statement, but this is just rumor. Meanwhile, the Olympic Hot Springs have been cut off due to structural problems with one of the bridges along the trail. Even if you had made your way to the trailhead, you would find your way blocked. We gather that Whiskey Bend Road is still open for hiking, so if you are heading out overnight there is still some access to the upstream Elwha.

The Elwha River

Another view of the river

Yet another view

We usually just drive by this view.

Berries

Click for a larger view. You can just see the snow covered mountains in the distance.

The trail closure notice

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs

11/04/15 - Return to Whiskey Bend

This has been a bad year for trails in the park. Whiskey Bend Road closed way back during the winter. The east end of the Spruce Railroad Trail closed back in July. Then this fall the whole Elwha area, including the recently reopened Olympic Hot Springs Trail, was closed due to flooding. The good news is that not only have the floods subsided and the hot springs trail reopened, but Whiskey Bend Road is open as well. They had to rebuild 90 feet of the road along one of the latter hairpins, but we drove out to Whiskey Bend the other day and found the road in great shape.

We took the main trail out past Michael's Cabin, then headed down towards the Elwha River. The winter sun was low and bright, but the forest was as pretty as we had remembered it. We made it down past Hume's Ranch to the river overlook. The river channel had moved farther across the flood plain to the far side, and there was a lot more plant life on the flat land. We spoke to a trail repair volunteer, and she told us that campers now had to walk farther to the river to get water. There had been some change in the watershed as well. A lot of the little streams that had run downhill to the river had dried up.

The little waterfall on our way down was running nicely, so the area isn't totally drought stricken. Still, it was sobering to hear about the changes. Now that the road is open again, we'll head out and explore a bit more. We're hoping to head towards Lilian Camp some time in the near future. Here's hoping for a wet and snowy winter, even if it crimps our plans a bit.

The trail was full of bright light and dark shadow.

The Elwha River looking towards Dodger Point in 2015

The Elwha River looking towards Dodger Point in 2013

The Elwha River looking downstream in 2015

The Elwha River looking downstream in 2013

The little waterfall

Light and shadow trail

The Elwha from a trailside lookout in 2015

The Elwha from a trailside lookout in 2013

One of our favorite views

The trail again

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spruce railroad, trails, waterfall

10/27/15 - Olympic Hot Springs

We've only taken the Olympic Hot Springs Trail three times, but there always seems to be something happening. Our first visit, a few days after the trail had reopened after a four year closure, was rather uneventful, but on our second visit, they closed the bridge right before the hot springs. It was being replaced with a new one. Our third time we made it over the new bridge to the hot springs, but while we were exploring, a ranger approached. She was closing the hot springs. There had been a fatality the day before, and the park service was being cautious.

The trail itself was as pretty as ever. It was like something out of a fairy tale, with bubbling springs, dark glens and a host of mushrooms lining the side of the trail. The hot springs themselves were shrouded with mist, and the flowing mineral water had precipitated a bluish white glaze along the channels. The new bridge was a great log with sturdy handrails and offered a great view of the stream below. It's a wonderful walk, an hour each way from the parking lot to the springs, but be prepared. Anything might happen.

The trail

Another view of the trail

One of the many little streams

Ferns by the trailside

Mineral deposits at the hot springs

Flowing water

A hot spring spool

The upstream below

The downstream below

Hot springs closed

Mushrooms

Keywords: olympic hot springs

06/03/15 - Olympic Hot Springs Trail

With Whiskey Bend Road still closed we took a hike out towards Olympic Hot Springs. Luck was not with us. The final bridge to the hot springs was closed, but we had a nice walk anyway.

Hot springs closed until the 10th

The suspension bridge was open.

Little button mushrooms, probably toxic

Pacific dogwood and tiarella

Lupines

The forest floor, a green spectacle

The trail itself

Keywords: olympic hot springs

11/19/14 - The Old Glines Canyon Dam

The road to the trailhead for Olympic Hot Springs heads past the Altair camp ground and heads along the west side of what was once Lake Mills, much as Whiskey Bend Road follows the east side. We noted the new observation area accessible from Whiskey Bend Road. On the west side of the lake we saw them building another access area on the western remains of the old dam. Further along the road there was a viewpoint with a little parking area that gave a great view of the dam, the old lake bed and the Elwha River. It's worth a stop if you are heading out that way.

The Glines Canyon Dam as it is today

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs

11/17/14 - The Trail To Olympic Hot Springs Is Open Again

The trail to Olympic Hot Springs is open again after three long years. We had never taken the old trail, so this was a double first for us. Apparently, the road used to end quite close to the hot springs. Now, it's a 2.4 mile walk along a trail which was obviously the old roadbed. It was easy to tell. The trail is as wide as a road, and there were several bridges we crossed that were clearly designed for automobiles, not hikers. It was an easy 300 odd foot ascent from the trailhead to the hot springs, but here and there they cut drainage ditches right across the old roadbed. Some of them were a bit deep, and there was some ice on the trail, so we had to watch our step.

After a ways we came to a rather pretty suspension bridge. This was a sturdy, well designed bridge with iron posts, handy handrails and a comfortably wide walkway. This was obviously new. It wasn't designed for cars. A bit further on we came to a wide area that was obviously the old parking lot. We made our way downhill and across another small bridge. We were tired and almost turned around here, but after some deliberation pressed on. The hot springs were not far. First we saw the steam. Then we saw the wet areas where the hot springs drained across the trail before running down to the creek below.

Exploring more, we found the catchments, collections of log and stone that held back the steaming sulfurous waters and formed inviting looking pools. We stopped to explore several of them, but we were too tired to soak. There was plenty of steam, and the whole area seemed warmer. There was some frost on the trail, but not where the hot springs ran.

There were a fair number of hikers out on the trail, especially considering that it was a weekday in the shoulder season. A lot of them had been to the springs back when they were a short stroll from the parking lot, but that was before our time. Round trip from the new parking lot to the hot springs was about two and a quarter hours. That included the time we spent exploring the hot springs.

The trailhead sign

The partly frozen ground

A small waterfall

The suspension bridge

Another view of the bridge - There was good traction despite its icy appearance.

Water down below

Water up above

Steam rising

A hot pool, one of many

More falling water

A fall crop of mushrooms

Keywords: olympic hot springs, waterfall

06/09/10 - Larkspur by the Roadside

We always think of larkspur as a high altitude plant, so it is surprising to see it growing along Olympic Hot Springs Road not far from the junction with 101. It's in full bloom right now, and a bit tricky to find. If nothing else, all eyes are on the Elwha River this time of year. This larkspur grows across the road. Look for a power line pole on the right as you are heading north if you care to find this patch.



Keywords: summer, flowers, elwha, olympic hot springs