03/06/07 - First Salamander (and Slug) of Spring

A lot of trails are closed right now. Whiskey Bend Road is more or less wiped out, and the Hoh Rain Forest is inaccessible. This means we are spending a lot of time on the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent. We were out there a few days ago, and it sure smelled of spring. Today, it smelled even more spring-like. The currant and salmonberry blossoms are getting ready to bloom. Then we saw it. The first salamander of spring! We knew that slugs could not be far behind. We were right. A bit down the trail, there it was, a slug, slugging its way through the trail debris.

Eventually other trails will reopen, and even the high country will thaw out and open up, but for now, we are going to watch for spring.

We often have trouble believing how clear Lake Crescent water is. The upper rocks in this picture are under water. The water is radioactive pool blue, even without radioactive waste to make it glow.

01/14/07 - Lake Crescent and the Spruce Railroad Trail

Once again, we were out trying to snowshoe. This time we checked out the Spruce Railroad Trail, which had a thin layer of snow and ice. The spooky maple trees at the start of the trail looked great with their snowy trimmings. There were a few logs down, but the trail was pretty easy going all told. The lake itself was beautiful.

11/08/06 - The View From The Bridge

The maples along the Spruce Railroad Trail are changing. The tree on the right is in the quarried out swimming hole, locally called the Devil's Punchbowl. We took this picture from the little bridge about a mile from the eastern trailhead.

06/22/06 - Some Kind of Dove?

We actually saw this guy on the Spruce Railroad Trail a few days ago, but have been lazy about posting our pictures. It looked a lot like a very large dove, but it wasn't inclined to fly away. Any guesses?

(Click the picture to see where we found this guy).

UPDATE 06/20/2007 - According to online informant EF, this is most likely a juvenile Band Tailed Pigeon. This seems quite likely. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the bird, and their picture shows the distinctive tail band and the neck band.

04/17/06 - Spring Flower Report

Last week the salamanders were back at Lake Crescent; this week the are returning as well. Not only are the trilliums back and in bloom, we saw the first Indian paintbrush and a toad lily. The park service has been cleaning up the dead fall, and there was a lot of that this year, so the trail is easy going. If you are a trillium fan, or want to look for other signs of spring, the Spruce Railroad Trail is ready for the season.

04/10/06 - Olympic Salamanders Are Back

We consider this one of the great signs of spring. The salamanders are back on the Spruce Railroad Trail. There were also a few slugs, and the wild currant is in bloom, but the salamanders are the true sign of the season. Today there was a veritable infestation of them, perhaps because it started to rain on our return hike. We saw at least a dozen, though we may have seen one or two of them twice.

We think they are Olympic torrent salamanders, which are only found on the Olympic Peninsula. For more info, check out this site or this one for the official park notes on these creatures.

This would be a great time to take a hike along Lake Crescent, but please, watch your step, and you may see some of these little creatures.

02/10/06 - Winter Trails in Olympic National Park

We don't stop hiking in the national park just because it is winter. True, we need to snowshoe up in the high country, and a lot of the high country roads are closed, but there is still some beautiful hiking down below. Even the recent winds and rains haven't kept us from the Spruce Railroad Trail along the north shore of Lake Crescent or from the Elwha River trail from Whiskey Bend towards Lilian Camp.

There was a recent wind storm that caused a lot of damage, though it was much worse in Seattle and the Puget Sound area. We could even see this on the weather map, which showed the wind speeds in Port Angeles as about a half to two thirds of the wind speeds in areas not sheltered by the mountains. If you fly in a small plane, you will often feel the strong winds starting as you fly over Discovery Bay, and out of the shelter of the Olympics. Still, our internet service was down for most of a day, and the Whiskey Bend Road was closed while the Park Service cleared the fallen trees and brush. Whiskey Bend Road is an interesting drive under the best of circumstances. About a lane and half wide, hard packed, but unpaved, it twists and turns and climbs along the ridge to the east of Lake Mills.

There was a fair bit of freshly sawn timber by the roadside, but the road was quite passable in our Honda Civic. There were a few trees down along the trail, and a fair bit of water in the little side creeks, but the trail was open and the views of the Elwha River and the surrounding hills as gorgeous as ever.

As for the Spruce Railroad Trail, the much disputed roads in the area seem to be open, though there were a good number of downed trees along the roadside, and a bit of brush on the road. Lake Crescent is high, but the water has been going down lately during this drier spell, so it is just one short step over water to get on the Devil's Punchbowl bridge. Our special surprise waterfall has dried up, but a number of other channels that are usually dry are now full of running water.

In other words, the roads are opena nd the trails are open, so take advantage of the sunny days of February.

01/25/06 - Special Surprise Waterfall is Gone

Last week there was a Special Surprise Waterfall on the Spruce Railroad Trail along the north shore of Lake Crescent. Well, things have been drying out at the lake, and the little waterfall is gone. You can see where it ran on the left.

The lake had risen at least a foot above its usual level, and most likely higher, but on our last hike, the water was down a fair bit. We didn't have to leap onto the bridge at the Devil's Punchbowl, and there was a lot less mud. Still, having found a wonderful waterfall of our very own, we are now looking forward to the next wet stretch.

01/17/06 - Special Surprise Waterfall at Lake Crescent

It has been raining a fair bit lately, and Lake Crescent is as high as we've ever seen it. Long time residents tell us that the water hasn't been this high since 1953. Despite a bit of mud, the Spruce Railroad Trail is still passable, though you have to take a long step to get onto the little bridge at the Devil's Punchbowl.

About three miles out on the trail we had a pleasant surprise. A bit before the stretch of trail we call "The Point" there was a little waterfall coming down the rocky cliff. (Click on the image to the left for a better picture). The water actually flows across the trail in a thin sheet before making its way down to the lake proper. If you'd like to see this waterfall, head out on the Spruce Railroad Trail and keep your eyes on the cliffs. Also, hurry. When the rains stop, so will this seasonal waterfall.

12/05/05 - What It's Like Out

Just a quick note on the outdoors on the Peninsula. We were up at Hurricane Ridge snowshoeing over the weekend, so we cxan report fairly good snow up in the hills, but the Lake Angeles trail is still best climbed from Heart of the Hills in hiking shoes, or boots. There is just not that much snow on the forest floor, even when there is snow by the road.

We were also out at Lake Crescent, and it looks like most, if not all, of the snow on the Spruce Railroad Trail has melted. There is still ice on the access road, so drive carefully.

11/15/05 - Soft Clouds at Lake Crescent

With the late autumn moisture in the air, there is lots of soft light and lots of soft clouds. This photo was taken from near the Devil's Punchbowl, a popular swimming place along the Spruce Railroad Trail. It's a view west across the lake. Click on the image for a larger version, and enjoy the soft clouds, the soft sky and the soft lake water.

11/07/05 - Lake Crescent Panorama and the Snowline

The poorly assembled panorama below was taken from the Spruce Railroad Trail. The big mountain towards the left is Storm King, and you can see the snowline running across it. This time of the year, winter moves from the north to the south, but it also moves from high above to down below. You can click on this image for a larger version if you like, and you have a fast connection.

10/31/05 - Great Year for Madrona Berries on the Spruce Railroad Trail

This has been a great year for madrona berries on the Spruce Railroad Trail. When we first saw madronas, years ago in Bothe Napa State Park, we thought they were mutant magnolias because of their smooth bark and glossy leaves. It turns out that they aren't even related, but we found out other things as well. For example, madronas are coastal plants, so they are almost never found more than 75 miles from the sea. The plants we saw in Napa Valley were in a high pass west to Sonoma.

The Olympic Peninsula is surrounded by sea, so we have lots of madronas, some quite old and large. There is a great cluster near the Devil's Punchbowl, the swimming hole about a mile west of the Spruce Railroad Trail trailhead. This fall they've been full of berries. If anything, the red and green are a bit Christmassy for this time of year, so we guess that even nature, not just retailers, are getting set for the season.

02/09/05 - The Elwha River Trail

01/23/05 - Lake Mist

01/19/05 - Wind and the Trail

05/28/04 - Gravel Pit Tales