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06/11/09 - Pacific Dogwood and Tiarella

Pacific dogwood and tiarella are blooming along the lower parts of the Lake Angeles Trail. Only a few trilliums are left, but a new season has started.



Keywords: lake angeles, flowers, trillium

05/28/09 - The Trail To Lake Angeles

The trail to Lake Angeles is open and nearly snow free save for a few patches right near the lake. There is still ice on the lake, but it is melting rapidly, and the view up there is spectacular. The frogs were out and chirping loudly. Click here to hear them. We've never made it up to the lake this early before. Who knew what we were missing?

There is still a fair bit of snow on the mountains.

The ice is melting rapidly.

There are buds on the trees, but the scene is still wintry.

Melting snow at the campground

Another view of the mountains

A panorama of the lake


The trail is in great shape up to the lake and lined with trees like the aisle of a cathedral.

The creek is rising as the snow melts.

We love the mosses.

Our obligatory trillium photo, while the trilliums hold out

Keywords: lake angeles, winter, spring, trillium

05/08/09 - Lake Angeles Trail Update

We were at the Lake Angeles Trail again, trying to get built up for the climbing season. There are definite signs of spring. The snow is gone, and the trilliums are coming out for what promises to be a good season.



Keywords: lake angeles, spring, trillium

05/02/09 - The Lake Angeles Trail: Gateway to the High Country

The Lake Angeles Trail starts near the entry station on Hurricane Ridge Road and runs from about 1900 feet up to Lake Angeles which is about 4200 feet above sea level. It starts at a modest elevation, but it runs up into the lower reaches of the high country. Its low starting elevation means that it thaws out well before the high country trails do, so it is a good trail for getting back into shape.

We drove five miles up Hurricane Ridge Road and checked out the trailhead. There was no snow. The last official report was from early April, and the park people reported plenty of snow, and mountain lion tracks in the snow up around the bridge. We saw neither snow nor mountain lion tracks which was just as well. We did see trilliums, but that is another story.

The trail to the high country

Someone decorated the little bridge near the start of the trail

The obligatory trillium photo

Keywords: high country, lake angeles, trails, trillium

05/01/09 - Springtime at Second Beach

Second Beach is also showing signs of spring. There was a good low tide, so we went exploring. To start with, the beach is huge. The spring tides bring in sand, so we had lots of beach to explore, and the rocks and caves at the south end of the beach were easy clambering since so many of the rocks have been buried and little pools filled in with seasonal sand. There were also a lot more starfish and anemones, or at least more anemones visible.

A little starfish

The big beach

Starfish waiting out the low tide

We'll call these cocktail olive anemones.

This is a hollow tree an the trail to the beach. People have placed shells on its shelves as offerings.

Skunk cabbage in bloom

Now that we've been sensitized we are seeing trilliums everywhere.

Keywords: second beach, spring, tides, trillium

04/30/09 - Elwha Update

Spring is coming to the Elwha Trail which starts at Whiskey Bend. There are more people, more trilliums and even some other flowers around. The male grouse are lekking, setting up bachelor pads to attract les femmes. Their deep, booming cry, almost a glottal stop, apparently does something for the ladies. There must be a good number of grouse about judging from the sound of things.

An obligatory trillium shot

Looking downstream

A local orchid

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium, grouse

04/19/09 - Flowers Along The Spruce Railroad Trail

We are finally having a few real spring days, and that means that April showers are at long last yielding April flowers. Of particular note, the trilliums are coming out along the Spruce Railroad Trail. These three petaled flowers are a bit hard to spot, at least at first. Our experience is that we don't see any trilliums until we are a mile or two down the trail, but then, once we see our first blossom, we start seeing lots of others. On the final leg of our hike it seems like every other plant is a trillium, and we can't help but wonder how we missed a veritable carpet of these lovely flowers.

There are also a lot of other flowers blooming, including some of the succulents growing out of the rocks in the sunnier parts of the trail. If you crouch down and look carefully you can see lots of little flowers in the sunny patches. We aren't sure of what all these flowers are, but the ones here were growing out of gravel, which is probably why they are blooming so early, where "so early" is strictly comparative.





Keywords: flowers, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

04/16/09 - The Triliums Are Back

We saw our first trilliums of the season along the Elwha Trail. As usual, we spotted one because we had stopped to photograph something else, and once we had spotted one trillium, we began to look for others. Trilliums like water, and we had spotted the first one in one of the little canyons with a briskly running stream. We were walking back, sure that there were no more trilliums to be seen. After all, we had come this way and seen none. Needless to say, no sooner than we had expressed this, we spotted a trillium, and then another, and then another.

Trilliums are like that.

The first trillium we spotted

Another trillium

And another

This may look like rock, but it is an old tree stump, overgrown with moss. Parts of this trail look like something hobbits would live in.

Another evocative trail

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium

10/09/08 - First Snow at Lake Angeles

The Lake Angeles trail is one of our favorites. It climbs over 2400' passing from rain forest to alpine forest; it leads to an amazing mountain lake surrounded by fantastic ramparts of stone, and it is only about 10 minutes from our house. Every climb is different. Sometimes the trail is lined with trilliums. Sometimes it leads from rain and fog to brilliant sun. This time, it took us into the land of winter.

The skies were cloudy at the trailhead, and the trail was wet from recent rain, but the real treat started around 1700' above the parking lot. Here we saw the first dustings of snow. Most of the trail was clear, but here and there a patch of snow made it through a gap in the canopy. As we continued to climb, we could see the light snow. It would stick to trees and mosses but melt on rocks and the trail itself.

As we climbed, it grew colder, and the light snow became constant. We entered a wonderland of winter. Our traction was good and the weather well above freezing. The lake beckoned. We had to see what the snow was like around Lake Angeles proper. Somehow, we pressed on and were well rewarded for our efforts. Clouds hid the ramparts, but the white accent of snow made everything look magical. The little island seemed something of Arthurian legend.

Every climb is different.

Clouds hid the ramparts.

The mystic isle

An enchanted lake - Is that a hand with a sword?

More winter wonderland

Another view of the isle

Even a light dusting of snow makes the familiar seem different.

A simple shrubbery

The trail was clear.

Snow on the trail, but not very much

One of the rocky outcrops along the trail

Snow on the moss

Keywords: lake angeles, winter, trillium

07/05/08 - Expedition: Deer Lake - Fail!

With the success of our Hurricane Hill expedition, we were all set for further high country exploration. We sallied forth to Sol Duc Falls for an assault on Deer Lake, a rocky one thousand, six hundred and fifty feet APL (above parking lot). Our journey began well, particularly the 0.8 miles from the parking lot to the falls which were roaring with the enthusiasm of early summer and a lot of water.

Then, we began our climb, up towards Deer Lake. This trail, if you are unfamiliar with it, ascends slowly at first, and is notable for its rockiness which often leads to battered foot syndrome. Luckily, our running shoes were up to the challenge, so we rolled along nicely, climbing, climbing, ever climbing. It wasn't long before we reached the Canyon Creek crossing, a high bridge over a powerful stream and a great photo op.

We continued. We passed through the lone unrocky section of the trail among the tall trees, and still we ascended. We did not get far. About 200 feet above the bridge, the snow began. Snow may look harmless, but ask Robert Falcon Scott. Rather than suffer his fate, we turned tail, discretion being the better part of valor.

Our lesson learned was simple. The high country is opening, but at its own pace. We'll be back at Sol Duc soon, and in due course Deer Lake will be ours.

Snow: our nemesis

The canyon falls

A late season trillium

Sol Duc Falls

Pacific dogwood in bloom

Keywords: deer lake, high country, hurricane hill, sol duc, summer, trillium

05/20/08 - Lake Angeles Update

The Lake Angeles trail is still a mess once you get past the bridge. We've mentioned the big windfall, and we can see that someone has been working hard at clearing the fallen logs and brush, but getting much beyond the crossing means a fair bit of scrambling over logs and fighting with fallen branches. It was a bit much for us.

On the other hand, the trilliums loved it, and the stream is just full of water. To get a sense of the flow, take a look at our little movie. It may be a while before the park people finish clearing the trail to our exacting Kaleberg standards, but we'll keep climbing up and checking out their progress.

Signs of repair at the clearing

The new clearing

Another shot of the clearing

Wild waters at the crossing

Keywords: trillium, lake angeles, kale

05/12/08 - Elwha Trail Report

Whiskey Bend Road has been open for a while, but we've been cowering at sea level, at least until recently. Whiskey Bend Road is in great shape. It's a bit rutted, rather twisty, one and a half lane wide, and some bits of it have washed out over the years. In other words, it is no worse than any other year. The Elwha River Trail is also in great shape. The flowers are blooming, and the little waterfalls along the trail are rushing.

The wild currant was out, as were a lot of the trilliums, but one surprise was a cluster of glacier lilies. They tend to blossom where snow has recently melted, so we can only assume that the trail was covered, in parts, until recently. We saw one blue grouse, which is unusual, and heard others lekking with their deep boom-boom-boom.

It's almost a cliche, but we've included two of our favorite overlook shots. One from early in the trail looking up the river valley, and the other from a bit farther down where an avalanche cleared a view of the snow covered mountains across the river. For those of you who like forest streams, we have some video of one of our favorites in action.


Glacier lilies, of all things



Enjoy a stream in a forest glade (click to play)

We always love this view of the mountains and river

A glimpse of the mountains

Keywords: trillium, grouse, waterfall

04/25/08 - Triliums

Each time we have visited the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent we have kept our eyes open for signs of spring. Spring has been late in coming. The skunk cabbage didn't even appear until April, but then we saw the first Indian paintbrush and the first few salamanders. This time the trilliums were out. There aren't many leaves on the alders, but we are finally seeing some signs of spring.



Keywords: lake crescent, salamander, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

08/10/07 - The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center: A True Northwestern Rain Forest Gallery

The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center is an unusual art gallery. Most of the exhibits are shown in a natural Northwestern temperate rain forest. If you are tired of finding mushrooms, mountain beaver, trilliums and salamanders on your rain forest walks, come here and enjoy the sense of light and play in this unusual outdoor museum.

Welcome to the labyrinth

Keywords: art, port angeles, salamander, trillium

05/11/07 - Great Year For Triliums at Lake Crescent

Last year there seemed to be an awful lot of trilliums along the Lake Angeles trail. This year, there seem to be an awful lot of triliums along the Spruce Railroad trail at Lake Crescent. Keep your eyes open. A lot of them are along the slow ascent at the eastern end of the trail, and it is easy to miss them with all the ferns and shrubs. Also, keep your eyes open for salamanders. They are out there, especially on wetter days.


Keywords: flowers, spruce railroad, lake angeles, lake crescent, salamander, trillium, kale

04/02/07 - Elwha Trail Report

Whiskey Bend Road is usually open all year round, but it has been closed for a while due to fallen trees and nasty ruts. It isn't much of a road by some standards, but it has a good solid one and a half lanes, and the dirt is pretty firmly packed and the drainage is good. In fact, it is so good that there are lots of neat waterfalls that flow down to and under the road. Just a few days ago, we noticed that the Park Service had taken Whiskey Bend off the list of roads that have been closed, and today we rode out in our trusty Honda and had a spectacular hike along the Elwha Trail.

The road itself, as we noted, is in good shape, and so is the trail. There were a number of recently sawn logs by the side of the trail, including one monster on the climb up after Humes Ranch. We only made it to the first crossing, about an hour or so hike from the parking lot. The little stream in the canyon was running full, despite two large trees which had collapsed across its path into the canyon. Our special surprise was the first trillium of the season, blooming early in the shelter of the canyon.

The first trillium of spring

Just pretty


On our way back to the car, there was a blue grouse sitting in the middle of the trail. We had been hearing the deep booming of the male birds lekking, that is, staking out good sites for their bachelor pads. We sometimes see blue grouse on Hurricane Hill, but rarely on a wooded trail like this one, but today was different. The grouse were definitely about and not one bit shy.We even saw another blue grouse crossing the Whiskey Bend Road on the drive down.

Keywords: elwha, flowers, birds, hurricane hill, spring, trillium, grouse, waterfall

04/28/06 - Lake Angeles Trail Report

  1. The trilliums are out. The one right near the Lake Angeles trailhead is in bloom.
  2. We haven't made it up to the lake, but we spoke to a couple, more intrepid than we are, who had. The report: the snow starts about a quarter mile from the lake proper, so bring boots or be prepared to get wet feet. The snow was fairly deep, 12-18", depending on where you stepped, but the lake was partly thawed and they reported much melting going on. In fact, they could hear the snow and ice melting in chunks off the "walls" that surround the lake. It sounds worth it, but as we said, they were much "more intrepid than we are".

Keywords: flowers, lake angeles, trillium

First trillium of 2006 at Lake Crescent

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.

 

Olympic Salamander

Keywords: flowers, spruce railroad, lake crescent, salamander, spring, trillium

05/13/05 - The White Slug Returns

The flowers are coming out at Lake Crescent. As we noted earlier, the trilliums are definitely out, along with a host of others.

Also back for the year, the white slug. We've been seeing some of the local Olympic salamanders, but none were out for this photo session.




Keywords: flowers, animals, slugs, lake crescent, salamander, trillium

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