Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: trillium, Page: 1

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04/14/24 - Little River Trail - Once again but a little farther Often, when we travel, we'll find a restaurant we like so much that we'll cancel our reservations elsewhere and go back a second or even third time. This time, it was the Little River Trail. We liked our hike so much, that we came back later in the week and retraced our steps and went a little bit farther. Earlier, we had made it to the second log bridge. This time, we made it across and all the way to the little waterfall. We were rewarded, not just with the waterfall, but with a cliff side covered with fawn lilies. There were trilliums as well, now further along, and even a calypso orchid which a fellow hiker mentioned to us as we compared notes about the trail. The trilliums have yet to peak, but more and more of them are out. We'll be back again, maybe not this week, but soon.	One of the passages
The river, blues, browns and greens	A rock covered with life
Fawn lilies	Another
Yet another	Just a distinctive leaf
A trillium	The waterfall
A close up of the waterfall	Another trillium
And another	The fawn lilies again, on our way back
The river again	The trail along a cliff face
More of the Little River	Yet another forest view
A double trillium	Yet more trilliums
More of the forest browns and greens	Mushrooms
Forest friends	That calypso orchid

Keywords: little river, trillium, waterfall

04/11/24 - Little River Trail Next on our list of spring hikes and trillium safaris was the Little River Trail. We started at the brand new parking lot at around 1100' and made our way down to the river, across the bridge, then up again to continue along the trail. Were there trilliums? Yes. Were there a lot of trilliums? No, net yet, but they are coming out. We also saw a lot of mushrooms, almost certainly poisonous, and, of course, the river itself. We also saw a frog. It wasn't all that long ago that people were worried about frogs, but we've been seeing and hearing them more often lately. We saw this frog by the side of the trail. It was camouflaged but not well enough, so we got a good look. Either we've been getting better at spotting frogs, or there are a few more of them around.	They're back!
More trilliums	And even more
The fourth plague	The trail, almost mystical
The river	There are some amazing rock walls.
Violets	More of the river
Even more river	Yet even more
A stretch of trail	Mushrooms, probably toxic
More poisonous mushrooms	There's a little seasonal waterfall across the river that we always look for.
Another sign of spring	More rock wall
Typical of the region	Even more deadly mushrooms
Young false mock Solomon's seal	Another trillium
A bit more of the river	Spring water flow

Keywords: little river, spring, trillium

04/04/24 - Spruce Railroad Trail with Trilliums It was spring break, so the Spruce Railroad Trail was busy. There were a lot of families with children. Our goal was to find trilliums. Lake Crescent is about 600 feet above sea level, so spring tends to come a bit later, but we were lucky. We found trilliums. There were just a few, but like children of spring break, we're seeing signs of spring.	The forest floor
A trillium	Another trillium
Yet another trillium	View from the Devil's Punchbowl
Rock flowers	More rock flowers
Most of the trail is a road now, but there are a few bits of the old hiking trail preserved.	More of the old trail
Toad lily	Mount Storm King dominating the lake
Clouds and snow in the mountains	Rock garden
More rock flowers	Sedums
One of the little side streams	Another little side stream

Keywords: lake crescent, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

04/02/24 - Elwha to Altair - Early Spring Flower Edition Spring has been with us for over a week now, so we've been out checking for trilliums. They often show up along the Elwha on the trail detour section that runs behind the old campground and is the only land route from Madison Falls to the rest of Olympic Hot Springs Road. The river had a wild winter. There was a whole new pattern of trees and drift logs lining the river. Some sections were more accessible than last year. Some were less. A great chunk, the base of a fallen tree, had torn from the hillside. This made the trail a bit tricky to follow, but all the action had opened up new river views. Spring is definitely here. We saw trilliums, fawn lilies, toad lilies, violets and many other early bloomers. Even better, the mules are back in town. The mule camp was deserted when we headed out, but there were mules waiting for us on our return.	The fawn lilies are back.
More flowers	A wild orchid
More fawn lilies	Another fawn lily
Trilliums, too	Lots of fawn lilies
The striped leaf is a fawn lily leaf	Yet another fawn lily
Toad lilies, for variety	A glimpse of the Elwha
A trillium	The river lined with fallen, drifted logs
Another view of the river	The Elwha from down close
More drift logs along the Elwha	Trail work
A mountain peak	A mountain cloud
More of the trail	Fawn lilies again
A cooperative caterpillar	The mules are back in town.

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium, winter

03/31/24 - Dungeness Spit at a Low Tide There was a low tide at the Dungeness Spit. Rather than take the usual paved trail from the entry kiosk to the spit, we took the alternative, slightly longer, primitive trail. Everything was lush and green, and even better, we spotted a woodpecker and a fair number of trilliums. The spit itself was wide at low tide. There was less driftwood than some years, and most of the walking was on wet sand with some rocky areas here and there. We walked about about a mile and a half, all the while enjoying the ocean view on this magical spit of sand that juts out into the strait. We could see the mountains and clouds behind us as we headed out.	The primitive trail to the Dungeness Spit
Along the trail	Spring greenery
More along the trail	Can you guess?
A woodpecker	A closer view
Down on the spit proper	The view out to sea
Sand and sky	More along the spit
More clouds and driftwood	Two ducks
Cloudscape	The mountains behind
More of those mountains	The Olympic Mountains again
Driftwood below	Back in the forest
A trillium	More forest
Another trillium	More trilliums

Keywords: dungeness spit, trillium

09/29/23 - Little River It has been a very dry summer, so we haven't been hiking the Little River Trail. This trail is at its best when the river is flowing in full spate, so we've been waiting for the autumn rains. They've been coming, so we headed up to the hills to see how it fared. It's still early in the fall, but the river was roaring and the trail lush and green. We even found a frog on the trail. There were trilliums and tiarella, well past bloom, but still green. This seems like a good for them. The trail is much itself, though they've moved to parking area and the trailhead a bit up the road. It's a much bigger lot and the trail still begins with a descent to cross one of the forks of the river.	Mushroom season
The Little River Trail with a bit of mist	More of the trail, dark trees and a lot of green
More trail	More trees and the gateway to the river
An old nurse log	More forest
The Little River	Another view of the river
Yet another view	And another
Pacific dogwood	Pacific dogwood covering the ground
More green forest	More dark trees
The bridge	Some old trilliums still hanging on
The frog	Another view
More trilliums	The Little River from the first bridge

Keywords: autumn, little river, trillium

05/31/23 - 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

05/23/23 - 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

05/13/23 - 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

05/06/23 - 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

05/03/23 - 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

04/24/23 - Little River It's spring, and the Little River Trail is loaded with trilliums. We walked out for an hour, to the second bridge, and trilliums lined our way. The Little River Trail starts on DNR land and heads into the national park, so things keep getting better and better. It's still early in the season, so we expect to see more trilliums and lots of other wild flowers as the season progresses.	A trillium not far from the trailhead
The Little River	More trilliums
A piece of the trail	Another trillium
Another bit of the river	Rushing water
Another view	And another
Yet another trillium	An a happy pair
Blue river	A trillium patch
And another	And yet more

Keywords: flowers, little river, spring, trillium

04/21/23 - Spring Progress Update, Elwha Edition We walked from the parking area at Madison Falls, up along the Elwha, to a bit past the Altair Bridge. We were pleased to see more trilliums and a few columbines in bloom. We're a month into spring, but it still feels like we are behind. Still, it's nice to see a few of our favorites return.	Forest
A trillium	Another trillium
A columbine leaf	Even better, a columbine
The trail, perhaps a bit greener	Another trillium
The Elwha River	Another sign of spring, a mushroom
Back along the road	More forest
A country road	The Elwha from the Altair Bridge
A view of the misty mountains	Maple branches
Along the Elwha	Yet another trillium
More of the trail - Is it greener?	A mossy rock
Along the trail	Another columbine
Yet another columbine far from the main cluster	More misty mountains

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

04/14/23 - Elwha Flower Followup We took a short walk south along the Elwha from Madison Falls to check out the slow progress of this years spring. We didn't get all the way to the Altair Bridge, but we did see some emerging columbine leaves, a few trilliums, a few flowers and an interesting bird.	A toad lily
Columbine leaves	The Elwha
An interesting bird	Another look at the Elwha
Flooding along the trail	The road otherwise
Still lots of snow in the mountains	More flowers - violets
Yay, a trillium	And another
And another, not yet in bloom	A young trillium
Another columbine leaf	And another
Those little yellow flowers we never look up in our plant book	The mules are back in town!

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

04/05/23 - Signs of Spring - Elwha to Altair - Trilliums and Columbines Our search for signs of spring took us to the Elwha River. We parked near Madison Falls and followed the road past the mule camp where we saw our first sign of spring: the mules were back. That was promising. We headed onto the detour trail and saw our first yellow violets of the season along with some of those pale pink flowers that bloom so early. Then we saw our first trillium. It was the only one we saw, but we're pretty sure more will follow. Further down the trail, we saw the skunk cabbage with its faint smell of sulphur. We checked out the river from the Altair Bridge. It was relatively low. The snows have not yet begun to melt. We could see snow on the peaks, some of it fresh. On our way back, we spotted another sign of spring. We saw our first columbines. To be fair, we saw their leopard spotted leaves. They weren't ready to bloom, but when you are desperate for signs of spring, that's close enough.	Yellow violets
Little pink flowers	The harbinger trillium
The trail	The river
The road	Skunk cabbage
The river from the Altair Bridge
Currant flowers	Snow covered hill across the river
Snow

	Flowing water
Columbine leaves
Another columbine leaf	Another leaf
White flowers and	blue flowers along the road

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

06/14/22 - Little River to the Healing Pools We weren't up to a longer walk, but we wanted to get back to the Little River Trail, so we only took the trail up for a ways. Most of the trilliums were gone, but the mock Solomon's seal was out and smelled wonderful. There was also tiarella and a surprise, Pacific dogwood, a whole patch of it along the trail.	Mock Solomon's seal
Tiarella	Mushrooms
A few trilliums still white	Some older trilliums turning pink
One of the passages	Pacific dogwood
More of the Pacific dogwood patch	A big trillium
A very lush trail now	The river
Another view of the river	The trail
Rushing waters	Fallen logs over the river
Early for Halloween	A warning?
Mock Solomon's seal	One of those pretty and probably toxic mushrooms

Keywords: halloween, little river, trillium

06/12/22 - Spruce Railroad Trail with Woodpecker The Spruce Railroad Trail isn't the forested foot trail we remember. It's more of a road, flat and wide, with most of the shrubs and many of the old trees removed. Still, it offers wonderful views of the lake, and many rewards if one keeps one's eyes open.	Some trilliums
Still some forest	The road: the right hand side has a softer surface for horses and others whose feet get sore on hard surfaces.
The lake, beautiful as ever	Paintbrush
Cedums	A rock garden
More rock garden	Yet more, in the sun
Still more	and a closeup
The trail again	A double trillium
A woodpecker	Another view
This guy wasn't shy	On yet another tree

Keywords: spruce railroad, trillium

04/30/22 - Little River Trail - To The Waterfall We've been hiking along the Little River Trail for years now, but we never went much beyond the second foot bridge. We walked out along the trail for about an hour, then turned around and headed back. This time, we kept going for another half hour and got to see the waterfall. We're probably going to do this again as soon as we can. The trail along the river was beautiful. The trilliums are out in force and other flowers - little violets, violet orchids, colt's foot - were coming out as well. There were columbines in bloom along the trail as our reward for going on. They like open rocky surfaces. The river was flowing briskly, but not at full flood. After we crossed the second foot bridge, we headed upward along the valley wall with glimpses of the river below. We heard the falls before we saw them. Then we saw a bit of white water through the brush. Then we saw the waterfall. We found a side path that let us get a better view of the falls. It was in rough shape, but passable. The photographs don't really do the falls justice. There are actually two falls where the river seems to divide and rejoin, and it's hard to fit them into a single picture. The photographs don't capture the roar of the water either. Now we have a new goal, and, perhaps, some day we might head farther. The trail ends all the way up on Hurricane Ridge where it meets with the Hurricane Hill Trail. It's pretty snowy up there with seven feet of snow up on the ridge and trail leading up the north face. We are unlikely to ever follow the trail that far, but it's nice to know we can keep going and going, at least until our feet start to give out.	One of many trilliums
Another of many trilliums	Yet another of many trilliums
A stone wall	The trail
A columbine	More columbines
The trail along the valley wall	More of the trail
The falls far below us	More of the falls
More of the trail	Stone and moss
At our feet	Good grief, even more trilliums
A view of the river	Along a nurse log
Ferns and trilliums	A few last trilliums

Keywords: flowers, little river, trillium, waterfall

04/02/22 - Elwha to Altair - Spring Is Here We were absolutely exhausted but really wanted to take another good hike before the rainy days come, so we headed out from the Madison Falls parking lot and followed the trail. It's a good winter trail, but it's an even better spring trail. We hadn't gone very far before our first trillium, and then came the columbines. Trilliums like sloping ground, usually near water, so they'll grow on hillsides above streams. Columbines like a sunny spot on crumbling rocky soil, and there are only a few places like that on this trail. That's where we found them. We headed on past other signs of spring. Skunk cabbage filled the boggy fields further up towards the bridge. There were currant blossoms, and there were a lot of new leaves and leaf buds. Even the larger trees were showing touches of green. Columbine season is short, so we'll have to come back soon, but we'll be back again and again as the season progresses. It's a pretty good summer trail too.	Our first trillium on the trail
Yellow violets	More yellow violets
One of the columbines	Another columbine
Another trillium	Some little white flowers that we see every year and never bother to look up in the wildflower book
The Elwha	Another view of the Elwha
Fern forest	The skunk cabbage bog
The Elwha from the Altair bridge	Wild currant
A touch of green in the trees	Most of the snow melted
Yet another trillium	Yet another columbine
A columbine in its place	The mules are back!

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium

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