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04/14/08 - Signs Of Spring - Hope (For Spring) Springs Eternal

We have been rather desperate for signs of spring. Even in mid-April the temperature still drops into the 30s nightly, and there is fresh snow on the mountains. The landscape at Lake Crescent was barren, but we did see two local salamanders, undersized, but healthy as they basked on the muddy trail. To our surprise, there was some Indian paintbrush blooming on the descent just east of the bridge at the Devil's Punchbowl.

This is rather pathetic for this time of year, but we will take what we can get. Two salamanders and a few feeble flowers aren't much. The thaw has barely started, and the lake water is low. Still, there are some signs of progress.



Keywords: flowers, lake crescent, salamander, spring