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10/14/11 - Journey to the Land of the Snows

We recently returned from a journey to the land of the snows. We climbed Hurricane Hill, starting in autumn and climbing up into winter. It was something of an adventure.

The short, wet summer kept the hillside vegetation green late into September, but now it had all turned to gold. Here and there we could see the fall colors with browns and golds and here and there brilliant red. Above us loomed the bulk of Hurricane Hill, its summit dusted white above us.

We walked through autumn, but as we ascended, panting and wheezing as is our wont, the season changed on us. First there was first snow by the trailside, then on the trail itself. The golden grasses were covered with a lacework of light snow. It grew colder.

As we neared the summit we were in winter, surrounded by snow, with snow dusting the gnarled trees. At the peak, it was winter. We were in another land, the land of the snows.

The looming snowcap of Hurricane Hill

A hawk of winter

Fall colors below

White lace on the golden fields

Entering winter's frigid domain

More lacework

Towards the summit

The view from the top, in the land of the snows

More winter in the high country

The side spur

Mount Angeles and a deer family

Keywords: autumn, high country, hurricane hill, trails, winter

10/07/11 - Signs of Christmas

While we were hiking on Hurricane Hill, we couldn't help but notice signs of the season. Yes, there was some autumn color, but when we Kalebergs say "season", we mean "Christmas season". So while the stores are still pushing Halloween candy, stage makeup and costumes, we Kalebergs are already leaping ahead to the real thing. We usually don't jump the gun like this, but there were the signs: the first snow and the brilliant red and green of the season.

Snow by the trail

Snow on the trees

Look, Christmas trees

and more Christmas trees

We've really got to start decorating.

There's the red and green.

Deck the trails.

OK, so this is a bit autumnal.

That might make a nice tree blanket.

Keywords: autumn, christmas, hurricane hill, trails

10/06/11 - Hurricane Hill in Autumn

This year the high country grasses stayed green until almost the last minute. Usually they turn to gold by late August, but this year was much moister, and the snows melted much later. Now, they are turning golden with a vengeance.

We were a bit disappointed with this year's crop of corn lilies. We took the side spur and found a number of spikes, now dried and brown, but the taller corn lilies were fallen with no signs of their blooms. Even the mouse on a stick seemed a bit dispirited, but there were a few flowers left including yarrows and harebells.

Scenery

more scenery

and, good grief, more scenery.

The little snow melt lake is gone. The snow you see is old snow that never melted.

Golden grasses

A last harebell, almost translucent

Some corn lily spikes

We love the way water beads up on the lupines.

Wild flowers

Wild fields

Yarrow and harebells

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, autumn

09/25/11 - A Farmers' Market Recipe

Autumn has come to the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. The tomatoes are passing, but pumpkins and other squashes are coming in, as are the potatoes, cabbages, chards and kales. We'll try for a more detailed report soon, but for now we'll offer a recipe for banh mi. There was a booth at the market offering samples made using Pan d'Amore sourdough bread and Clark Family beef along with a collection of other market vegetables.
NOTE As usual with our recipes, feel free to experiment.

This is an awful picture we took of the ingredients. We promise to take better pictures for our next market report.
INGREDIENTS FROM THE MARKET
  • 3 cups finely shredded cabbage
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded carrots
  • 1/3 cup thickly sliced green onions (including tops)
  • 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
  • 1/2 pound ground beef or pork, browned w/ salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 thick, light-textured baguette, cut into 4 sections
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
INGREDIENTS FROM ELSEWHERE
  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
  • 8 teaspoons of garlic chili paste
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a bowl, mix cabbage & carrots with 1/4 cup rice vinegar, the salt, and sugar; let stand about 30 minutes.
  2. In a food processor or blender, combine remaining 1/4 cup rice vinegar with green onions, lime juice, ginger, garlic, and five-spice powder. Whirl until smooth
  3. Split baguette sections lengthwise almost all the way through, leaving halves attached at one side. Spread about 1 tsp. chili paste on 1 cut side of each. Add on top, then add cooked pork on cabbage mixture and cilantro leaves.

Keywords: autumn, clark family, farmers' market, port angeles, recipe

09/24/11 - Hurricane Hill Was Crawling With Critters

Hurricane Hill was crawling with critters on our last visit. There were marmots, chipmunks, and blue grouse wandering about. The flowers of summer have passed for the most part, but our big disappointment was the corn lilies on the side spur. We had hoped to, at long last, catch them in bloom, but they don't seem to have blossomed this year. Still, there seem to be a lot more of them.

A golden marmot

Chipmunk alert: watch your shoelaces!

A plump blue grouse

A couple of marmots

The disappointing corn lily crop

Early autumn colors

More golden grasses

and mountains

and more mountains

Keywords: autumn, flowers, grouse, hurricane hill, marmots

08/22/11 - Some Notes on Morse Creek

When we are lazy, we take the trail west of Morse Creek down to the strait. It's an urban trail, but it is green and relaxing, and just a short drive. It changes with the seasons, and here we found the first sign of autumn, falling leaves from the old maples along the trail. The trail shoulders have been freshly trimmed to the ground; the peak growing season is over. That's probably another sign of the summer passing.

We also noticed a new fence in Morse Creek proper, visible from the old, lovingly restored railroad bridge. Our guess is that they are counting the fish, first funneling them through the gate and recording them on video. Somewhere, someone is watching the Salmon Channel, and mainly seeing water, but now and then a fish or two. (That is so much like life.) It doesn't sound like a cable option we'd be interested in, but we're hoping for good news on the fish population at Morse Creek.

Signs of fall

Freshly cut

Fish management

Keywords: autumn, morse creek, salmon, summer

12/04/10 - Quick Trip Into Seattle

We made a lightning run into Seattle to handle some business. Even though the trip was short, we did manage to get around a bit.
  • We had the Beef Seven Ways at The Tamarind Tree. A vegetarian friend recommended this restaurant, so we were surprised to see this on the menu.
  • We wandered around the International District. We rarely just wander around this part of town. In the summer, it is just too hot.
  • We discovered Hing Hay park. This is another one of Seattle's great freeway parks. It's a community, memorial and mediation garden set hard between the I-5 freeway and the international district. It was a bit past season, but still quite pretty.

That's beef four ways.

We really liked this space available sign.

The view from Hing Hay Park. Yes, there is a bit of climbing.

Some autumn color

One of the lanterns

Keywords: autumn, seattle

12/02/10 - The Winter Farmers' Market

It's the winter Farmers' Market, and we've gotten way behind with our photos and updates. Just about all of the summer vegetables are past, but this is our favorite season, so there are finally lots of lacinato kale, all the great local potatoes, carrots, cabbages, and brussels sprouts. Everything was a bit late this year, and it has been a cold autumn, so we have been making the most of what is available.

If you do go, remember that Preston and Tuna Dan have been selling salmon, steelhead and black cod, and Preston has been selling chanterelles and white truffles. It's a great place for food shopping. We get our eggs, Clark Family beef, Bell Street Bakery bread and most of our seafood there. The Mystery Bay folks have been at the market too, selling oysters and clams, in the shell or steamed with butter and garlic. We've been sore tempted on some of these cold days.

Lazy J Farm

Johnston Farm

Nash Huber's Produce

Westwind Farm, a carrot close up because we didn't take an even number of photos.

West Wind Farm

Keywords: autumn, farmers' market, oysters, shopping, winter, clark family, westwind farm, johnston farm, nash huber, salmon

10/23/10 - Wild Sky at Hurricane Hill

Winter is teasing Hurricane Ridge even now. There's already a touch of snow on the lodge roof and a fair bit more fresh on the distant mountain tops. There's still a lot of autumn color, but now that is starting to fade. We started our latest hike with the mountains shrouded in white cloud and a light sleet, but the clouds parted and swirled. The sky was gray, nearly black, then white, then gray again, then blue. It was quite a show. It made up for the lack of marmots, now sensibly drowsing, we presume. It won't be long before the dominant shade is white, and getting to Hurricane Hill will require skis or snowshoes, so this might be a good time to say goodbye to autumn.

An unprepossessing sky

Autumn colors



Light and mist

Quickly moving shadows

Harvest gold - it looks better here than on one's refrigerator

Early snow

More autumn color

More wild sky

The glow of the sun

Keywords: autumn, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, marmots, winter

10/08/10 - Obstruction Point

This may be our last trip to Obstruction Point this season. It's October, so it might snow any day. The signs of autumn are obvious now. Most of the great fields of snow have melted, and most of the flowers are gone. Parts of the trail remind us of Edgar Rice Burrough's Mars with brilliant red foliage at our feet.

Obstruction Point also seems to be chock full of marmots, particularly in the Marmot Meadow perhaps a half mile before the parking area. Interestingly, this seems to be a bad year for the red algae or bacteria, or perhaps archaea, that mottle the melting snow fields. This year they are still almost white.

Scenery

Welcome to Barsoom

Red Planet Earth

More Red Planet

The lakes

Melting snow



This looked rather Christmassy. Everyone seems to be jumping the gun this year.

A reminder of summer

One of our marmot friends

Keywords: autumn, flowers, marmots, obstruction point

09/29/10 - Deer Park

The drive up to Deer Park doesn't offer the same spectacular views as from the road to Obstruction Point, but the scenery up top is impressive. We try to get up there once a year. Since we waited until late September, some of the foliage was already changing for the fall. The mountains, as usual, were spectacular.

That's lens flare, not an alien death ray.

This is what alien death rays do to foliage.

A view from the trail

Keywords: deer park, autumn

09/21/10 - At Long Last, The Harvest

It is almost autumn, and the Port Angeles Farmers' Market is in full gear. It hasn't been the best year, but we'll let you judge from the pictures.

Westwind

Johnston Farm

Johnston Farm

Nash Huber

Nash Huber

Keywords: autumn, farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, westwind farm

09/19/10 - First Steelhead of the Fall

Tuna Dan had steelhead filets at the market, so we had our first smoked steelhead of the season. That's our Kaleberg mix of coriander seeds, black peppercorns, salt and brown sugar we used as a cure.

Keywords: fish, autumn

08/28/10 - Hurricane Ridge

We were up at Hurricane Ridge and couldn't help but notice that autumn is coming.

Autumn is coming

Keywords: autumn, hurricane ridge

11/18/09 - Out Of Whiskey Bend

We had the Whiskey Bend trailhead to ourselves. The road was wet, but otherwise in good shape. As we headed out on the trail, we could see the snow covered mountains across the valley, but the trail itself was below the snow line. So on we tromped, past the little seasonal streams, now burbling briskly and the water running in the drainage channels at the side of the trail.

Most of the decidious trees have lost their leaves, though a few still glowed brightly yellow. We made our way down to the river canyon, but not to the river bottom. This was not the summer Elwha. This was the Elwha in full roar, though not in flood. After a dry summer, the fall rains have come.

Down towards the river

The river bends

Passing the buck

Hume's Ranch

Michael's Cabin, or is it the other way around?

The Elwha from above

An open view

That little creek about a mile from the trailhead.

A touch of snow

Keywords: elwha, autumn

11/08/09 - More Snow on the Mountains

Storm King on the south shore of Lake Crescent got its first dusting of snow recently. The sky wasn't sure if it wanted to be blue or gray. That's typical in the autumn. The snow line on the mountain adds to the drama.

Storm King

The trail
 The Spruce Railroad Trail itself is covered with leaves, and in places, it is turning into mud. It is as beautiful as ever, but expect muddy shoes and cuffs. That again is typical for this time of year.

Keywords: autumn, lake crescent, spruce railroad, storm king

10/31/09 - Something To Grouse About

Autumn is the time for game birds. For those of us who cannot be trusted with firearms, that means D'Artagnan, the specialty food provider founded by Arianne Daugin, the daughter of one of France's great chefs. This recipe calls for four grouses, or perhaps four grice, if that is what are available at your market. It also calls for a head or two of savoy cabbage, twelve rashers of the best, smokey bacon you can get, a tart apple, at half a stick of butter, dried thyme and/or marjoram, pepper and salt.

Grouses, or perhaps grice

Shredded savoy cabbage
 Clean the grouses, or grice. Save any good insaginnies. Clean the cabbage and save eight of the largest leaves for wrapping the grouses. Shred the rest of the cabbage using the slicing blade of a food processor. Cut up four rashers of bacon into 1/2" bits. Toss the shredded cabbage and bacon with a teaspoon or two of thyme, marjoram or both, and some salt and pepper. If there were any hearts or crops, chop them up and toss them in as well.

Cut up the apple into eight pieces. Put a piece of apple, a chunk of butter and as much of the cabbage mix as you can into each grouse. Put the remaining cabbage mix into a flat roasting pan. Put each grouse, breast side up, on a cabbage leaf. Drape two rashers of bacon over it and cover it with another cabbage leaf.

All ready to bake, except for the top cabbage leaves

Grice, or perhaps grouses, in the cabbage patch
Add perhaps a quarter inch of water to the baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes at 325F. Check the birds. They should be cooked through and getting tender. We raised the temperature to 350F at this point and gave them another 15 minutes. A lot depends on your oven.

When the birds are basically cooked, remove the upper cabbage leaves. Slide the bacon down to the sides of each bird so it doesn't burn. Raise the oven temperature to 450F and give the grice another 10 or 15 minutes. This should brown the birds nicely. They can be served straight from the oven along with the cabbage.

Ready to eat

Keywords: autumn, birds, grouse, recipe

10/25/09 - Gray Skies, Silver Water

We tend to remember how Lake Crescent looks on a sunny day. There is nothing quite like the blue of that water, but autumn means more cloudy days, and that means the lake turns silver and the mountains are shrouded with clouds. It is hard to capture silver water on film, but sometimes, if the light is just right and you are in just the right place, you can almost get close.



Keywords: autumn, lake crescent

10/21/09 - Hurricane Hill In Gold

Obstruction Point Road is closed, as is Deer Park. We were up at Hurricane Hill and had the mountain nearly to ourselves for a bit. Even the marmots and grouse seem to have vanished for the year. The grasses have turned golden, and there are splashes of brilliant color set off by the somber greens of the forest. Was it really 97 degrees and so very green up here back in July?

Corn lily stalks

The golden fields

Fields and mountains - still on the top of the world

One of the views

The clouds like the valleys.

Some color, but fading already

Maybe we'll do this on our mantel for Christmas.

Keywords: hurricane hill, marmots, autumn, grouse

10/15/09 - Some Autumn Color at Butchart Gardens

We visited Butchart Gardens in Victoria again. We didn't go for the flowers. That's for the spring and summer. We went for the fall foliage. We figured that the local color in the Port Angeles area was so impressive this year that the leaves at Butchart Gardens would be something special. We were not disappointed. While it is possible that the autumn leaf color at Butchart Gardens is always spectacular thanks to the miracles of modern horticulture, we had nothing to complain about this year.

Japan, like New England, is noted for its fall foliage, so we were not surprised by the Japanese Garden with its brilliant maples, but it was the Sunken Garden that really showed off the reds and oranges of autumn. Yes, the season of flowers is passing, but there is much to enjoy this time of year.

Some dahlias

Changes in the Japanese Garden

More from the Japanese Garden

Even more from the Japanese Garden

Get the idea?

The Sunken Garden

More from the Sunken Garden

Even more from the Sunken Garden

There's no need for a caption here.

Keywords: autumn, victoria

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