10/27/07 - Hurricane Ridge Panoramas

This week, the high country opened again. The snow had melted from the hills, and the ice had melted from the road. The twisty little road to Hurricane Hill was closed, and Obstruction Point Road was closed for the season, so we decided to climb up to Sunrise Point and then see where the trails took us. The day was spectacular, with the sky blue and the snow on the mountains white. Even a tame trail in the Olympic high country offers a lot of great stuff to look at.

To share the experience, we took a few panorama photos. If you click on the little preview you should get a larger version that you can pan across in your web browser. It isn't the same as the real thing, but it might give you a sense of the view from Hurricane Ridge.

Along the ridge - click on the picture for a bigger version that you can pan horizontally.

A good view of Mount Angeles, and everything else - click on the picture for a bigger version that you can pan horizontally

10/09/07 - First Signs of WInter, Last Signs of Summer

This has been an odd year. We missed the usual late summer drying. By September, most of the alpine flowers are past their bloom and rather sere. This year, the lupines were blossoming into autumn, and the hillsides covered with flowers.

The lupines are gone, but even in October, there are a few blossoms - yarrow, Indian paintbrush, and even a few of those violet harebells. There was a bit of ice on the trail, and some slushy segments. The ice freezes under the soil. When you step on it, the soil compacts and the water flows making the ground slippery. Slime ice, we called it, but it dries out in an hour or two and turns into good old fashioned mud.

09/08/07 - Klahane Ridge Revisited - Again

08/16/07 - Best Late Alpine Flower Season Ever

07/04/07 - Did we mention bog orchids?

Even if you don't climb the Switchback Trail all the way up to Klahane Ridge, check out the little waterfall near the trailhead. If you notice a wonderful sweet smell, it is probably the bog orchids. They are starting to bloom as you can see, and the scent is fantastic.

07/04/07 - Did we mention Klahane Ridge?

Did we mention Klahane Ridge? The trail is clear to the ridge, and the view is spectacular. The phlox is in bloom, and the alpine gardens are starting to bloom. It's a good, solid 1500' (or so) climb, but the views and scenery are worth it.

There have been reports of an aggressive male mountain goat, and on our latest climb two hikers reported seeing a female mountain goat grazing out in one of the fields, but we didn't get to see her.

11/05/06 - First Snow at Klahane Ridge

We seem to be watching winter come to the high country in slow motion. The rain stopped for a day, and we, and a fair number of other hikers, set out to see how things were doing up on the ridge. Just a few days ago there was frost; today there was snow. There was not a whole lot of snow, or we wouldn't have made it up there, and it had mostly melted save in the highest areas and in places where things lie in shadow. Still, there was snow, and the hanging gardens are now silver and gold as the foliage turns towards winter.

11/01/06 - Klahane Ridge Ground Frost

The high country is wet but open. We managed to crawl up the Switchback Trail to Klahane Ridge. There wasn't any snow, but there was a bit of ground frost and some pretty ice flowers. Winter is icumen in.

07/09/06 - Mountain Goat Update

There were mountain goats in the news this morning. The local paper, the Peninsula Daily News, had an article about the upcoming aerial goat survey. We Kalebergs decided to check out the situation ourselves, but lacking the requisite light aircraft and helicopters, we took one of our favorite hikes, the Switchback Trail to Klahane Ridge. We had spotted one fine specimen back in June, so we had our hopes for this fact finding expedition.

We started the arduous ascent from the parking lot. The bog orchids were in bloom, and their rich scent permeated the waterfall climb near the start of the trail. Hikers descending reported goats on the trail, raising our hopes. Indeed, as we neared the 1000' apl (above parking lot) mark on our altimeter, there they were, two goats, a nanny and a kid, skulking in one of the shady corners of a switchback.

After a suitable pause to take some pictures and share in the mother-child intimacy, we resumed our ascent. Two goats! We had already broken our old record of one mountain goat sighted. The day was auspicious, and our hopes were high.

We did not hope in vain. As we neared the rocky outcrops near the ridge itself, there we saw him, well above us on the bare rock cliffs, the billy goat. Well, that made our day. Three goats! This was quite a successful survey, and we had more to climb and explore.

We pressed onward to the ridge and looked north, at the great fields of rock and snow, now covered with fog and rising cloud, in contrast to the sun and calm to the south through which we had ascended. The snow had been melting rapidly, so we tried for the high alpine gardens, but in this we failed. We were too tired to deal with the big patch of snow at 1600' apl (above parking lot).

As we returned to the trail junction at the ridge, we reaped a new reward for our muscle cracking efforts. (Our muscles crack more easily than most). There they were, an entire nuclear goat family, billy, nanny and kid, taking it easy and enjoying a snack on one of the rocky outcrops. We had to smile.

We must report that the alpine flowers were spectacular, and judging from our goat friends, quite delicious. The avalanche lilies have passed, but the lupines are just coming in, as are the turk's cap lilies and the pink paintbrush. Whether you go for the goat spotting, or just for the alpine flowers or the spectacular scenery, this is a great time for a survey of Klahane Ridge.

06/24/06 - Mountain Sheep on Klahane Ridge

06/20/06 - Clear Trails, Almost, To Klahane Ridge

The Klahane Ridge Trail, via the Switchback, is more or less clear of snow. There are a few patches left, but nothing serious. We qualified this using the Kaleberg scale as a milli-adventure.

The hanging gardens are getting green, but most of the blooms are avalanche lilies, until the ridge proper. There, the phlox is coming out, and a fair bit of it.

(Click some of the pictures for closeups)

10/01/05 - Early Autumn on the Switchback Trail

We were up at Klahane Ridge the other day and the scenery wa spectacular, both on the climb up the Switchback Trail, and at Hurricane Ridge as well. There was no great panorama, but more of a dance of the seven veils, with the clouds revealing and concealing. It was tricky weather for a photographer with great shots appearing and disappearing as we climbed.

It is tempting to avoid Hurricane Ridge on cloudy days, but the clouds and fog offer a special kind of beauty. The mists accent the mountains and make everything more real and less abstract. The recent rain made for better hiking too. The trail is made of dirt again, rather than dust.

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Not quite a panorama from Hurricane Ridge

07/02/05 - Mountain Goat at Klahane Ridge

02/15/05 - Snowshoe Report From Hurricane Ridge, snowshoeing

11/15/04 - Klahane Ridge

06/27/04 - The Hamper

We always liked those old fashioned nature documentaries with their portentious announcers. We were up at Hurricane Hill today, and the dirty sock plant (Polygonum bistortoides) is in bloom. This plant is noted for its hearty aroma. The scent hasn't really ramped up yet, but as we passed this field (shown at the right), we could almost hear the ominous bass voice, "... a field so full of dirty sock plant, it is known as 'the hamper'".

On a more pleasant olfactory note, the bog orchid (Platanthera leucostachys) is also in bloom near the start of the Switchback Trail to Klahane Ridge. This plant has a sweet, almost honeyish smell. We had noticed this scent on our last hike up the Switchback Trail, but had been unable to find its source. This time our search bore fruit, and good smelling fruit at that.

In any event, we should point out that the alpine wild flower season is nearing its peak of diversity. The yarrow is ready to open, the phlox and glacier lilies are passing. The season started early this year, and the true floral glory of the high meadows is upon us.

We will provide appropriate aromatic HTML as soon as a few more browsers start supporting SE-CSS (scent enabled CSS). We apologize for the inconvenience, or maybe not.

06/04/04 - Klahane Ridge Opening