June 2017July 2017 August 2017

07/31 - Obstruction Point

We made another visit to Obstruction Point to see how the season has been progressing. The snows have continued to melt and more flowers have come into bloom.

Flowers and mountains - That's why we come out here.

A view down

Lupines

More lupines

The trail as it goes

More flowers

The less shy of two birds

A seasonal lake

Another seasonal lake aforming

Even more flowers

Another seasonal alpine lake

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point

07/20 - Klahane Ridge Again

Our three favorite high country trails are the Hurricane Hill Trail, the Lilian Ridge Trail out of Obstruction Point and the Klahane Ridge Trail via the Switchback Trail. This season, the last of those of three keeps calling us back. We've been watching the flowers, with more and more lupines appearing as the phlox starts to fade. We've been watching the mountain goats, carefully, as there seem to be a lot of them. There were over a dozen on our descent. We didn't stop for photos. We wanted to keep an eye on them and be ready to react.

We made it up past the ridge overlook and followed the trail leading to Lake Angeles. The "rooms", areas carpeted with alpine flowers and divided by crags, were a trip back to early in the season. Only a few flowers had blossomed, though we expect more when we answer the call of Klahane Ridge again.

A view from the ascent

As we approached the ridge

A mountain goat and her kid

Another view of them

A view of the Olympic Mountains

One of the alpine "rooms"

The end of our hike, lingering snow

Phlox, probably at its peak - It's a pity there isn't HTML to capture the scent.

Lupines, a great year

Blood wort

Bog orchid

Keywords: flowers, high country, klahane ridge, mountain goats, trails

07/12 - Obstruction Point

All of Obstruction Point Road is now open, so we drove out to the end and took a little stroll. The air was high and thin. There was still a little snow to deal with on the trail, but otherwise the going was easy. The fields and hillsides are full of flowers. The distant mountains are covered with snow, but it is melting and the seasonal alpine lakes are forming. It was a magnificent hike, one we hope to repeat soon.

Melting snow on the trail

There were lots of lupines this year.

Mountains in the distance



Glacier lilies

More flowers

One of the alpine lakes

Even more flowers

Spring is here.

An avalanche across the way

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point

07/09 - Port Angeles Farmers Market - July Report

Maybe it's just us, but it seems like summer has sneaked up on us. Nowhere is this more obvious than at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. Somehow or another, we've leaped from spring to summer, and already the tomatoes are coming in. If you're remembering the hardy, but limited, market from back in February, it's time to drop by again and see what's at the market.

Johnston Farm - English peas and lavender

Johnston Farm - summer squash, and Are those tomatoes?

Family Farm - our favorite turnips, among other things

Nash's - spinach, and Are those tomatoes?

Nash's - carrots are back, and more

River Run Farm - fennel and radishes et al

Keywords: farmers' market, port angeles, summer

07/05 - Goat Patrol - Klahane Ridge Edition

After two failed attempts, we made it up to Klahane Ridge, and even a bit beyond. Just about all of the snow has melted, and the wildflowers are out in force. The view from the ridge was spectacular. We continued on the trail a bit to check out the alpine gardens. There, the snow was still melting, and we turned around when walking in the snow became a problem.

On the way up to the ridge, we saw a mountain goat with a kid. We thought this was a great mountain goat sighting, but on our way there were at least a dozen mountain goats grazing on the trail. We made a bit of noise and they moved aside rather nonchalantly. None of them seemed particularly agitated which was good given that they have rather sharp looking antlers.


Mother and child

From the distance

High country

Flowers

Mountains with rocks in the foreground

More flowers

The view north with a Mount Baker visible - Click the image for a better view.

Mountain goats on our way down

The trail

More mountain goats

More mountains

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge, mountain goats

June 2017July 2017 August 2017