April 2023May 2023 Current Home Page

05/19 - The Fourth Plague

With summer approaching, we figured we had better toughen up and get into shape for climbing. The Lake Angeles Trail is a good trail for this with a steady ascent 2450' from the trailhead to the lake. We didn't even get halfway to the lake, but one hiker who had told us that the area is clear of snow. Maybe next time.

We expected to see trilliums, and we did. The big surprise were the frogs, little Pacific Tree Frogs. There were swarms of these little guys at several points along the trail. We have been hiking the Lake Angeles Trail for over twenty years now, and this is the first time we've seen frogs along the way. They came in green, brown and red, and they hopped about furiously then froze making them very hard to see.

We ran into another group of hikers and mentioned seeing frogs. "Did you see the frogs on the trail?" "Oh yes, the fourth plague." We all had a good laugh. Frogs, or perhaps toads, were the fourth of the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians in the Bible. We tend to avoid plagues, but we're more than willing to put up with a few frogs when out on the trail.


The first frog

Another frog

Possibly the same guy after some hoppage

A little frog hiding

The stream, in full spate, one crosses at about 750' above the trailhead

The foot bridge

A trillium

More trilliums

Greenery

Yet another frog

Yet another trillium

Water under the bridge

Carnivorous plants

Still another frog

And a froggy friend

A big flowered trillium

An older, pinker trillium

Looking down off the trail

A curtain of drips

More along the trail, no frogs

The big rock about 500' about the trailhead

A trillium collection

Heading back down

Keywords:

05/17 - A Beautiful Day at the Dike

We've been having some lovely sunny days out here on the Olympic Peninsula. We took a short walk on the Dungeness Dike to soak it in.

Old Towne Road

High water

Old Towne Road again

More high water in the marsh land

Amazing sky

More marsh and sky

Mountains half hidden in the distance

Keywords: dungeness

05/13 - 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 - 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

05/04 - Bright Sunny Day

It was a bright sunny day just south of the Dungeness Spit. We wandered the highlands and soaked in the sun and mountain views. It even looks a bit like parts of California here, especially when the sun is out.

A flat part of the trail

More of the trail, out in the sun

An eagle

A mountain

More spring green

The vegetation thickens

Bright flowers

An easy walk

A thicket

The view from the picnic table

The Olympic Mountains

More mountain views

A forest tunnel

An old orchard

A shadier bit of trail

A hummingbird

Fields and mountains

Returning along the trail

A very peaceful trail

Some variety

More forest

Keywords: dungeness spit

05/03 - 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

April 2023May 2023 Current Home Page