Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: high country, Page: 2

02/16/17 - Marymere Falls in February It has been a wintry month, and we haven't been getting out as much as we'd like. If nothing else, the Spruce Railroad Trail and all of the Elwha Valley trails are closed for construction and the high country is covered with snow. We did get out to Marymere Falls. It was a short walk from the parking lot, less than an hour round trip, but it was a nice taste of northwestern forest for the season.	The falls
The misty mountain trail	Looking down at Barnes Creek
The trail with a new handrail (on the right)	Barnes Creek again
The side stream from the falls	Another view of Barnes Creek

Keywords: elwha, high country, marymere falls, spruce railroad, trails

09/30/16 - The Plains of Mars Winter is coming to the high country. The greens are turning into browns and reds and golds. At Obstruction Point the colors are brilliant, and the fields of bright red foliage remind us of the plains of Mars. Of course, thanks to NASA we now know that Mars looks nothing at all like Lilian Ridge, but the colors still evoke the fantastic Mars of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The high country is always a bit otherworldly, but it is at its most spectacular and alien when the colors start to change.	The mountains of Mars
More mountains with Martian vegetation in the foreground	Red and a shock of gold
Fields of Mars	More Martian landscape
Seasonal color change	Changing colors from a distance
The red land encroaches on a dying sea	Lakes and seas of gold
More plains of Mars	Another Martian view

Keywords: high country, obstruction point

09/18/16 - Smoke in the High Country The Cox Valley fire is still smoldering in the high country. We hiked the Hurricane Hill trail and could see the smoke filled valleys to the south. We also saw a number of blue grouse. The grasses on the hill sides have been turning golden, but it was the spectacular blue of the smoke and sky that caught our attention.	Autumn colors and smoke
More valley smoke	Smoke and clouds
Golden grasses and forest fire smoke	One of the grice or perhaps one of the grouses
More distant smoke	Smoke, sky and trail
Dried flowers	Even more smoke
A close up …	… and another one

Keywords: grouse, high country, hurricane hill

09/07/16 - Hurricane Hill in the Mist The weather in the high country is as changeable as ever. That means packing a light raincoat and making the most of whatever the mountains and clouds offer. We didn’t expect much from Hurricane Hill on a cloudy day, but the round trip walk takes over an hour and a half. That gave the clouds plenty of time to shift and change. At times we were wrapped in fog, but we still managed to discern a blue grouse and a marmot. We also had some spectacular scenery and a beautiful walk.	Mixed skies
Autumn colors	Mist
One of the views	A blue grouse
Autumn colors and autumn mist	The flooded foot path
A marmot in the mist	A closeup of that marmot
Some teasing blue sky	Another view

Keywords: grouse, high country, hurricane hill, weather

07/29/16 - Obstruction Point We waited for a sunny day before heading out to Obstruction Point. We really did not want to be caught on the road out in the fog. We were well rewarded with spectacular high country views, alpine flowers and the return of the alpine lakes, even now filling with melting snow. It is always an otherworldly experience, a journey to the top of the world and another clime.	The trail
One of the views - the Olympic range	Another view
A seasonal lake	Glacier lily - It’s still early spring out there.
Some lupines, nice to see	Another seasonal lake
A lake and melting snow	Yet another view of the mountains
Another lake and melting snow	Phlox, a sign of spring

Keywords: flowers, high country, obstruction point

05/12/16 - Hurricane Hill Road Is Open Hurricane Hill Road opened on Sunday, the 8th of May. This is earlier than usual. There was a lot of snow up on Hurricane Ridge this winter, but it has been melting quickly. We took advantage of this early opening and went out to hike one of our favorite trails in the high country. The sky was blue. The snow covered mountains were crystalline in the distance. It was still early in the season, though. There were only a few glacier lilies, but a lot richly scented phlox. In places it covered the hillsides, and its aroma covered the trail. We made it all the way up to the summit, about a 650 foot climb. The only snow on the trail was where the trail was protected on both sides by pine trees, the section running from the bench, about 200 feet, to the open switchbacks above, about 350 feet. The high country is open. We should note, there is only one open restroom at the Hurricane Ridge lodge during the week, but the picnic area restrooms down Hurricane Hill Road are open, even during the week.	The snow capped Olympic Mountains
The one long snowy stretch of trail	A spectacular place to hike
A glacier lily	More scenery
The mountains again	… and again
Phlox	A view from the summit
A north facing hillside	More phlox

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, trails

09/12/14 - Fall Colors at Obstruction Point We always like the Lilian Ridge hike out of Obstruction Point in the autumn. In truth, this hike has its charms in every season, but in the fall the wild, high country foliage starts changing color. There are bright yellows, pale silvers, and some amazing brilliant reds. The high country is exotic enough, but sometimes we feel like we are on another world, hiking the bright red plains of Mars.	Bright reds set off by deep summer greens
One of the many crickets about	More brilliant red
Red fields and red stairs	More early autumn color
A few last harebells	Cedums and dried flowers
More alpine flowers	A patch of red
Red grasses	More red fields

Keywords: autumn, high country, obstruction point

07/24/14 - Obstruction Point, Just the Flowers The glacier lilies and phlox may be passing, and the lupine a bit off their peak, but otherwise, this has been the most amazing year for high country flowers. We won't even bother with captions; we don't even know the names of most of these. They're just beautiful. We'll let the pictures do the talking.

Keywords: flowers, high country, obstruction point

07/23/14 - Obstruction Point Revisited Obstruction Point Road opened a bit over a week ago, so we ventured out from Hurricane Ridge. It's a one and a half lane unpaved road, so we drove carefully to the parking lot at the edge of the high wilderness. Most of the snow on the trail had melted, so we made it all the way to where the trail drops off for the descent towards Grand Lake. Here, there was some snow on the trail, but otherwise, it was easy going. The high country here is wild and austere with dusty trails, cracked rocks and a profusion of wild flowers. There was some phlox and a few glacier lilies left, but there were so many flowers that we'll have to have a separate post just for them. Some years, the alpine lakes in the valleys below are covered with snow, but this year, the snows have melted early, so they are all full of water and almost like distant mirrors.	The view down the staircase
The last few glacier lilies	A last bit of phlox
One of the seasonal lakes	More lakes - the one on the left with icebergs

The mountains	More mountains
Melting snow	The trail

Keywords: flowers, high country, obstruction point, trails

06/05/14 - Klahane Ridge Report We still aren't sure how we did it, but we managed to climb up the Switchback Trail and get all the way up to Klahane Ridge. We were sure that this was as early in the season we had ever managed the climb, but we actually did make it to the ridge on May 29th back in 2005, so it has been a while. This is always an exhausting hike, but the sense of the mountain and the spectacular views always make it worth the effort. This time that effort included having to clamber over a few remaining mounds of snow. The trail starts among trees in the ghost forest, then emerges onto the lush hill side. Most of the flowers have yet to bloom, though there was plenty of richly scented phlox and a lot of golden glacier lilies. As we climbed, the distant rocky ridges overhead drew closer, and our view expanded. At around 1000 feet above the parking lot, Sunrise Point no longer blocks the view of glacier covered Mount Olympus and its cousins. The sky is wide and sparkling. Of course, at the ridge, the view is panoramic with the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island, and everything else in creation, it seems, distantly visible. We saw one lone marmot as we approached the ridge, but he or she - a matter primarily of interest to another marmot - dodged under a tree and some rocks. If we want to see marmots, we'll head back to Hurricane Hill. The high country is open. It looks like an early season.	The white stuff in the foreground is phlox. The white stuff in the background is snow.
The view	Mount Angeles
There were fields of richly scented phlox.	Phlox and more view
The view north of the strait	More phlox
The Olympic Mountains	Rocky fingers and lush green slopes
A glacier lily	This is a carnivorous plant growing not far from the parking lot. Click to enlarge the image and you can see the trapped insects.

Keywords: flowers, high country, klahane ridge

06/02/14 - Hurricane Hill Trail Report The Hurricane Hill Trail is open. On slow days, we have been heading up to Hurricane Ridge to watch the snow melt and glacier lilies blossom. Usually this time of year, there are ten foot high ramparts of snow at the far end of the parking lot. This year, the area was almost snow free, so it was only a small surprise that the road to the Hurricane Hill trailhead was open. The big surprise was that the trail was relatively free of snow. There were some patches and a long stretch, a section of the trail shaded by evergreens was still covered. Still, we made it to the summit. The trail is open early. We usually don't make it to the top of the hill until late June or even early July, but this year is different. The alpine flowers are already coming out, and not just the glacier lilies. The trail is scented with phlox. The paintbrush is out and the lupines are starting to bloom. Even the marmots are up and about. If you are planning a trip to Hurricane Ridge, it might make sense to plan to come early. The high country can be hard country, so it pays to sieze the day.	The trail is quite clear here.
This shaded corridor is the most snow covered part of the trail, but passable.	The views are spectacular.
A view from the summit	Another high country view
Lupines	Phlox
A marmot	Another marmot
Bachelors, out grazing	Paintbrush

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, marmots

05/26/14 - Lake Angeles Trail in Bloom The trilliums are passing, but the Oregon grape is in bloom along with the pacific dogwood, tiarella and a few other flowers. This is the second wave, but it is coming right along. We've made it past the half way point to the lake, but we have a good bit of getting in shape ahead of us. Still, the high country beckons, so next time, excelsior.	We aren't sure what this is, but it's pretty.
Some latter day trilliums	Mahonia aka Oregon grape
Wild water at the crossing	More wild water
Pacific dogwood	... and more dogwood
Tiarella	... and more tiarella
New growth on the salal almost looks like flowers.	A sylvan collage

Keywords: flowers, high country, oregon, trillium

10/20/13 - Olympic National Park Is Open Again - Hurricane Hill The park is open again, and about time. As soon as we got the word, we were heading up Hurricane Ridge Road, and we weren't alone. There was a short line up at the entry station and a short wait where they are still repairing the tunnels, but it didn't take us long to return to the high country. Hurricane Hill was spectacular. There are a few spots of snow on the ground, but the trails were clear and the air almost crystaline. The grasses are turning golden brown. It was only two weeks, but it was way too long.	The fields are golden brown
More color, more mountains	A spot of snow below
That snow on the north face is there until next summer.	The side spur
The Strait of San Juan de Fuca	A view north
Golden hills	Some autumn color
Fields, snow and mountains	Mount Baker, a distant meringue

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, autumn, trails

10/01/13 - Marymere Falls We were lazy today, so we took a short hike at Marymere Falls which flows into Barnes Creek not far from the south shore of Lake Crescent. Despite the government shutdown, the Barnes Creek parking lot was open, though the ranger station and bathrooms were closed. The rain forest and the river, however, were in full operation and, with today's peep of sunlight, quite beautiful. We have never seen Marymere Falls so full and flowing, even at the peak of spring melt. The recent rains have filled the watershed, and the falls put on a real show in consequence. You can even check the video (Play), as seeing is believing. We saw a bit of snow on the higher peaks over the Barnes Creek valley, but the real snow is in the high country. Hurricane Ridge reports ten inches of snow, most of it fallen in the last day or two. Winter has come early this year, so barring a pineapple express, we may not be up on the ridge until the snowshoe and ski season starts.

Keywords: barnes creek, high country, lake crescent, winter, marymere falls

09/13/13 - Obstruction Point Autumn is coming to Obstruction Point. It is always dry at the end of Obstruction Point Road, and the high country is always wild and open here. Already, the foliage has started to turn red, so part of our hike feels like crossing the Plains of Mars.	Another view of the mountains - We will miss them when the hiking season ends.
The Plains of Mars	Striking red foliage
Red fields and mountains	More of the plains
High country, dry country	Still some melting snow
Resin on the pine cones	Mountains and another lake
Harebells	We call these mock dandelions, but we're sure no on else does.

Keywords: autumn, high country, obstruction point

06/24/13 - Hurricane Hill - Part 2 - Summit and Flowers The summit of Hurricane Hill was surrounded by clouds. Our view degraded as we made our final ascent, scaring one poor marmot from his or her perch. Port Angeles and points north were invisible, hidden beneath the clouds. The entire north slope before us, sheltered from the sun, was covered in a thick layer of snow. It was quite dramatic. The marmots were still out as we descended and the fields were starting to blossom with glacier lilies, phlox, paintbrush, lupines and even some dirty sock plant. We didn't see any avalanche lilies, and the phlox didn't have its usual sweet scent. Still, it was a spectacular hike through the high country.	Another view north
The mountains shrouded by clouds	Fields of flowers
Yet another marmot	A snowshoe hare
The clouds would come and go.	A marmot with glacier lilies
Lupines and paintbrush	Larkspur
Lupines	Phlox

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, marmots

06/22/13 - Hurricane Hill - Part 1 - Clouds and Marmots Hurricane Hill Road is open all the way to the trailhead, so we readied our Yaktracks and made our way up the mountain. It was a cloudy day. We couldn't even see the mountains from Port Angeles, just a wall of fog. There was some fog on the drive, but at some point after the tunnels we realized that the fog had cleared and what we were seeing was just gray clouds above. There was a band of clouds obscuring the tops of the mountains, but otherwise the view was fine. We walked the relatively flat first part of the trail enjoying the views and flowers, but dreading the ascent ahead. We were out of shape for high country hiking and the air felt thin. Despite this we pushed our way up past the Wind - The Sculptor Sign and past the little bench. Here was the first real snow, but it was melting quickly. With our trusty hiking sticks in hand we lumbered forth - excelsior. The sky stayed gray, and now and then a cloud would block our view of one part of the Olympic range or another, but we were getting higher and into marmot country. We turned a the hamper and started on the switchbacks. There were marmots everywhere. They were in the fields, perched atop mounds, racing across patches of snow and a good number of them were eating. We counted at least nine of them which might be a record. TO BE CONTINUED WITH MORE PICTURES	The snows are still melting.
Clouds and snow	The mountains
Distant clouds
	A marmot, one of many
Another marmot	Two marmots, at home
Yet another marmot with a good view of his or her golden tail	The view north

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill

05/10/13 - Hurricane Ridge Melt Watch

We've been watching the snow melt at Hurricane Ridge on the park webcams, and we've been following the snow depth at the weather website, but we had to drive up and see what is happening live.

The Kaleberg Report - The snow is melting rapidly. We were quite surprised. The phlox is in bloom a bit below the Switchback trailhead, so the high country is opening for the season. The biggest surprise was the state of the road to Hurricane Hill. It was blocked off by a barricade of orange highway cones, but instead of the usual high ramparts ending in a wall of snow, the road seems to have been plowed, at least as far as we could see. It may even be open now as you read this.

There's more and more grass showing.

We are reminded that summer is coming.

More signs of melting snow

The ramparts and the barricade

but, the Hurricane Hill Road has been plowed and may soon open.

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, weather, kale

07/25/12 - Hurricane Ridge and Sunrise Point We are usually more adventurous, but now and then we need to take it easy. We just weren't up to a real serious hike, so we parked at Hurricane Ridge and climbed Sunrise Point. That's maybe a 200 foot climb, and we never got out of key clicker range of our car. This year spring came late and summer came later, and that meant that the rains lingered into July. Cool wet weather make for lush green vegetation and lots and lots of alpine flowers. Some years the lupines barely grow as they race to bloom before drying out in the summer heat. This year, they've grown and grown, and while they are blooming now, they are still early in the cycle with many flowers yet to come. It's like this for all the flowers: a late start, a lot of green, and a lot of flowers. This may be one of the best years in a while for high country blossoms, and you don't even have to walk very far.	A great view of the mountains and the fields
Lupines in the foreground	Lingering snow
Avalanche lilies	Phlox
More avalanche lilies	Guess
A very lush field of lupines	We aren't sure about these, but they're pretty.
Another lupine view	A lot of lush green means more to come.

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane ridge, summer, weather

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