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05/19/12 - Whiskey Bend and Above the Elwha

We've gotten out to Whiskey Bend a few times lately in hopes of getting back to Lilian Camp. This time we made it to the overlook where we could see the snow covered mountains on the other side of the river. The spring flowers are coming out in force, so we'll be back again soon. Maybe we'll even get across the second crossing or down to the Lilian River. Who knows?

The mountains as seen from the overlook

A typical stretch of trail

An older trillium, turning pink

Tiarella

Mahonia, oregon grape, in flower

Wild strawberrys - We've never seen any fruit, but they are pretty flowers.

A fresher trillium

Keywords: flowers, spring, trillium, elwha

04/28/12 - Spring Comes to the Port Angeles Farmers' Market

It's starting to look like spring at the Port Angeles Farmers' Market. Westwind Farm has their first asparagus along with potatoes, winter squash and their wonderful eggs. Johnston Farms is back with fresh coriander, squashes, braising mix, sunchokes, potatoes and other goodies. The Korean garlic lady has her garlic and greens, and Nash Huber's stand is loaded with a broad variety of raabs - flowering kales, cabbages and so on. In other words, the long winter is over.

Johnston Farms

Westwind Farms asparagus - We bought most of these, but there will be more next week.

Nash Huber's stand

Keywords: farmers' market, johnston farm, nash huber, port angeles, spring, westwind farm, garlic lady, kale

04/27/12 - Elwha Open Again

We are building up again after a long slow winter. The trail out of Whiskey Bend is open again, so we pushed ourselves past the cabin and up 400 feet to the first crossing. This is maybe halfway to Lilian Camp, our eventual goal, but one must crawl before one can walk, though in our case it feels as if we walk first, then crawl back.

There were a couple of trees down, but the trails are in great shape. Even better, the trilliums and other spring forest flowers are coming out. Next time, the second crossing, for sure.

Self portrait

Trilliums

The green way

The stream at the first crossing

Spring waterfall

The forest

Another trillium

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trails, trillium, waterfall

04/18/12 - First Trilliums at Lake Crescent

This has been a cool, slow spring, but our most recent hike out at Lake Crescent gave us a few signs of spring. The trilliums are starting to open. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled.

One not quite open

One wide awake

Other blooms

Keywords: lake crescent, spring, trillium

07/01/11 - Hurricane Ridge to Hurricane Hill

We've fallen behind updating our web page. That's because we've been busy. We've been into Seattle a bit - more on that soon - and we've been getting up to the high country. The road between the lodge at Hurricane Ridge and the Hurricane Hill trailhead has been plowed, but not yet opened to traffic, so we've been walking it and a tiny bit of the Hurricane Hill trail. It's rather hypnotic, and the flowers are already in bloom.

The avalanche and glacier lilies are among the first, but it is the scent of the phlox that is the real sign of alpine summer. In fact, it seems that everything is blooming at once. Everything is late, but everything is there. We aren't sure when the park will open the road, but until then, we'll use it as a trail. Spring has come to the mountains.

The snow is melting.

Phlox is back.

As are these little violets.

And more phlox

Early lupines

Indian paintbrush

Melting snow on the Hurricane Hill trail

Avalanche lilies

A high country mushroom

A glacier lily

And the mountains

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, spring, summer

06/11/11 - Dungeness Dike and the Roses

When we are feeling lazy and want a flat walk on a soft surface, we head over to the Dungeness Dike with access off Towne Road in Sequim. The river was in full spring flood, but it is hard to capture flowing water with a camera, so instead we took pictures of roses and the lush greenery that is taking over the dike path.

Mount Baker, our own fata morgana

Roses

A trail to the river

The fields

The trail

Keywords: dungeness, mount baker, spring

05/17/11 - Seen on the Spruce Railroad Trail

It's definitely getting more spring like.

An abstract painting (Can you spot the salamander and how many didn't we see?)

Actual flowers

Actual mushroom (Sorry, no plural)

Green

Greener

Flowing water

Those spooky old maples

Keywords: flowers, salamander, spring, spruce railroad

05/09/11 - Look Who's Back

The Port Angeles Farmers' Market is getting more and more spring-like. This time the asparagus were back, real spring vegetables. Both Westwind and Johnston Farms had them. That's right, Johnston Farms is back. That's wonderful news.

Johnston Farms is back at the market.

Keywords: farmers' market, johnston farm, port angeles, spring

05/05/11 - It's Official

The sun took its sweet time crossing the equator this year, but spring seems to have arrived at long last. The flowers on the Spruce Railroad Trail prove it. Just last week we had marveled at a lone trillium by the roadside, but now there were lots of trilliums in bloom right on the trail. There were other flowers as well. Sometimes it just takes a few blossoms to get that sun to move in the sky.

The first on trail trillium of the season at Lake Crescent

Wild currant is still in bloom.

Indian paintbrush has already started its season.

There were little purple orchids.

And there were yellow violets.

Keywords: flowers, lake crescent, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

05/04/11 - Russian Easter 2011

We held our annual Russian Easter last Saturday, and we are still digesting all the wonderful food. The blini had the starring role. These are traditional yeast-risen buckwheat pancakes drenched in butter. Butter is supposed to symbolize the return of the sun in the spring. It also symbolizes lots of calories. We also had our home made pork sausage with the meat chopped, not ground. You can see some of the other co-stars in the photos, including
  • Enemies of the Czar - corned beef and swiss reuben paninis
  • Trotsky's Bane - wasabi tequila shooters with tabikko, served in cucumbers, a specialty from Trotsky's later years, exiled to Mexico
  • Our Token Nod to Good Health - asparagus and endive with walnut coriander sauce

Ironically enough, to celebrate the melting of the snows, we made snow, with our new ice shaving machine. It gave our Champagne Garden a whole new look, and it made the glasses a lot more stable.

So, once again, we told the tale of the Defense of Moscow, with Moscow played by a gigantic bake Alaska. Once again, we asked in desperation: "How could we defend mother Russia from the monster, Napoleon?" and once again we answered, "With scorched earth and flames of French brandy!" The burning was spectacular with the decorated brownie domes collapsing in flames and the satay sticks that held them in place igniting. We could almost imagine Napoleon desperating seeking a way out of the burning city as the walls collapsed around him. (That was in some version of War and Peace or another.)

So, until next year, Happy Russian Easter, and say Welcome to Spring.

For more on our traditional Russian Easter, including recipes, check out our Russian Easter page.

Enemies of the Czar, Trotsky's Bane and home made sausage

Our champagne garden

This years baked Alaska for our Defense of Moscow

Keywords: russian easter, spring, alaska

05/01/11 - Farmers' Market Update

The Port Angeles Farmers' Market is going green now that the weather is a bit more cooperative. There are lots of raabs. Those are just kales and cabbages and the like that have started to flower. They have a wonderful, slightly fuller and perhaps sweeter note than the unflowering vegetable. They're great sliced thinly as the base for salads or sauteed.

Johnston Farm was only present by proxy. This time Westwind Farm had their salad mix, and a welcome sight they were. Westwind is also selling kale and cabbage raab along with those sure signs of spring, rhubarb and nettles. Yes, they're awfully late this year. Late too are the asparagus. Usually we've been living on Westwind Farm asparagus for weeks now, but not this year. We haven't seen a spear. Hope springs eternal and all that.

Westwind raab and rhubarb

Westwind was selling Johnston Farm salad mix.

Raabs and more at Nash's stand

Keywords: farmers' market, johnston farm, port angeles, spring, westwind farm, kale

04/22/11 - Along Lake Crescent

Usually, the Spruce Railroad Trail is adorned with trilliums by now, but this year winter has been lingering. Still, there were a few little yellow violets and the first signs of Indian paintbrush. It isn't much, but it's better than nothing.

The first paintbrush of the season

The trail

A rock garden

Keywords: spruce railroad, trillium, spring

04/18/11 - Spring Comes to the Lake Angeles Trail - Slowly

We made our way up the Lake Angeles trail to see how spring was progressing. Slowly seems to be the operative word. There wasn't any snow on the trail until we were almost up near the little bridge which is about 730' above the parking lot. (That seems to be our trail elevation metric.) To be honest, we didn't see all that many signs of spring, but the snow has been melting, and we'll have to be satisfied with that for now.

The little bridge

The stream

Snow on a log

Now, that's spring like, melting snow.

There's no snow at the first crossing, but that wasn't surprising this time of year.

Keywords: spring, lake angeles

04/16/11 - The First Trillium of the Year

Spring has been slow in coming this year. Salmonberry usually blooms in February, but this year it waited until mid-March. The weather has been unseasonably cool, probably because of the same reason that there is still 160 inches of snow at the stake on Hurricane Ridge. We are often seeing trilliums in bloom by now, especially at lower elevations, but this year it took until mid-April. We finally saw our first trillium blossom, but it wasn't along a trail. It was right along Piedmont Road in the recently logged area towards Joyce. The area doesn't look like much, but it was nice to see this sign of spring.

There it is - proof!

Keywords: spring, trillium, weather, salmon

04/15/11 - Morse Creek Eagles

We saw two bald eagles at Morse Creek, a young one without the distinctive "bald" head and a fully mature one. It's spring, so there was a lot of water flowing under the old railroad bridge, and further down the Olympic Discovery Trail towards Port Angeles the bluffs have been crumbling and blocking the trail with mud and fallen trees. The professional maintenance team has been doing a good job keeping the trail passable, clearing out branches, removing the mud and redoing the drainage. We should also put in a good word for the amateurs who have been collecting litter and keeping the trail clean.

Can you see the bald eagle perched on a branch over Morse Creek?

How about this close up? (What do you expect from a point and shoot telephoto camera?)

A younger bald eagle was nearby.

The downstream creek

The trail

Keywords: morse creek, port angeles, spring, eagle

04/13/11 - Farmers' Market Update

Last year was not a bumper harvest year on the North Olympic Peninsula, and this spring is not shaping up well. Things, particularly vegetables, are, however, getting better. For example, there were cauliflower and salmon and nettles and kale raab. There is a lot more green than there was a few weeks ago, and that means progress.

Renaissance sells all kinds of cheese.

Our go to source for garlic and scallions.

Nash Huber has cauliflower!

Keywords: farmers' market, nash huber, spring, salmon, kale

03/31/11 - Spruce Railroad Spring Report

At long last, spring is coming to the Spruce Railroad Trail on Lake Crescent. On our most recent hike we were greeted by salamanders, and there was even a bit of wild currant in bloom. It was a typical cloudy day, and the mountains, still covered with snow, loomed mysterious.

Oh yes, the trail is a bit muddy.

"Welcome to the Spruce Railroad Trail."

Snow and clouds in the mountains and valleys

More mystery

Mount Storm King draped in cloud

The rocks are alive.

Some madronas

Some wild currant blossoms

Another salamander

Yet another salamander - There were a lot of them. We stepped carefully.

Keywords: lake crescent, salamander, spring, spruce railroad, storm king


It's finally, at long last, almost spring.

03/25/11 - Skunk Cabbage

We spotted our first skunk cabbage of the season near the east end of the Spruce Railroad Trail. It's better late than never.

Keywords: spring, spruce railroad

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