Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: spruce railroad, Page: 3

For more on the Spruce Railroad Trail, see our Spruce Railroad Trail web page.

Trilliums are a certain sign of spring. They can be surprisingly tricky to find, for it seems that the mind builds a block against seeing them, but once one has been found, others abound. We noticed this on the Spruce Railroad Trail and on the Elwha Trail out of Whiskey Bend. Trilliums like water, so watch for them near streams where they often lurk. We wish you luck in your trillium spotting, but note that success, especially in this endeavor, favors the prepared mind.

Seen on the Spruce Railroad Trail

Seen on the Elwha Trail

The first paintbrush

Keywords: elwha, spring, spruce railroad, flowers, trillium

Yet another salamander

03/16/10 - Seen On The Spruce Railroad Trail

You are probably getting tired of all the pictures of salamanders we have been posting. Sorry, but here's another. We saw five salamanders on the trail, possibly a record.

Keywords: salamander, spruce railroad

02/24/10 - Lake Crescent in Mist and Cloud The Spruce Railroad Trail is a different trail on cloudy days. We love to watch the clouds hugging the mountains.	Mountains, lake and clouds
If you look carefully, you'll see the OPI boat full of youngsters	One of our amphibian friends

Keywords: spruce railroad, lake crescent

02/21/10 - Sparkling Light at Lake Crescent

It has been sunny and calm lately, so we noticed an amazing light out on Lake Crescent. We were on the Spruce Railroad Trail, and the light reflected from the gentle ripples on the lake reflected onto the trees, sparklling and twinkling. Our camera only captured this so well.

Move your mouse over the image to see the subtle change, or click to watch the movie.

Keywords: lake crescent, spruce railroad, art, science

02/13/10 - Lake Crescent: Salamander Alert We know this has been a mild winter, but we didn't expect to see salamanders out and about in February. There they were, right in the middle of the Spruce Railroad Trail. They can be tricky to see, so it is a wonder we didn't step on one. We spotted two or three of them. (We may have spotted the same salamander twice.) We also noticed that the big logs that had been blocking the trail had been removed, clearly by the hand, and most likely chainsaw, of man. The trail is in great shape, and rain or shine, it is a beautiful trail.	Salamander #1
Scenery	Salamander #2
More scenery	Salamander #3, or possibly Salamander #1 spotted again on our way back along the trail

Keywords: salamander, spruce railroad, winter

12/09/09 - Return of the Icicles The icicles along the Spruce Railroad Trail are back. We last noticed them back in March. They are as beautiful as ever, especially with the lake's blue waters behind them.

Keywords: spruce railroad, winter

12/03/09 - Another Tree Down

There's another tree down on the Lake Angeles Trail. This one was quite a piece of lumber. Mind you, this isn't really news. Trees fall in the forest all the time, though quite a few choose late November or early December. There were a few trees down on the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent as well, but both trails are still passable.

Keywords: lake angeles, lake crescent, spruce railroad, trails

12/01/09 - The Last Salamander of the Season

This has to be the last salamander of the season. It was an awfully cold day for salamanders when we spotted him on the Spruce Railroad Trail.

Keywords: salamander, spruce railroad

11/27/09 - Repairs on the Spruce Railroad Trail

The little board bridges near the start of the Spruce Railroad Trail have been repaired and reinforced. We aren't sure who does these things, but thanks for keeping the trail in good shape.

Keywords: spruce railroad

11/22/09 - Wild Waters on the Spruce Railroad Trail Lake Crescent is as high as we've ever seen it. Despite this, we decided to take the Spruce Railroad Trail out a bit and see how far we could get. It wasn't too bad at first. There was a lot of mud and standing water on the slope up to the first tunnel, but otherwise it was easy going to the Punchbowl. The little bridge was a little flooded, but it was just a giant step over the waters separating the trail from the bridge. On the far side of the bridge, however, the entire trail was flooded for a ways. There were actually breakers there. With a bit of timing, we managed to follow the rocky ledge and leap back onto the trail at the far end. The trail was dry for a bit, though there were a few trees down. Still, there was nothing we couldn't crawl under, clamber over or slink around, but then we got to the little creek. Usually, we can just step over the little creek, but today was different. To start with, there was a little river running down the trail as a warning. We skirted this and made our way to the creek. It was a torrent with quite a waterfall. It was also fast, deep and wide, filling its channel and overflowing a bit. We puttered around deciding if it was worth fording, for there was no way to leap it, and no visible rocks mid-stream. In the end, we decided that we had had enough water for the day. It was time to turn back. We'll be keeping our eyes on the Spruce Railroad Trail. The high waters can't last forever, and aside from some muds, logs and high water, it is still quite hikable.	A piece of the trail underwater - That's the bridge down around the corner.
More flooded trail - We hugged the rocks and timed the waves.	The "little" creek
The little creek has overflowed a bit.	A lovely waterfall
Someone put this mushroom up here in a niche in the rocks.	A fish caught high and dry
The bridge - That gap is leapable, even by us.	One of several fallen trees

Keywords: lake crescent, spruce railroad, trails, waterfall, little river

11/08/09 - More Snow on the Mountains Storm King on the south shore of Lake Crescent got its first dusting of snow recently. The sky wasn't sure if it wanted to be blue or gray. That's typical in the autumn. The snow line on the mountain adds to the drama.	Storm King
The trail	The Spruce Railroad Trail itself is covered with leaves, and in places, it is turning into mud. It is as beautiful as ever, but expect muddy shoes and cuffs. That again is typical for this time of year.

Keywords: autumn, lake crescent, spruce railroad, storm king

10/12/09 - Some Autumn Color on the Spruce Railroad Trail The North Olympic Peninsula is not noted for its spectacular autumn colors, but this year, the trees, notably the maples, are doing their bit. We were on the Spruce Railroad Trail the other day and saw a lot of maples turning bright yellow. It's probably the cold nights. It also might be the brilliant blue of the lake's water. In fact, the maples all over the north peninsula are quite impressive this year.	Some maple color
The blue water	More color, more water
One of the spooky maples getting ready for Halloween	Bright red

Keywords: autumn, spruce railroad, lake crescent

08/30/09 - Mystery Worm

We saw this curious looking worm on the Spruce Railroad Trail along Lake Crescent. At least we think it was some kind of worm. It was wriggling along and not getting anywhere quickly.

UPDATE 07/16/10: According to Alena, this is most likely a lizard's tail. Apparently, they'll drop their tails to escape from predators. They'll sometimes wiggle for quite a while after being dropped.

Keywords: lake crescent, spruce railroad

06/02/09 - Good To Go To Lake Crescent

The latest word from Good To Go is that the oven is up and running. They're still experimenting and getting used to the new equipment, and they hope to have their first batch of test cookies in the next week or so. It may take a bit longer for bread, because they need some more equipment, but bread is still the goal.

As for the picture, that's one of their hummus wraps being eaten on the Spruce Railroad Trail.

A hummus wrap in its natural habitat

Keywords: good to go, spruce railroad

05/09/09 - The Spruce Railroad Trail

There are more flowers coming out on the Spruce Railroad Trail. There is even a bit of salmonberry, which is supposed to bloom in February or March, so we are having a late spring.

We'll also note another tree down, so it may be tricky getting by on horseback. It wasn't too bad on foot. The fallen tree is a bit west of the metal bridge at the Devil's Punchbowl.

Paintbrush

We love the way this just grows out of the rock.

A fallen tree

Keywords: flowers, spring, spruce railroad, salmon

05/04/09 - The Spruce Railroad Trail - Watch Your Step Watch your step on the Spruce Railroad Trail. We've been spotting our share of salamanders, snakes and slugs. That's the three S's. Then again, it's always worth keeping one's eyes open on the trail.	Salamanders
Snakes	Slugs
Spooky maple trees	Some flowers

Keywords: salamander, slugs, spruce railroad

04/19/09 - Flowers Along The Spruce Railroad Trail

We are finally having a few real spring days, and that means that April showers are at long last yielding April flowers. Of particular note, the trilliums are coming out along the Spruce Railroad Trail. These three petaled flowers are a bit hard to spot, at least at first. Our experience is that we don't see any trilliums until we are a mile or two down the trail, but then, once we see our first blossom, we start seeing lots of others. On the final leg of our hike it seems like every other plant is a trillium, and we can't help but wonder how we missed a veritable carpet of these lovely flowers.

There are also a lot of other flowers blooming, including some of the succulents growing out of the rocks in the sunnier parts of the trail. If you crouch down and look carefully you can see lots of little flowers in the sunny patches. We aren't sure of what all these flowers are, but the ones here were growing out of gravel, which is probably why they are blooming so early, where "so early" is strictly comparative.

Keywords: flowers, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

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