Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: winter, Page: 2

03/02/19 - Winter on the Elwha Just about all of the snow has melted in Port Angeles and Sequim, so we were surprised to see how much snow was still on the ground just west of town. We made our way to the parking lot at Madison Falls at the current end of Olympic Hot Springs Road and explored the winter paradise. There was bright sun, black water and white snow. We followed the track made by other hikers and cross country skiers past the mule camp, now with its electric fence removed. We were relieved when we made it to some shade and delighted when we made it past the corner where we had an excellent view of the river. As noted above, the water was almost black and framed by the brilliant white snow. The trees were gray and bare. We continued along the road, lured by the snow capped mountains beyond. There is almost never this much snow in this area. This has been a very snowy winter. We made it to the first river crossing where the park service usually has a small metal truss bridge except that the bridge was gone. The channel ran dark and deep before us. No fools, we turned around and made our way back to Madison Falls. While the hiking is rather limited, it was well worth coming out and exploring. There is that back trail around the flooded area, but we've yet to try it. For now, at least, we'll enjoy that part of the river that we can get to.	The Elwha River
Olympic Hot Springs Road near the mule camp	A view of the Elwha
Another view of the Elwha	Ditto
Brilliant sun and black water	The end of the road
Another view ...	... and yet another
Sparkling water	The mountains, still beckoning

Keywords: elwha, winter

02/28/19 - Dungeness Spit In case you are wondering what happened to us in February, we were sick. We caught some kind of monster cold, possibly in Bhutan, more likely in Bangkok on the way home, but possibly even back home in Port Angeles. We have been recovering, and even took a short walk on the Dungeness Spit. It was a nice low tide and the walking conditions were excellent with lots of sand. The spit can be rough going in the winter offering a choice of slippery rocks or too soft sand. This year the walking was just right.	Exceptionally clear air - Mount Baker and the Dungeness Light
Good walking conditions on the spit	Ribsy, or what is left of it
Heading south, into the sun	The spit from above

Keywords: dungeness spit, winter

12/22/18 - Winter Comes to the Lake Angeles Trail We took a short hike up the Lake Angeles Trail. We made it to the stream, but we met a couple who had made it all the way up to the lake. They said there was about a foot of snow there. The start of the trail is green, but as one rises, there are more and more signs of winter.	The stream at about 730 feet above the trailhead
The bridge over the stream, quite done up for Christmas	Icicles
Winter wonderland	The boardwalk - We expected to wind up at Santa's workshop.
Snow on the rocks	More icicles
Winter colors	The trail
Winter foliage	More winter
The trail again	There were a few fallen trees early along the trail, but they were easy to get over.
The chewn tree - a landmark of ours - We thought it had been destroyed by the high winds.	Another tree down
The stream near the trailhead	Another view of the stream near the trailhead

Keywords: lake angeles, winter

12/21/18 - Dungeness Dike Christmas We were back along the Dungeness Dike again to check out the swans and the flood waters of the Dungeness RIver.	A Christmas tree along the dike
High water on the Dungeness	A side branch
The trail in early winter	Visiting swans

Keywords: christmas, dungeness, winter

10/20/18 - End of the Season

While Olympic Hot Springs Road has been closed to general motor traffic at Madison Falls for a while now, the road was open for hikers, bikers and park vehicles thanks to a pair of temporary bridges. Those bridges are now gone for the season. The detour hiking route is still open, but it is longer and not good for bicycles.

The mules are vanishing too. They're probably off to their winter homes. The area is closing down for the season. It isn't going to close completely. There is a trail, but the wide easy road is closed.

Click and you'll see a log across the road.

The road looks like someone has been chewing on it.

No more bridges

The leaves are vanishing too.

It's still pretty.

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, winter

07/20/18 - Farther Along The Elwha The park service has put in another pair of temporary bridges along Olympic Hot Springs Road, so we took an easy walk all the way up to the Altair bridge. The road is still closed to cars from Madison Falls on, but accessible by foot or bicycle. We crossed the first temporary bridge at the north end of the old campground and continued. The road had been destroyed by the river, and it is still pretty beaten up. The park service has scraped and smoothed it, but clearly doesn't trust it. We made our way to the next new tributary of the Elwha, where the river had carved a pair of passages across the roadway. There were now a pair of bridges in place. We continued on and were soon at the ranger station and construction facility across the way. We continued past the turn off for Whiskey Bend Road and on to the bridge right before the old Altair campground. That was far enough for us. We were just out exploring. It is going to be some time before this area is open to public vehicular traffic. Supposedly, the park service is evaluating an alternate route around the new branch of the Elwha. For now, the temporary bridges let the park service keep up trail maintenance and make it easier for visitors to walk in. Unfortunately, they'll be gone this winter. The Elwha is a wild river now, and no one wants to lose those temporary spans to the winter flood.	Along the road the river has claimed
The new temporary bridge	Still the old wild forest
A view from the Altair bridge	Another view from the Altair bridge
A view from the temporary bridge	A view from the road
Another view from the road	One of our favorite views, and not very far from the parking lot

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spring, winter

03/02/18 - A Bobcat and the Elwha We often head out to check up on the Elwha River. We park at Madison Falls and walk along the closed road, across the temporary bridge to where the most recent branch of the river cuts across the road. It's a short walk, but it offers some nice views of the river. Sometimes we see a bobcat. The bobcat lives not far from Madison Falls, and we usually see him or her in the broad field just south of the road closure. The bobcat was there on our last visit, and we managed to take a picture or two.	The bobcat is there.
Here's a closer view.	A better view
Zoomed in	Zoomed in again - like a house cat, but bigger
A bridge across one of the Elwha's new branches - not suitable for cars or clumsy people	The river
Misty mountains this long winter	Another view of the river

Keywords: elwha, winter

02/26/18 - Winter Garden at the Seattle Arboretum We've been having a bit of winter weather. Even in Seattle, there was snow on the ground, and the temperature seemed to be stuck on much too cold. So, we dropped by the Joseph A. Witt Winter Garden in the Arboretum. Here, there was snow on the ground, but there were also flowers in bloom. There were all sorts of witch hazel, some scentless, some spicy, some sweet, and there were hellebores and a few hardy cherry blossoms. We're sure that spring is out lurking somewhere, but until winter ends, we'll make the best of it.	Cherry blossoms
A rhododendron	A snowy scene

WItch hazel	Another witch hazel
Brightly colored grasses	Cyclamen in the snow
Azaleas	At least the pond wasn't frozen.

Keywords: flowers, seattle, spring, weather, winter

02/10/18 - Along Lake Crescent With so many trails closed this time of year, we often get back to the Spruce Railroad Trail. It's more of a country road now, but it still has its charms. One in particular is the special, bonus surprise waterfall about an hour's walk west, just before the second railroad tunnel. With all the winter rain, it was running. To be honest, it was trickling, but it was still a pleasant surprise. We stopped a bit shy of our usual goal. There had been a rock fall, and while the trail was passable, we didn't want to bother with the bad footing. This is a great time to get out to Lake Crescent, even when the skies are gray.	The special, bonus surprise waterfall
More of a trickle actually	Fallen rocks on the trail
The trail	A fallen log leads into the lake
More of the trail	Even more, with mossy rocks
The lake again - Barnes Valley	The footbridge
More of a country road	Another little waterfall

Keywords: lake crescent, spruce railroad, surprise waterfall, trails, waterfall, winter

01/04/18 - Winter at Marymere Falls Now that construction on 101 along Lake Crescent has stopped for the winter, we went out to Marymere Falls. There was a bit of snow on the ground, and the forest was in its wintry colors. Barnes Creek was silver blue and running freshly. It wasn't a long walk. The loop to the falls takes less than an hour, but it was nice getting out to an old favorite hike.	Marymere Falls
Looking down at snow and Barnes Creek	Winter water
The footbridge, free of ice	Another look at the winter creek
Just a bit of snow	Walking through the woods

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

10/01/17 - Marmots on Hurricane Hill We've been watching autumn end and winter arrive on the Hurricane Hill trail. It has been hard not to notice all the new snow on Mount Olympus and the other great mountains for the Olympics. The grasses have turned golden and the marmots are out taking advantage of the late harvest to fatten up for winter.	A mountain view
More snow already	The fields below
Golden marmots ...	... in golden grasses
Autumn colors	Another marmot
Yet another marmot	It was like a marmot conference.
Another mountain view	A last harebell

Keywords: autumn, hurricane hill, marmots, winter

03/01/17 - Snow in Seattle We took a quick trip to Seattle. It was the day I-5 was blocked by an overturned propane truck. This made Seattle traffic challenging enough. There was also a lightning storm and a bit of snow. We gave up getting a ride and worked for our dinner on Capital Hill with a brisk climb in the snow.	The view from our ride
Another view	You'd hardly know that I-5 had been backed up for hours.
A bit more snow ...	... and even a bit more.

Keywords: seattle, winter

01/22/17 - Some Birds of the Season Despite the cold winter, or perhaps because of it, we've been seeing a number of interesting birds as we make our usual rounds.	A hummingbird on a rose hip in our backyard
An eagle at the Dungeness Dike	Some Dungeness Dike scenery
Another eagle	We've been seeing a lot of these guys
The Dungeness River	Dungeness skies
Swans dropping by, interspersed with ducks	The swans just love this field
We haven't looked this guy up yet. Note the orange cheek patches.	Across the way, the Elwha River

Keywords: birds, winter

01/22/17 - Marymere Falls and Barnes Creek So many trails are closed this winter. Most of the Elwha River trails are closed while the flood damage is repaired, and the Spruce Railroad Trail is closed for the next step in its upgrade. The loop to Marymere Falls is one of the few trails still open, so we've been getting there fairly often. For a while, the trail was covered with snow. The Barnes Valley doesn't get a lot of sun this time of year, but the snows have melted, and the snow melt and recent rains have fed the river and the falls.	Marymere Falls, a healthy roar
The steps from the lower to the upper falls observation points, in National Park Modern	They've been rebuilding the bannisters along the trail
A view of Barnes Creek	The footbridge over Barnes Creek
Another view of Barnes Creek	The forest
Another view	and yet another

Keywords: elwha, marymere falls, spruce railroad, trails, winter

01/17/17 - Dungeness Spit - The New Year The Dungeness Spit is a five mile long sand spit that juts out into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. It's basically a beach without anything inland. Unlike the littoral beaches of the east coast that parallel the mainland, the spit heads away from land and then turns east. Hiking the spit is always an otherworldly experience. There is salt water on either side and just a long, wild beach littered with driftwood that runs for miles. There are spectacular views of the the San Juan Islands, the Olympic Mountains and often the Cascades. Otherwise, it is sky and salt water. The spit varies greatly with the tide. The gap between low tide and high tide is often six feet of water. At low tide the beach can be broad and easy going. At high tide it is narrow, just a bit of sand and lots of driftwood to clamber over. In the autumn, the tides make hiking the spit difficult. There are some nice low tides, but only at night, but as winter sets in, the low tides cycle into daylight. By early February there are long low tides, under three feet, right in the middle of the day, so we expect to visit the spit more often as the season progresses.	A winter sky
More winter sky and driftwood	Definitely driftwood
The Olympic Mountains as seen from the sea	Another sand and sky picture
Rocks and driftwood	The spit from the climb out

Keywords: autumn, beaches, dungeness spit, winter

01/01/17 - The Elwha in the Snow We took a walk along the closed part of Olympic Hot Springs again. This time it had snowed, so the trees were frosted and the river almost black. We only walked out for a half an hour, but we're contemplating heading farther next time, perhaps to the bridge over the river near Altair. It has been a cold snowy winter, so we'll get out when we can.	Olympic Hot Springs Road
The frosted forest	More frost, more forest
The river	Another view of the river
Snow covered driftwood	The view upriver
Yet another view of the river ...	... and another view of the forest

Keywords: elwha, winter

12/26/16 - The Elwha River and a Bobcat Like many, we have been waiting for Olympic Hot Springs Road to reopen so we can return to the trails out of Whiskey Bend and revisit the hot springs themselves. To see how things were going, we parked at the Madison Falls parking lot and walked along the road, now closed to motorized traffic. The river was winter beautiful with snow on the hills and a cold gray light. The new temporary one lane bridge is in place and a fair bit of work has been done on the road. We had some wonderful views of the river itself, but then, on our way back, we saw something else, a bobcat in the open field not far from the parking lot. We had seen a bobcat here before, but only briefly as it bounded away in the distance. This bobcat was closer and calmer. We were barely 50 feet away, close enough for an excellent view. It was a real treat in the face of a snowy winter and with so many trails closed in the park.	The Elwha River
Another view of the river	The river and snowy mountains
Across the river	The new bridge
Yet another view of the Elwha	Across the bridge
Through the woods	The bobcat
A closer view	And an even closer view

Keywords: elwha, olympic hot springs, spring, trails, winter

12/22/16 - Rialto Beach Monochrome We took a short journey out to Rialto Beach on a gray drizzly day. The winter light was fantastic, almost unreal. The sea was wild and open. The sky was full of clouds. We didn't get all that far in the wind and spray, but it was a wonderful walk.	Driftwood and seastacks
Gray water	More driftwood
Another view of the water	Sea stacks
A view south	The Pacific Ocean, not very pacific
Another almost monochrome view	Water into the ocean
Another view south	Driftwood

Keywords: rialto beach, winter

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