June 2013July 2013 August 2013

07/31 - Obstruction Point

They just opened the road to Obstruction Point, so we drove out to take a short stroll. As it turned out, we hiked all the way to the "rim", the start of the big descent to Grand Lake. There was much less snow on the trail than usual, despite the early road opening. There was still some phlox and lots of lupines, and, if you looked carefully, you could see a few avalanche and glacier lilies about.

The lakes in the valley have already filled, and at least one of the tarns has already dried out. Still, there are patches of snow and a host of late season flowers including pink and red paintbrush, yarrows and hampers of dirty sock plant.

We weren't sure we could make the climb from the parking lot to the plateau, but it turned out we could. We double dog dared each other at the staircase and descended warily, expecting a hard climb back up. Then, how could we not cross the meadows and check out the view of the valley where the melting snow fills seasonal lakes for our entertainment. From there, we were called to climb a bit higher and continue down the trail. We made our way to the rim. Grand Lake beckoned, but enough was enough. We slowly and ever so regretfully made our way back to our car.


Heather and sky

Heidi country

Mountains and valleys

Phlox

Lupines

Melting snow along the ridge

More melting snow

Flowers, lots of these

More melting snow, more mountains

Paintbrush

Lakes, or perhaps tarns

Keywords: flowers, obstruction point


07/30 - Port Angeles Farmers' Market Update

Summer is here, and the market is finally full of fruits and vegetables. This means potatoes, zucchini, kales, chards, scallions, garlic, broccoli, apricots, nectarines, and cabbages. The big newcomer is Spring Hill Farms with their greenhouse tomatoes, wonderful berries and roaster chickens, but the regulars are there as well. The Korean garlic lady is selling her great garlic, scallions and greens along with Korean dumplings. The Johnston Farms stand keeps growing, and Nash Huber's stand is no longer only half full.

Clark Farm is still selling their full flavored local beef, their sausages and often pork. There are no signs of the fish guys, but if you want to buy fish, check out Country Aire on First and Oak. They have fish from High Tide Seafood among others, and what we've tried has been pretty good.


Spring Rain berries

Spring Rain heirloom tomatoes

Spring Rain zucchini

Nash's apricots, nectarines & friends

More of Nash's vegetables

Keywords: farmers' market, kale, spring rain


07/28 - Lake Angeles

We made it up to Lake Angeles again. This time the weather was clear and bright. In fact, it was almost too bright, which is why we chose to take the shady trail up to the lake.

A slightly glary view to the south

Another view

Our favorite island

Logs in the water

A root

A flower

Starbursts

A mysterious pipe

A mysterious mold

Keywords: lake angeles, trails


07/26 - Seattle Pictures

Here are just a few pictures from our recent lightning run into Seattle. Given how packed with errands our typical is, it's a wonder we even have time to point and shoot.

The Space Needle

Diners

Seafood on Melrose

Playing with wooden boats in the fountain

Sunlight

Keywords: seattle


07/24 - Canoes Off Dungeness Spit

We were hiking a bit of the Dungeness Spit, taking advantage of the cool sea fog and extremely low tide. The gray of the fog cut the brightness of the sun, but also limited how far we could see. Despite this we had a nice view of several of the canoes manned by local Native Americans. We aren't sure which boats we saw, but we can imagine that the heavy sea mist isn't making the journey easy.

One of the canoes

The view back towards the mountains - Yes, there are mountains there, but you can't see them.

The view north

Another canoe

Here, at least, we can see the bluffs.

Keywords: dungeness spit


07/18 - Hurricane Hill in Season

Hurricane Hill is in season. Even the roses and corn lilies are out. The hills are thick with marmots, and the scenery is spectacular. If you can't reach us at home, we'll be hiking the trails.

A marmot surrounded by dirty sock plant

A buck on the snow

A marmot beating the heat

Melting snow

A rock garden

The mountains

The snow really does melt faster on the sunny side.

A mountain plover

Pasque flowers and corn lilies - yes corn lilies

One of the first roses

More mountains and flowers

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, marmots, trails


07/11 - Klahane Ridge - To The Top

We made it to the top of Klahane Ridge the other day. As usual, it was a serious hike, but we pushed ourselves onward and made it to the ridge. The view north was cloudy, but the view south was spectacular. We rested a bit, and while we sat, we could watch the clouds to the north getting thicker and thicker. We rested longer, and then the clouds thinned and parted giving us a fairly good view north.

The lower reaches of the trail are lined with lupines, larkspur, paintbrush, turk's cap lilies and a host of others. The upper reaches are scented by patches of phlox. The middle range of the trail has yet to blossom, and the trailsides lined with green. We'll have to climb again and see how the alpine summer progresses.


Imagine our disappointment. This was the view north.

Luckily the south view was fairly good.

Snow patches and lifting clouds

Mount Angeles

Phlox

Fields of phlox scenting the air.

The crags

A very green trail with flowers to come

Snow melting and feeding a stream

Flowers

and more flowers

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge, summer, trails


07/04 - Back to Hurricane Hill

Yes, we've already been back to Hurricane Hill - twice in fact. It is really beautiful up there. There weren't as many marmots this time, but we did see some other wonderful things.

The snow melt lake is forming below the peak.

The mountains - well, what can we say?

Green shoots

An early corn lily

We saw a mountain goat on a rocky hill side, at a good safe distance.

A marmot

The snow is melting quickly.

Glacier lilies blooming by the melting snow

Avalanche lilies growing in the shade

A little rock garden

Lupines

Keywords: hurricane hill, marmots, flowers


June 2013July 2013 August 2013