June 2023July 2023 August 2023

07/27 - Obstruction Point - Part 1

Ever since the lodge at Hurricane Ridge burned down, only a limited number of cars have been allowed to drive up to the ridge. There is the city bus, but we wanted to get out to Obstruction Point, so we rose early and had only a short wait at the entrance gate.

The drive out to Obstruction Point was its usual spectacular self with tight turns, a narrow road and vertiginous drop offs. There were also amazing views of Mount Olympus, the other snow capped mountains in the Olympic range and the green river valleys below.

We headed out on the trail and slowly got more used to the altitude. Usually, by late July, we're comfortable at 6000', but we haven't been getting up to the high country much. We made our way up to the plateau then down the staircase and across the fields to the ridge with its cirque of winter snow still melting and the lakes forming below. We headed up and on a bit, out to Eagle Rock where we soaked in the view before heading back.


The high country, at last!

Greeting us was a grouse.

The start of the trail

A typical view

Alpine flowers, we missed you.

More along the trail and some distant snow

More trail and clouds

Clouds playing with a mountain ridge

A peek at Mount Olympus and the Blue Glacier

The little lake we always check as we descend the staircase was doing well.

A stone garden

Our first few lupines of the year

More along the trail

Not shown, but we found a last bit of phlox with a touch of its wonderful scent lingering..

Another look at Olympus

One of the seasonal lakes

A high ridge

Lupines!

More lupines!

More lakes!

Paintbrush

A deer, an unusual sighting up here

Another mountain view

Keywords: high country, hurricane ridge, obstruction point, winter

07/26 - Obstruction Point - Part 2

Here are some more photos from our magical journey to Obstruction Point and beyond. Back in 2020, we had worried that COVID would have made the high country off limits. We were wrong. It was a great year for the trails and wildflowers, but this year, 2023, has been different. The fire that destroyed the lodge also destroyed the electrical power system, the water pumps, telecommunications and the septic system. The lodge was going to be closed for renovations, but the park service had made arrangements. The fire changed that. Instead, they have had to limit the number of visitors, so we haven't had much opportunity to explore.

We made it up to Obstruction Point despite this. We were hoping to do some more hiking in the area, but a cougar attack led to the closing of the Lake Angeles Trail, Heather Park and Klahane Ridge. It's a sensible precaution, but this is not going to be a great year for the Kalebergs and the high country.


A view from near Eagle Rock

The lakes below

The hiking trail

Yet another mountain view

Mountain garden

Mountain trail

Paintbrush and snow

Harebells

More of the garden

The Olympic Mountains

Snow below

Lupines

Mountain clouds

Another bit of the trail

And yet more

Another peek at the peaks

Lupine leaves

Clouds again

More mountain rock garden

More flowers

A fascinating flower

The staircase

Returning to base

Keywords: flowers, high country, obstruction point, trails

07/07 - Second Beach, Low Tide, Ocean Mist

We went to Second Beach at a recent extreme low tide. The sun was bright, but the air was misty down by the cold sea. We hiked out to the seastack that is only reachable during very low tides and we explored and explored. We also hiked down to the south end of the beach and explored some more.

We took so many pictures, we had to break this into two posts. This section focuses on the sea, sand, seastacks and spray. The other section focused more on the tide pools and the amazing return of the starfish.

The hike from the parking lot to the sea

A seastack with the wrong camera settings

Another seastack with the wrong camera settings

A seastack with the camera in the proper mode

The seastack cave

Extreme low tide

More seastacks and the Pacific Ocean

Sea mist offshore

Another look out to sea

Blue ocean

From a distance

Pigeon guillemots on a rock

We'll have to look these up

Beach mist

The tide is out

Green haze at the south end of the beach

More green haze

More seastacks and low tide

More on that theme

Contrast

A group of researchers studying the beach at various distances

Return through green forest

More of the hike back

Keywords: second beach, tides

07/06 - Second Beach Tide Pool Report

We went to Second Beach at a recent extreme low tide. The sun was bright, but the air was misty down by the cold sea. We hiked out to the seastack that is only reachable during very low tides and we explored and explored. We also hiked down to the south end of the beach and explored some more.

We took so many pictures, we had to break this into two posts. This section focuses more on the tide pools and the amazing return of the starfish. The other section focuses on the sea, sand, seastacks and spray.


Sea life

Star fish, anemones and more

We never expected to see so many starfish.

A little tidepool full of anemones

More anemones and a starfish refuge

Another starfish

A look out to sea, mist and blue sky

Another starfish refuge

And more

And even more

There were starfish waiting out the tide everywhere we looked.

Another tidepool

The sea

Towards the south end of the sea


More starfish

A study in contrast

Still sea mist

There's a whole world up there.

A look north

Out at sea

A broad, flat beach

Those researchers from another view

Keywords:

June 2023July 2023 August 2023