Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: klahane ridge, Page: 1

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07/03/19 - Klahane Ridge, Hurrah To our amazement, we made it up Klahane RIdge on our first try this season. We needed to stop and rest a fair bit, but that just meant more time to enjoy the amazing view while catching one's breath. It was a perfect sunny day for a good long climb.	That's how steep it is.
The view from the ridge	More of that view
Still some snow on the north face	A bit of trail
The park service has been doing repairs.	Lush green by the trail
A pocket view	The umbrella forest not far from the trailhead

Keywords: klahane ridge

07/02/19 - Klahane Ridge and More Here are some more photos from our first climb up Klahane Ridge in 2019. The good news is that the alpine flowers are in bloom. The bad news is that there were goats still around. We met a ranger armed with a paint gun who went after them. Then, she had to race off to get to a meeting at headquarters on time. Being a ranger is a job. We walked down from the ridge in a more leisurely manner and took our time admiring the flowers.	The bowl to the north and the Strait of San Juan de Fuca
The goats heading towards the ridge	The goats scampering away after a warning paintball shot
Pasque flowers	Wall flowers
A green collage	Lingering phlox
Larkspur and wall flowers	Larkspur and paintbrush
Some lupines	An assemblage
A close up	Bog orchids by the stream near the trailhead
The little waterfall near the trailhead	A close up of some carnivorous plants

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge

07/26/18 - Klahane Ridge Again We climbed Klahane Ridge again, once again rising early and getting to the trailhead while the shadows were still long and the day still cool. We made it to the ridge, and then headed on to the kick-in-the-ass. That's what one energetic hiker called the section of the trail down to Lake Angeles that actually takes one high along the ridge into a series of alpine gardens with fantastic views north and south. On our way back, someone mentioned seeing mountain goats. We had missed them. As we neared the ridge junction, there was a patch of snow in the bowl to the north. There they were, an entire herd of goats. We had noticed the patch of snow and what appeared to be rough patches where the snow had piled up. Those were the goats! This time we paid attention, and there they were.	Early morning shadows
Early morning view	More morning light
A section of trail	Cow parsnip and larkspur (or perhaps lupines)
The goats in the distance	A closeup for the goats
Wandering goats	Morning light and shadow
Another fine view	One of the alpine garden "rooms"
More alpine gardens	Still some melting snow
Another garden scene	Yet another
And another - This is one of our favorite parts of the hike when we have the strength to get there.	Still shadows on our way down
Descending trail	Another view of the trail

Keywords: klahane ridge, mountain goats

07/08/18 - Klahane Ridge - Flowers It's still early in the season on Klahane Ridge. The lupines are back. The phlox is passing. Here are some pictures.	Western wallflower
Lupines	Not sure, but it's pretty neat
This is likely a chipping sparrow.	Paintbrush
Toad lily or chocolate lily, take your pick.	Bloodwort
Shooting stars	Bog orchid and friends
Just a bog orchid	Cow parsnip, ox parsley?

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge

07/07/18 - Klahane Ridge We made it up to Klahane Ridge via the Switchback Trail. As usual, it was hard work and breathtakingly beautiful. The hillside snow has melted, and the flowers are coming into bloom. It was an amazing hike with amazing views. Despite the road work, we've been getting up to the high country.	At 1000 feet above the trailhead the mountains are level with Sunrise Point.
A view from the ridge	Snow on the north face, not where we hiked
Clouds pouring into the bowl below	More clouds
Rocky outcrops	Lush green along the trail
Another dramatic view	Another piece of the trail
The stream below, quite full	A view up to the ridge

Keywords: high country, klahane ridge

07/20/17 - Klahane Ridge Again Our three favorite high country trails are the Hurricane Hill Trail, the Lilian Ridge Trail out of Obstruction Point and the Klahane Ridge Trail via the Switchback Trail. This season, the last of those of three keeps calling us back. We've been watching the flowers, with more and more lupines appearing as the phlox starts to fade. We've been watching the mountain goats, carefully, as there seem to be a lot of them. There were over a dozen on our descent. We didn't stop for photos. We wanted to keep an eye on them and be ready to react. We made it up past the ridge overlook and followed the trail leading to Lake Angeles. The "rooms", areas carpeted with alpine flowers and divided by crags, were a trip back to early in the season. Only a few flowers had blossomed, though we expect more when we answer the call of Klahane Ridge again.	A view from the ascent
As we approached the ridge	A mountain goat and her kid
Another view of them	A view of the Olympic Mountains
One of the alpine "rooms"	The end of our hike, lingering snow
Phlox, probably at its peak - It's a pity there isn't HTML to capture the scent.	Lupines, a great year
Blood wort	Bog orchid

Keywords: flowers, high country, klahane ridge, mountain goats, trails

07/05/17 - Goat Patrol - Klahane Ridge Edition After two failed attempts, we made it up to Klahane Ridge, and even a bit beyond. Just about all of the snow has melted, and the wildflowers are out in force. The view from the ridge was spectacular. We continued on the trail a bit to check out the alpine gardens. There, the snow was still melting, and we turned around when walking in the snow became a problem. On the way up to the ridge, we saw a mountain goat with a kid. We thought this was a great mountain goat sighting, but on our way there were at least a dozen mountain goats grazing on the trail. We made a bit of noise and they moved aside rather nonchalantly. None of them seemed particularly agitated which was good given that they have rather sharp looking antlers.	Mother and child
From the distance	High country
Flowers	Mountains with rocks in the foreground
More flowers	The view north with a Mount Baker visible - Click the image for a better view.
Mountain goats on our way down	The trail
More mountain goats	More mountains

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge, mountain goats

06/25/17 - Klahane Ridge - Round Two We tried climbing Klahane Ridge again. This time we got within a 150 foot climb to the ridge, but just couldn't face trudging through the mound of snow blocking the trail. We had made our way through a couple of snow barriers, but this last one was enough for us. We will be back.	This time we climbed higher.
The distant mountains	Mountains and ridges
Snow and mountains and ...	Our impasse
From high on the ridge	The trail

Keywords: klahane ridge

06/24/17 - Klahane Ridge - Round One We didn't get very far up on our first attempt to climb Klahane Ridge via the Switchback Trail, but we did get some beautiful views. We also saw a group of mountain goats on the hillside to the west. We will be back.	Mountains, green, snow, clouds
Glacier lily	Green hillside
Mountain goats	Another view of the mountain goats
Paintbrush	Water
A butterfly - This has been a great year for them.	The hillside

Keywords: klahane ridge, mountain goats

08/29/16 - Klahane Ridge - Part 2 We spent some time on the ridge. The view to the north was obscured by clouds, but the view to the south was spectacular. We felt a few raindrops as we explored, and as we descended there was a brief drizzle that seemed to clear the air and dampen the trail. We’re hoping the rain, such as it was, dampens the Cox fire as well.	Another view
And yet another	More smoke and mountains
It is late in the flower season, but there were some stragglers.	Drama
Smoke	A chipmunk devouring yarrow
As we descended	Perhaps a bit less smoke
Larkspur	A few more stragglers

Keywords: klahane ridge

08/28/16 - Klahane Ridge - Part 1 It hasn’t been easy getting up to the Hurricane Ridge hikes recently. If nothing else, they have been repaving Hurricane Ridge Road. We started early on a cloudy Sunday and managed to avoid the construction, but at the ridge we could smell the smoke from the Cox, and we could see the smoke settled on the mountains. We decided to try climbing Klahane Ridge anyway figuring that we had an asthma inhaler with us, so if the air was too bad on the way up, we could control its effects and make our way back down. As it turned out the air started getting a little better as we climbed out of the closed area near the Switchback trailhead. Still, we could see the smoke highlighting the mountain panorama. As we climbed we had a broader vista, but the smoke was a major feature that we could see and smell. We made it to the ridge and headed on to the “kick in the ass” as one hiker we met put it. This is the stretch of the trail to Lake Angeles that climbs and passes through some of the most beautiful alpine gardens. There were mountain goats about, even a few on the trail. We shouted at them and waved our hiking sticks and that seemed to send them scurrying. We also saw a few marmots as we wandered.	Smoke towards Sunrise Peak
Smokey skies	The panorama
More mountains	More smoke
Mountain goats, a mother and a kid	Another mountain goat
One of the enchanting alpine gardens	A plump marmot
Yet another mountain goat	Mountains as seen from an alpine garden

Keywords: hurricane ridge, klahane ridge, marmots, mountain goats

07/13/16 - The Mountain Goats of Klahane Ridge We hadn’t planned on climbing Klahane Ridge. We were just going to climb a few hundred feet to convince ourselves that it wasn’t impossible. Instead, we pushed on, repeatedly promising ourselves that if we climbed just another hundred or two hundred feet we could turn around. Of course, by the time we turned at the 1300’ hair pin, we had no choice but to climb the remained 150’ or so. The sky had been cloudy, and more clouds were moving in as we approached the top. We could tell that there was no view to the north and the view to the south would be closed in soon. Luckily, a band of traveling players was on its way to provide for our entertainment. We were not the only ones on Klahane Ridge, for along with the other humans were at least a dozen mountain goats including a good number of kids. These animals can be quite dangerous. Check out those horns. Luckily, they seemed to be calm enough, primarily focused on eating, so not all that much different from ourselves. Needless to say, we did not try to get a good pose with their kids. Instead, we started heading down the ridge. To our surprise, the goats joined us. Maybe they recognized kindred souls, for much as we awaited our dinner down below, they considered the larkspur, lupine and other foliage their open buffet. Since they were more agile than we and less inclined to follow park rules, they would often take a shortcut and settle in for a course on the trail ahead of us. We humans stopped to watch not wanting to hurry their meal. The nannies would move ahead. The kids would bleat in protest, but eventually follow. We would slink by, hoping our desire to continue on the trail would not be mistaken for a desire for roast cabrito. The goats left us at the trail junction. They decided to follow a group from Seattle, perhaps recognizing the world class food on offer in the big city. We made our way back to the Switchback Trail parking lot, our appetite sharpened by the exertion of the climb and watching all those goats chowing down heartily.	The Olympic Range appears above Sunrise Peak after 1000’ of climbing.
Pretty mountain country, rising clouds	Mountain goats heading down to join us
Nanny and two kids	Clouds coming in
More kids	Following us down the trail
Further down the trail	Even further down
Flowers too, larkspur and turks cap lily	This was not a good year for the lupines, but the larkspur have taken up the challenge.

Keywords: animals, klahane ridge, mountain goats

06/18/15 - Klahane Ridge We don't believe it either. We made it up the Switchback Trail to Klahane Ridge. We were exhausted. We weren't used to the altitude. We kvetched and whined our way up the first thousand feet or so. Don't get us wrong. The scenery was spectacular with the Olympic Mountain range in the distance and fields of larkspur, cow parsnip and paintbrush beside the trail. We just weren't up to climbing all 1450 feet. Well, we did. At 1000 feet, the Olympic Mountains appear above Sunrise Point which is near the Hurricane Ridge Lodge. We were still dead on our feet, but we pushed onward. At some point, we started feeling a little less awful, and at around 1200 feet we realized that there was a good chance of making it to Klahane RIdge. Maybe it was just the knowledge that we were almost at the ridge. Maybe it was the golden marmots. We saw three of them. But somehow, we made it. The view to the north was spectacular despite a few clouds in the bowl of mountains below us. On our way down, it started to rain. At first it was just a gentle misting, but by the time we made it to the junction with the trail to the lodge, it was raining gently. The air was moist and fresh. Everything smells a bit different in the rain, and we could see that the hanging gardens could use some watering. On our entire drive down, we marveled. Somehow, we had climbed Klahane Ridge on our first try.	A view from the ridge
A view of the Olympic Range	A closeup
A golden marmot	Another golden marmot
Gathering clouds	Columbine
This little guy was right next to the trail.	Clouds and stone
Lupine and phlox	This is a great year for larkspur.

Keywords: klahane ridge, marmots

07/15/14 - Klahane Ridge The theme of our last climb was critters. This week it is flowers. To be honest, we didn't really see many critters this trip. The sky was crystalline, and the day was warm. The marmots, and even the chipmunks, were most likely avoiding the heat of the day. The flowers have no such desire or option, so they were out in full force. We have never seen so much larkspur out on the hillside. The paintbrush was glorious in shades of red and orange. There were shooting stars, turks cap lilies and bog orchids about. Maybe the lupines were a bit disappointing, but the full profusion more than compensated for it.	Crystalline sky and just a bit of snow left, looking north
We really need to get a flower identification book. You'd think someone would write an app.	The view south with even more crystalline sky
Paintbrush	Another mystery plant
Larkspur	Mixing it up
Shooting stars	This one blooms in the understory
Bog orchids	A slender bog orchid - It's a whole other type.

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge

07/01/14 - Klahane Ridge Again We panted and wheezed, but we made it up to Klahane Ridge again. The phlox and glaicer lilies are passing, but the next round of flowers is just coming out. Our theme this post is critters. It wasn't as busy as Hurricane Hill, but there were four, or perhaps five, mountain goats on the crags above us, and at least one marmot about on the ridge itself. The young stag we saw on our last climb was still enjoying the local vegetation, but the real surprise was the black bear we saw. We only saw it because a fellow climber pointed it out, just a black dot below us on the hillside. This is the kind of luck we plan for, so we had or binoculars and modestly priced ultrazoom point and shoot camera handy.	Mountain goats on a misty ridge
The land is green.	Mist at the ridge
But, great visibility - That's Mount Baker.	Looking down to the north
Our marmot friend	Looking up
The young stag	The violets are brilliant this year.
A black bear at a safe distance	Toad lilies

Keywords: flowers, animals, klahane ridge, mountain goats

06/05/14 - Klahane Ridge Report We still aren't sure how we did it, but we managed to climb up the Switchback Trail and get all the way up to Klahane Ridge. We were sure that this was as early in the season we had ever managed the climb, but we actually did make it to the ridge on May 29th back in 2005, so it has been a while. This is always an exhausting hike, but the sense of the mountain and the spectacular views always make it worth the effort. This time that effort included having to clamber over a few remaining mounds of snow. The trail starts among trees in the ghost forest, then emerges onto the lush hill side. Most of the flowers have yet to bloom, though there was plenty of richly scented phlox and a lot of golden glacier lilies. As we climbed, the distant rocky ridges overhead drew closer, and our view expanded. At around 1000 feet above the parking lot, Sunrise Point no longer blocks the view of glacier covered Mount Olympus and its cousins. The sky is wide and sparkling. Of course, at the ridge, the view is panoramic with the Strait of San Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island, and everything else in creation, it seems, distantly visible. We saw one lone marmot as we approached the ridge, but he or she - a matter primarily of interest to another marmot - dodged under a tree and some rocks. If we want to see marmots, we'll head back to Hurricane Hill. The high country is open. It looks like an early season.	The white stuff in the foreground is phlox. The white stuff in the background is snow.
The view	Mount Angeles
There were fields of richly scented phlox.	Phlox and more view
The view north of the strait	More phlox
The Olympic Mountains	Rocky fingers and lush green slopes
A glacier lily	This is a carnivorous plant growing not far from the parking lot. Click to enlarge the image and you can see the trapped insects.

Keywords: flowers, high country, klahane ridge

10/29/13 - Klahane Ridge This was probably our last climb up to Klahane Ridge for the year. There was a dusting of snow, and we weren't even sure if we could make it all the way to the ridge. Still, as we climbed, the mountain called to us. It was a brilliant day and fantastically beautiful. Even if we didn't think we could climb higher, we didn't want to leave the mountain face. This left us little choice but to push on. Our trusty Yaktrax tooks us safely through the thin accumulation of slush and snow, though to be honest, most of the trails were clear and we had excellent traction. And, we climbed. At some point it became apparent that we were likely to make it to the ridge. We had a clear view of Mount Olympus over Sunrise Point. It was exhiliarating. Then we made our last switchback and made our way to ridge proper, passing between the rocks. Before us was the sweeping view of the strait, of the islands, of Vancouver Island, of Mount Baker and, it seemed, everything. We approached the overlook, and the wind struck. It had been windy at Hurricane Ridge, imagine that, but our climb had been warm and sunny with the icicles glistening as they melted. Here, we were unsheltered, on a ridge, again. The wind blew hard and cold. It was a winter wind. In a way it was a winter climb with the snow dusted landscape, the snow packed mountains and the trees adorned with bands of snow and icicles. But it was also a summer climb with the warm sun and the trail beckoning. It was the last of the season.	The hiking trail
The views	Are you thinking of Christmas too?

The view to the north	and the view to the east
More mountains	Rocky crags and sunny trails
Good footing on the descent	A stream through a mountain meadow

Keywords: hurricane ridge, klahane ridge, trails, winter

09/12/13 - Klahane Ridge - Late in the Season We were up on Klahane Ridge a few days ago. Summer is over. The lupines are long gone. In fact, there were only a handful of flowers left here and there. The hanging gardens are shutting down for the winter. It seems so soon.	View of Port Angeles
The Olympic Mountains	Along the ridge
More mountains	Towards Mount Angeles - Look closely, and you can see some lingering snow.

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge

07/11/13 - 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

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