Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: lake angeles, Page: 1

For more on Lake Angeles and Heather Park, see our Lake Angeles web page.

04/26/13 - Lake Angeles Trail Update We climbed the Lake Angeles trail for about an hour. That took us up about 1350' above the parking lot. We saw our first bit of snow, but it was at least another 1000' of climbing to Lake Angeles. We met a hiker coming down from the lake. She was a far hardier sort than we. She says there are still about three feet of snow at the campground, which means we won't be making it all the way up for some time. We did see some amazing light. It was a sunny day, and a lot of sunlight made it through the canopy. We also saw a lot of running water at the wood bridge crossing, and as a special treat, our very first trillium on the trail not far from the entrance.	The trail in bright sunlight
A last bit of snow on the ground	A bit more snow
Snow on the low undergrowth	The trail again
As seen from the trail in bright sunlight	The stream
More undergrowth, mahonia	Even more
The trail, lusher as one descends	The first, and only as far as we could tell, trillium

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium, spring

01/10/13 - White Snow, Black Water We hiked up the Lake Angeles trail to the little bridge. Most of the path was pretty easy going, but after the Big Rock, about 500 feet above the parking lot, there was snow and ice on the path. We put on our Yak Tracks and continued. Every little streamlet crossing the trail was a torrent, and there was water running down the trail itself which made for sloggy going. We pressed on and were well rewarded.	We didn't cross the bridge.
Snow covered trees	More winter contrast
Water on the trail	The curtain of drips, in full drip
White water, this time	More wild water

Keywords: lake angeles, winter

10/25/12 - Lake Angeles Trail Snow We scoffed at the recently appointed Christmas aisle at our local Rite Aid. They had barely set up for Halloween when the fake little trees, bright red stockings and glistening ornaments started to appear. Then we hiked a bit of the Lake Angeles Trail, and even before the foot bridge we started to feel some Christmas cheer. We really should have waited. We haven't even done Halloween yet, but it was hard to avoid unseasonal thoughts while admiring the light sprinkling of wet snow.	The bridge - We wimped out here. Next time, Yak Trax.
Snow and more snow - Yes, we're exaggerating.	A Christmas mushroom?
More mushrooms in the snow	The boardwalk - This area Christmasses up quickly.

Keywords: christmas, halloween, lake angeles

08/24/12 - Signs of Summer's End It isn't just the back to school sales. There are other signs that summer is drawing to a close, among them the profusion of red berries amid the late summer green foliage. Here are some examples from a recent walk on the Lake Angeles Trail.

Keywords: lake angeles, summer

07/08/12 - Ascent to Lake Angeles We made it! After long hard training, an arduous assault and a great deal of procrastination and whining, we made it all the way up to Lake Angeles, and it was beautiful. The trail is clear, though there is still snow on much of the bowl surrounding the lake. The lower trilliums are gone, but they are now all over the place up by the lake. The lake is still much too cold for us to go swimming, or so we believe. We considered actually sticking our toes in, but chickened out. Maybe we'll try next time, or the next, but, for us Kalebergs, Lake Angeles is in season.	Snow on the mountains at Lake Angeles
Another view of the lake	Driftwood at the lake
The little island	A trillium
A nest, a vein, a conclave, a ??? of trilliums	The trail through the woods

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium

06/23/12 - The Pacific Dogwood is in Bloom We've been building up on the Lake Angeles Trail. That's a 2400' ascent from the Heart of the Hills to the lake itself that we're quite fond of. It's just quite a climb, and during the winter we get out of shape. We haven't gotten to the lake yet, but we have been following the seasonal changes. Right now, the Pacific dogwood are blooming. Unlike the eastern version, these are a ground cover, not a tree, but they have those distinctive flowers.	The trail
In bloom	More bloom
Even more bloom	There's lots of water in the stream.
At the end of trillium season, the flowers turn purple before forming seeds.	Another late season trillium

Keywords: flowers, lake angeles, trillium

01/10/12 - From the Heart of the Hills The Lake Angeles Trail starts in The Heart of the Hills, that area near Lake Dawn and the park entry station on Hurricane Ridge Road. Around this time of year, it's a trail in transition. The trailhead often clear of snow, but as one ascends, the trail whitens, and how far you can go depends as much on your snow gear as your stamina.	About as far as we went, to the bridge
A fallen log	The trail with a bit of snow
Snow covered trees	The trail much lower

Keywords: lake angeles

12/12/11 - It's Kind of Magical It's kind of magical up along the Lake Angeles Trail lately. The snow's not very deep, but it really adds something seasonal to the scenery.

Keywords: lake angeles

11/25/11 - Winter Wonderland Winter has been playing with us this year. We had a cool summer, then a warm spell, and then our first frosts and first snows. The Lake Angeles Trail was a winter wonderland covered with snow that has most likely already melted. Still, it's a wonderful foretaste of the winter season.	Welcome to winter
The bridge over the stream	Christmas trees
Snow on branches	More snow on branches
More Christmas trees	Icicles
The trail was still easy going.	Some last leaves preserved in ice.
The trail again	Some ferns

Keywords: lake angeles, winter

07/27/11 - Lake Angeles, Hurrah! It started inauspiciously, but by fits and starts and sheer force of will we made our way up to Lake Angeles. It was not an easy climb, and we didn't get any great view of the high cliffs around the lake. It was just too cloudy. Still, we did have the satisfaction of a good workout, and we got to see some of the restoration work at the campground. They had to haul the logs for this up from Heart O' the Hills by helicopter. (We had noticed a little helicopter landing on one of the Hurricane Ridge Road pull offs last year. Apparently, that was part of this.) The campground looks quite different, and there are hundreds of baby trees or perhaps bushes. It will look quite different in another five years. Maybe we'll still be able to make the climb then and see.	So much for the picture postcard view
Some of the myriad baby plants	The logs mean keep off the baby plants.
These logs lead down to the lake.	A really neat looking lupine
Some of the trilliums up by the lake	We've never seen trilliums up by the lake before. This has been a weird summer.

Keywords: lake angeles, summer, trillium

07/04/11 - Pacific Dogwood

Did we mention the Pacific dogwood on the Lake Angeles trail? There's some right near the parking lot if you aren't a big hiker. There's a lot more further up the trail. We still haven't made it to the lake, but some of that is because we've been exploring Hurricane Hill. More on that, and on Lake Angeles, as the summer progresses.

Keywords: flowers, lake angeles

06/12/11 - A Rumor of Snow

No, we didn't get all the way up to Lake Angeles. We still aren't in proper shape, though we did get up 1870 feet from the trailhead parking lot. That's about 500 feet shy. We did manage to talk to a few people who had made it, and they report snow starting perhaps a quarter of a mile below the lake and getting about one to three feet deep. For them, with their heavy hiking shoes and ability to balance themselves while standing up, it was no big deal just tromping through the snow or following in the footsteps of others. We're sort of hoping all the snow will have melted by the time it becomes an issue for us. We'll keep trying.

The misty forest near where we gave up in exhaustion

The stream in full

This is right near the trailhead, some pretty ferns and trilliums. (Did we mention that this has been a great year for trilliums?)

Keywords: lake angeles, trillium

06/04/11 - Trilliums Rising We waited a long time for our trilliums this year, but they finally seem to be coming out in force. The ones at Lake Crescent are already passing, but it has been a wet year, so there are an awful lot of them still coming out along the Lake Angeles Trail. Not only are there more than usual, they are coming out at higher elevations where it is unusual to see them.

Keywords: lake crescent, trillium, lake angeles

05/18/11 - Seen on the Lake Angeles Trail We have been trying to get into shape for when the high country finally reopens, likely in August. This entails climbing, and our favorite get into shape for climbing trail is the Lake Angeles Trail. This time, we broke our seasonal record, not only crossing the bridge at 720' apl, but we made it all the way to 1200' apl. That's half way to the lake, which we gather is still surrounded by deep snow. When will we make it to the lake? At the rate we are training, likely in August.	The trail at 1200' apl (above parking lot)
The trillium vale	One of those orchids
More trilliums, yay!	Lots of rushing water

Keywords: trillium, lake angeles

05/10/11 - The Trilliums Are Back On The Lake Angeles Trail We've been hiking the first leg of the Lake Angeles Trail a fair bit lately, trying to get back into shape for the high country which should open any month now. (Right now, we're guessing July, but maybe late June.) We saw our first trilliums at Lake Crescent just recently, and rather late by local standards. The Lake Angeles trailhead is maybe 1300 feet higher, but the trilliums have made it. They're just coming out now. Not all of them are unfurled, but they're back.	There isn't much snow before the crossing at 730'.
But, there are trilliums, ...	trilliums, ...
trilliums, ...	and more trilliums.

Keywords: trillium, lake angeles

04/30/11 - Lake Angeles Trail Report

The snow on the Lake Angeles Trail seems to come and go, but lately it has been going. We haven't nerved ourselves to cross the little bridge yet, but we've made a few trips that far already, and surely, we'll cross that bridge on our very next trip, or the one after that.

Here are a few pictures, so you can size up the situation for yourself. For a more complete picture, you can check out the park's official trail status page. According to their reports, there are six feet of snow at the lake. That's for folks hardier than we are.

The bridge is clear of snow and ice. It's the trails that are still a bit messy.

The stream was, as usual, beautiful.

Most of the trail below the bridge is like this.

Keywords: trails, lake angeles

04/18/11 - Spring Comes to the Lake Angeles Trail - Slowly We made our way up the Lake Angeles trail to see how spring was progressing. Slowly seems to be the operative word. There wasn't any snow on the trail until we were almost up near the little bridge which is about 730' above the parking lot. (That seems to be our trail elevation metric.) To be honest, we didn't see all that many signs of spring, but the snow has been melting, and we'll have to be satisfied with that for now.	The little bridge
The stream	Snow on a log
Now, that's spring like, melting snow.	There's no snow at the first crossing, but that wasn't surprising this time of year.

Keywords: spring, lake angeles

03/18/11 - The Lake Angeles Trail - Snow, Water and Green We drove up to the Heart of the Hills the other day and hiked a bit of the way up the Lake Angeles Trail. The trailhead parking lot was closed with an inch or so of snow, but at that level the trail was free of snow. However, once we crossed the stream and started to climb in earnest we ran into patches of snow. The snow got deeper as we ascended, though the main feeling was one of melt. The trail was damp with puddles here and there, and the snow was soft and slushy. We were hoping to get to the crossing about 700' above the parking lot, but we were blocked by a long, deep black puddle, a true stygian pond. We'll have to wait for the trail to dry out a bit before we try again.	The trail through the forest, covered with snow.
Our nemesis, the flooded trail	Ferns in the snow
A sprinkling	More snow on the trail

Keywords: lake angeles

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