Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: spring, Page: 1

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04/11/24 - Little River Trail Next on our list of spring hikes and trillium safaris was the Little River Trail. We started at the brand new parking lot at around 1100' and made our way down to the river, across the bridge, then up again to continue along the trail. Were there trilliums? Yes. Were there a lot of trilliums? No, net yet, but they are coming out. We also saw a lot of mushrooms, almost certainly poisonous, and, of course, the river itself. We also saw a frog. It wasn't all that long ago that people were worried about frogs, but we've been seeing and hearing them more often lately. We saw this frog by the side of the trail. It was camouflaged but not well enough, so we got a good look. Either we've been getting better at spotting frogs, or there are a few more of them around.	They're back!
More trilliums	And even more
The fourth plague	The trail, almost mystical
The river	There are some amazing rock walls.
Violets	More of the river
Even more river	Yet even more
A stretch of trail	Mushrooms, probably toxic
More poisonous mushrooms	There's a little seasonal waterfall across the river that we always look for.
Another sign of spring	More rock wall
Typical of the region	Even more deadly mushrooms
Young false mock Solomon's seal	Another trillium
A bit more of the river	Spring water flow

Keywords: little river, spring, trillium

04/05/24 - Dungeness Highlands with Hummingbirds There are two great worlds to explore at the Dungeness Spit. There's the amazing spit itself and the coastal forest leading to it, and there are the highlands which follow the coast and run inland. We explore the highlands. You can walk the whole loop in about 50 minutes, but we like to go longer, so we head out for about 40 minutes to an overlook and then head back the long way. The old grass is now pale straw, but the new green grass is growing taller. There were currants and strawberries in bloom and chervil growing wild along the trail. We also saw two hummingbirds perched high as if claiming the bush they perched on as their own.	Spring color
To our surprise, a trillium	Distant mountains
Mountains and clouds	More clouds and mountains
The vista	Mahonia, Oregon grape in bloom
One of the hummingbirds	Across the field
Another view of the field	The trail, still early spring
More fields, clouds and mountains	The trail again
Another hummingbird
Strawberry flowers	Red and gold
More strawberry flowers	Some currant flowers
Trees still bare	Looking south
A bit of forest	A fascinating ground cover

Keywords: birds, dungeness spit, spring

04/04/24 - Spruce Railroad Trail with Trilliums It was spring break, so the Spruce Railroad Trail was busy. There were a lot of families with children. Our goal was to find trilliums. Lake Crescent is about 600 feet above sea level, so spring tends to come a bit later, but we were lucky. We found trilliums. There were just a few, but like children of spring break, we're seeing signs of spring.	The forest floor
A trillium	Another trillium
Yet another trillium	View from the Devil's Punchbowl
Rock flowers	More rock flowers
Most of the trail is a road now, but there are a few bits of the old hiking trail preserved.	More of the old trail
Toad lily	Mount Storm King dominating the lake
Clouds and snow in the mountains	Rock garden
More rock flowers	Sedums
One of the little side streams	Another little side stream

Keywords: lake crescent, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

04/02/24 - Elwha to Altair - Early Spring Flower Edition Spring has been with us for over a week now, so we've been out checking for trilliums. They often show up along the Elwha on the trail detour section that runs behind the old campground and is the only land route from Madison Falls to the rest of Olympic Hot Springs Road. The river had a wild winter. There was a whole new pattern of trees and drift logs lining the river. Some sections were more accessible than last year. Some were less. A great chunk, the base of a fallen tree, had torn from the hillside. This made the trail a bit tricky to follow, but all the action had opened up new river views. Spring is definitely here. We saw trilliums, fawn lilies, toad lilies, violets and many other early bloomers. Even better, the mules are back in town. The mule camp was deserted when we headed out, but there were mules waiting for us on our return.	The fawn lilies are back.
More flowers	A wild orchid
More fawn lilies	Another fawn lily
Trilliums, too	Lots of fawn lilies
The striped leaf is a fawn lily leaf	Yet another fawn lily
Toad lilies, for variety	A glimpse of the Elwha
A trillium	The river lined with fallen, drifted logs
Another view of the river	The Elwha from down close
More drift logs along the Elwha	Trail work
A mountain peak	A mountain cloud
More of the trail	Fawn lilies again
A cooperative caterpillar	The mules are back in town.

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium, winter

03/19/24 - Little River Trail It's still early spring along the Little River Trail. The big news is probably the new parking lot and relocated trail entrance. Otherwise, the trail is its wonderful self with dark forests and shining river.	We always check for this seasonal waterfall.
That waterfall again	The river
More river

	Plant life
A little stream	More of the forest
More of the river - bright sun and dark forest	A bit of the trail
Is this the spirit of the forest?	Some more trail
Plant life	The portal
One of the bridges	Another fork of the river

Keywords: little river, spring, waterfall

05/29/23 - Farther Along the Dungeness Dike We sometimes just take a short walk at the Dungeness Dike. Sometimes we make the full 90 minute loop from the school house parking lot to the south end of the trail. That lets us leave the dike and head down on a trail that follows the path of the old dike. This late in the spring, it's tall grass and green. We even took a short side spur to take a look at the river.	Setting the scene
More of the scene	Mountains and marsh
Along the route of the old dike	The Dungeness RIver
Further along	And further still
The old dike was completely removed	A familiar field
And farther along	Here is where they planted a forest. Give it time.
One of a few lupines	Another lupine
Pattern of stones	Last view before we left

Keywords: dungeness, spring

05/13/23 - Spruce Railroad Trail We hiked a bit of the Spruce Railroad Trail. It was a bright sunny day, but it is late enough into spring for the trees to have leafed out and provide a canopy. The sky was blue. The lake was blue. The forest was green. We were pleased to spot a few trilliums and enjoy the views of the lake and mountains.	A forest orchid
Paintbrush - first of the season	A last piece of the old trail
Clear water	The lake
More of the trail	Plants growing out of rocks
A piece of the new trail	One of the tunnels
Mt. Storm King	Trilliums and ferns
More trilliums	A shady bit of trail
The forest floor with a trillium if you look closely	Green life

Keywords: spring, spruce railroad, trillium

05/03/23 - Elwha Spring We were back along the Elwha. The river is fuller and wilder, and the spring flowers have been progressing. There were lots of trilliums and lots of water.	The trail
A local snake	A local orchid
It turns out these are fawn lilies, not columbines, but we're not going to correct all our old posts.	More fawn lilies
A trillium - We're pretty sure of this one.	The Elwha
Trilliums and tiarella not yet in bloom	Red winged insect - click for a better look
Another trillium	Dicentra - probably
Violets	Another bit of the trail
Another bit of the river	The old pavilion at the old campground
High water	High snow
More high water	And more high water

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

04/29/23 - Dungeness Dike and Rising Waters We were back at the Dungeness Dike to check out the rising river. The whole point of replacing the old dike with this new one was to let the river flood freely. Well, it's working. The waters were much higher and the flood waters deeper. The fields were full of mustard. Hawks and eagles were about. We'll see how high the waters get when the spring melt starts in earnest.	A new branch of the Dungeness River
Old Towne Road and the Olympic Mountains	Higher waters
Marshlands	Higher water here as well
Some of the new dike	A future forest
Open fields	Mustard and mountains
More mustard	And even more mustard
Following the path of the old dike	Further along
Through the fields	Mustard flowers and forest
A spring scene	Maple flowers
Some kind of hawk	Yes, a red tailed hawk
More along the trail of the old dike	More forest
Welcoming forest	Mount Baker in the far distance

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, spring

04/24/23 - Little River It's spring, and the Little River Trail is loaded with trilliums. We walked out for an hour, to the second bridge, and trilliums lined our way. The Little River Trail starts on DNR land and heads into the national park, so things keep getting better and better. It's still early in the season, so we expect to see more trilliums and lots of other wild flowers as the season progresses.	A trillium not far from the trailhead
The Little River	More trilliums
A piece of the trail	Another trillium
Another bit of the river	Rushing water
Another view	And another
Yet another trillium	An a happy pair
Blue river	A trillium patch
And another	And yet more

Keywords: flowers, little river, spring, trillium

04/21/23 - Spring Progress Update, Elwha Edition We walked from the parking area at Madison Falls, up along the Elwha, to a bit past the Altair Bridge. We were pleased to see more trilliums and a few columbines in bloom. We're a month into spring, but it still feels like we are behind. Still, it's nice to see a few of our favorites return.	Forest
A trillium	Another trillium
A columbine leaf	Even better, a columbine
The trail, perhaps a bit greener	Another trillium
The Elwha River	Another sign of spring, a mushroom
Back along the road	More forest
A country road	The Elwha from the Altair Bridge
A view of the misty mountains	Maple branches
Along the Elwha	Yet another trillium
More of the trail - Is it greener?	A mossy rock
Along the trail	Another columbine
Yet another columbine far from the main cluster	More misty mountains

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

04/20/23 - Seattle Downtown Seattle is much quieter than we remember it. Granted, we were wandering about early in the day, but downtown is no longer as bustling. Perhaps it was the cold, dank weather and a spring that has been all too slow in coming. Perhaps it was COVID and people working from home. Perhaps it isn't cruise season yet. We checked out Pike Place Market which was still quiet. We bought some ramps and frisee. Ramps are a type of wild onion and special spring treat. There are signs of spring, out in the country and in town.	A Seattle street
Light traffic and careless framing	Another quiet street
Pike Place Market, still setting up	Sosio's is on the left.
The market, still calm	Sosio's always has a great display.
Another view	Pure Food Fish
Early morning	Another quiet corridor, but this was is almost always quiet.
The Public Market sign	Westlake Center

Keywords: seattle, spring, weather

04/18/23 - Dungeness Dike and a Denizen We've been walking the new Dungeness Dike. The fields west of the new dike will someday be forest. We saw a variety of workers including a group from the Washington Conservation Corps hard at work mulching the hundreds of saplings. We've also been watching for signs of spring. Things have been getting greener and the yellow mustard is in bloom. On our way back, we saw a coyote. He was minding his own business, but he decided to watch us from a bit further away. We're a predator species too.	A dramatic sky
The new course of the Dungeness	The green fields
The very young forest	Along the path of the old dike
Mustard in bloom	More mustard
And even more mustard	This is what spring should look like.
Maple flowers	More maple flowers
More of the green field	Maple flowers are not showy.
Heading back along the new dike	The new forest again
The new dike	Some lupine
Towne Road, now part of the river	That coyote
The case of the curious coyote	We must have spooked him or her.
From the distance	Skunk cabbage

Keywords: dungeness, spring

04/16/23 - Dungeness Highlands We've been hiking the Dungeness Highlands as we call them. We start at the parking lot near the sign in area for the spit, but we head south along the bluffs and follow the trail east across the road. We almost make a loop, but at the picnic table overlooking the highlands we turn around and head back. Spring is progressing, albeit slowly. It was a cloudy day which actually makes it easier to see things. Clouds and a gray sky add a lot of character to a landscape.	Along the bluff
Scrubland	A forested stretch
A glimpse ahead	The vista south
A mixed sky and field	More of the field
The trail itself	Some spring color, but not much green yet
Mahonia	Another field
On our way back	More of the trail
An almost dry pond	Contrast
Along another field	Heading back
Back on the bluffs	Some currant blossoms

Keywords: dungeness, spring

04/14/23 - Elwha Flower Followup We took a short walk south along the Elwha from Madison Falls to check out the slow progress of this years spring. We didn't get all the way to the Altair Bridge, but we did see some emerging columbine leaves, a few trilliums, a few flowers and an interesting bird.	A toad lily
Columbine leaves	The Elwha
An interesting bird	Another look at the Elwha
Flooding along the trail	The road otherwise
Still lots of snow in the mountains	More flowers - violets
Yay, a trillium	And another
And another, not yet in bloom	A young trillium
Another columbine leaf	And another
Those little yellow flowers we never look up in our plant book	The mules are back in town!

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

04/05/23 - Signs of Spring - Elwha to Altair - Trilliums and Columbines Our search for signs of spring took us to the Elwha River. We parked near Madison Falls and followed the road past the mule camp where we saw our first sign of spring: the mules were back. That was promising. We headed onto the detour trail and saw our first yellow violets of the season along with some of those pale pink flowers that bloom so early. Then we saw our first trillium. It was the only one we saw, but we're pretty sure more will follow. Further down the trail, we saw the skunk cabbage with its faint smell of sulphur. We checked out the river from the Altair Bridge. It was relatively low. The snows have not yet begun to melt. We could see snow on the peaks, some of it fresh. On our way back, we spotted another sign of spring. We saw our first columbines. To be fair, we saw their leopard spotted leaves. They weren't ready to bloom, but when you are desperate for signs of spring, that's close enough.	Yellow violets
Little pink flowers	The harbinger trillium
The trail	The river
The road	Skunk cabbage
The river from the Altair Bridge
Currant flowers	Snow covered hill across the river
Snow

	Flowing water
Columbine leaves
Another columbine leaf	Another leaf
White flowers and	blue flowers along the road

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium

04/04/23 - Signs of Spring - Cherry Blossoms at UW This has been a long, cold, rough winter, so we've been seeking out signs of spring. We checked the UW web site and saw that the cherry blossoms were at peak bloom. There was no way we could resist. We drove into Seattle and explored the Quad. It was full of cherry blossoms and people marveling at them. We had thought that selfie sticks had gone out of style, but the Quad was full of them. Even better, it was full of dark gnarly trees with clouds of pale pink flowers. It seems like spring is finally coming even as a cold wind still blows now and then. It was worth driving into town for a taste of the still incoming season. We're in less of a hurry now, but we're still seeking out signs of spring.

Keywords: flowers, seattle, spring

04/02/22 - Elwha to Altair - Spring Is Here We were absolutely exhausted but really wanted to take another good hike before the rainy days come, so we headed out from the Madison Falls parking lot and followed the trail. It's a good winter trail, but it's an even better spring trail. We hadn't gone very far before our first trillium, and then came the columbines. Trilliums like sloping ground, usually near water, so they'll grow on hillsides above streams. Columbines like a sunny spot on crumbling rocky soil, and there are only a few places like that on this trail. That's where we found them. We headed on past other signs of spring. Skunk cabbage filled the boggy fields further up towards the bridge. There were currant blossoms, and there were a lot of new leaves and leaf buds. Even the larger trees were showing touches of green. Columbine season is short, so we'll have to come back soon, but we'll be back again and again as the season progresses. It's a pretty good summer trail too.	Our first trillium on the trail
Yellow violets	More yellow violets
One of the columbines	Another columbine
Another trillium	Some little white flowers that we see every year and never bother to look up in the wildflower book
The Elwha	Another view of the Elwha
Fern forest	The skunk cabbage bog
The Elwha from the Altair bridge	Wild currant
A touch of green in the trees	Most of the snow melted
Yet another trillium	Yet another columbine
A columbine in its place	The mules are back!

Keywords: elwha, spring, trillium

04/01/22 - Little River Trail - Return of the Trilliums The Little River Trail is a great trail this time of year. The high country is still covered with snow, but the lower reaches of the Little River Trail are in great shape and, already, there are signs of spring. In particular, the trilliums are out. There are just a few trilliums in bloom, and a few more popping up and getting ready, but over the next few weeks this trail will be lined with them.	Our first trillium of 2022
The forest trail	Little River
Still early spring	Sunlight breaks through
Another view of the river	Down close
More flowers	A blurry photo of our first yellow violet - We have Sasquatch photos that are sharper.
An old log and a new fern	More trilliums
The bridge where we turned around	The ground
Trail maintenance - quite a fallen tree	Little River again
One of the many rapids	Even more trilliums
Another view	And another

Keywords: Olittle river, spring, trillium

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