Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: summer, Page: 1

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Sol Duc Falls and Canyon Creek

Little River Trail - Once again but a little farther

Little River Trail

Dungeness Highlands with Hummingbirds

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Elwha to Altair - Early Spring Flower Edition

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University of Washington Cherry Blossoms

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Archive

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2024 - 01 02 03 04

Month by Month History

Keywords

flowers
winter
spring
seattle
food
port angeles
kale
high country
hurricane hill
elwha
autumn
farmers' market
christmas
lake angeles
trillium
trails
spruce railroad
lake crescent
hurricane ridge
dungeness

All Keywords

Upcoming Hiking Tides

These are low tides of under three feet at least two hours after sunrise or before sunset.

Next tides for La Push
4/19/24 4:55 PM 1.24 ft
4/20/24 5:30 PM 1.38 ft
4/21/24 6:01 PM 1.59 ft
4/25/24 8:14 AM -0.69 ft
4/26/24 8:50 AM -0.78 ft
4/27/24 9:31 AM -0.71 ft
4/28/24 10:17 AM -0.52 ft

Next tides for Dungeness
4/20/24 8:57 AM 2.73 ft
4/21/24 9:15 AM 1.93 ft
4/22/24 9:36 AM 1.12 ft
4/23/24 10:00 AM 0.34 ft
4/24/24 10:28 AM -0.33 ft
4/25/24 11:00 AM -0.86 ft
4/26/24 11:36 AM -1.2 ft

Next tides for Cape Alava
4/19/24 5:21 PM 1.28 ft
4/20/24 5:53 PM 1.52 ft
4/24/24 8:15 AM -0.33 ft
4/25/24 8:50 AM -0.63 ft
4/26/24 9:27 AM -0.77 ft
4/27/24 10:09 AM -0.76 ft
4/28/24 10:55 AM -0.64 ft

06/22/23 - Little River Trail With the Hurricane Ridge Road still closed, we took a hike along the Little River Trail. It was our usual hike to the second log bridge. It's another summer hike with the trees full of leaves and the vegetation lush. It always gets better when the trail leaves DNR land and enters the national park. That's shortly before the trail descends to the river which was flowing nicely this time of year.	Early on the trail, in DNR land
Our first Pacific dogwood	The little bridge
Bloodroot	More dogwood
Close up Pacific dogwood	Even more
The Little River	A log over the river
False Solomon's seal, past bloom	Light and dark
Rough stone	One of the log bridges
Blue water	Another look at the Little River
The river IS one of the highlights of this trail.	Looking down at the river
Lush green forest	A piece of the trail
Devil's claw	A caterpillar - We saw a fair number of these.

Keywords: little river, summer

06/16/23 - Butterfly Season We hiked from Madison Falls to the Altair Bridge over the Elwha River. It's basically summer now, so we're watching the elderberry flowers, and we can't help but notice all the swallowtail butterflies. This is a great year for them.	Turk's cap lilies
The summer forest	Along the trail
Paintbrush - a summer flower	More summer flowers
More of the trail, very green now	Elderberry flowers
A glimpse of the Elwha	Trilliums and tiarella past bloom
Yet another stretch of trail	A proper view of the Elwha
From the Altair Bridge looking north	From the bridge looking south
A butterfly showing off	Still showing off
Visiting a turk's cap lily	Close up

Keywords: elwha, flowers, summer

09/17/22 - A Little Surprise on the Little River We hiked the Little River Trail for a ways. It goes all the way up to the Hurricane Hill Trail, and we are never going to hike that far. It's late summer, so we kept our eyes open. To our surprise, we saw a small frog beside the trail. Given the bright sunlight filtering through the thick foliage and the frog's excellent camouflage, it was a wonder that we could spot it. We also spotted some mushrooms and berries, and there was the Little River itself.	Along the trail
Can you spot the frog?	Somehow we did
Tree ears	Pacific dogwood berries
A battered but unbowed trillium	The Little River
Rapids	More of the river
A lone blue berry	An early Halloween decoration, a green skull
Another tree ear	False Solomon's seal berries

Keywords: little river, summer

09/01/22 - River Otters The river otters were out in the strait on the Olympic Discovery Trail west of Morse Creek. We took a late summer walk, and it was nice to see them.	Late summer on the crumbling dike
Along the trail	Wonderful shade
An otter peeping up at us	An elusive otter or two - No photos!

Keywords: morse creek, otters, summer

08/05/22 - Hurricane Hill Yet Again We got an early start on our most recent trip up Hurricane Hill, but even then, the trailhead parking lot was full and we got the last available spot at the nearer picnic area. We hadn't been up this way for a while. The season has been moving along. We missed all but a few lupines. The glacier and avalanche lilies are long gone, as were the phlox and larkspur. Instead, there were yarrows, harebells, roses and corn lilies. It was a brilliant sunny day but cool. The trail was pretty easy going until the big climb just past where the Little River Trail ends. We huffed and puffed and pulled ourself up the mountain, past pine trees and then alpine fields. As usual, we were tricked by Marmot Rock. It really does look like a marmot, but we also so a number of marmots, a buck with velvet antlers and a sky full of ravens.	The Olympic Mountains
A marmot	Another marmot
Yet another marmot, dramatically posed	Ravens
A confused buck	A nearly hidden marmot
Alpine fields	Another view
Starbursts	Harebells
Alpine meadow mix	A rose among others
Corn lilies, also known as false hellebore	Corn lilies in bloom
Pink paintbrush	More harebells
A study in yellow	Mountains
A view to the northwest with a bit of snow left	The sidespur we took
Mountains and flowers	Zoomed in on the Olympic range

Keywords: hurricane hill, marmots, summer

Keywords: hurricane hill, marmots, summer

08/03/22 - Elwha to Altair We hadn't hiked along the Elwha River for a few weeks, so we parked near Madison Falls and made our way up the road, past the mule camp, around behind the old campground via the detour, then along the old road past the ranger station to the Altair Bridge. That was far enough for us. The scenery was summery. The spring flowers were gone. Now was the time of leafy green trees, berries and drying grasses. The river is still running briskly. We may or may not have seen fish in the water from the bridge, but we definitely had a wonderful view. We tasted a few thimbleberries, checked out the elderberry blossoms and said hello to the mules.	The Elwha River near the old campground
The summer trail	Summer forest
The trail in the summer	Trail through summer foliage
A forest bird	Enhanced and enlarged
That bird again	A better bird image
An elderberry tree	Some elderberry flowers
The blue Elwha	The Elwha downstream from the bridge
Thimbleberry bushes	Thimbleberries
The summer road	Dry grass - The green stuff is horestail.
More summer forest	More summer forest trail
The forest again, and some trees	The Elwha near Madison Falls

Keywords: elwha, summer

07/21/22 - Dungeness Dike There are big changes along the Dungeness River down by Towne Road. The southern part of the old dike is gone, and a new road is coming through. We're taking advantage of what's left of the dike, and, now that it is summer, it's lush and overgrown. We spotted two eagles or perhaps the same eagle twice. It was a short walk, but a pretty one.	A sunflower at Chi's Farm on Towne Road near Old Olympic
Another sunflower	And another
The summer dike	Lush and overgrown
An eagle sighting	Some marshland
A bit of the river	More lush summer of foliage
The dike again	Another glimpse of the Dungeness River
An eagle above	Zoomed in a bit

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, summer

06/16/22 - Hurricane Hill - First Time We made it up to Hurricane Hill for the first time this year. We've been watching the webcam and following the park road announcements. The road from the lodge opened maybe a week ago, so we got a moderately early start and headed up the hill. There are now two booths at the entry station, a result of last year's construction, which should help somewhat this summer. The road was busy, but we have seen it busier. The parking lot where the Hurricane Hill trail starts was full, and the lot at the closer picnic area was almost full. No one wanted to park in a huge puddle, almost an inland sea, that spanned three spaces, so we parked offshore. That's what hiking boots are for. The hike itself was wonderful. The views of the mountains and glaciers were magnificent. There were glacier lilies out but no phlox yet. Most of the trail was clear, but the shady patch was still covered with snow. Once again, that's what hiking boots are for. The high country was beautiful with melting snow and fresh green. The marmots were out, still plump and eagerly chowing down on the greenery. It was good to see them after most of a year. The high country is open. Here's to a good hiking season.	Mountains and melting snow
The first segment of the trail, out in the sun	Those mountains again - Are they really that far away?
Weathered rock	The first marmot sentinel
Another marmot	That guy again on young grass
Another marmot on a hill	Yet another marmot
Almost summer, but the ground not yet green	A glacier lily
Another view	Mountains and clouds
The same mountains, a different sky	More glacier lilies and friends
A grayer sky	Another view
Yet another	The view north

Keywords: high country, hurricane hill, marmots, summer

08/01/21 - Second Beach at Extreme Low Tide There have been some extremely low tides out at Second Beach this summer. The beach only recently reopened to the public, so we took advantage of the reopening and a recent low tide to see the beach at its widest and head out to the sea stack that is usually an unreachable island. We expected big crowds, but the trail and beach were relatively quiet. The Third Beach trailhead parking lot, in contrast, was overflowing. We hiked through the forest and descended to the beach. There is usually a driftwood barrier to clamber over, but the beach was clear this time. The driftwood had drifted elsewhere. We made our way to the sea stack dry shod. It was great to see so many starfish. With the plague wiping out so many of them some years back and recent stories of sea creatures being cooked in their shells we expected the worst. There were starfish and a good many of them. It was far from the years before the plague, but they were not hard to find. We explored the sea stack, its caves and its seaward side. Then we headed down the beach into the light mist. With an extreme negative tide like this, there was lots of beach and it was easy going. There were more starfish down near the cave at the end of the beach and anemones galore. We spent some time exploring here and then made our way back to the return forest trail.	The trail to Second Beach
No driftwood blocking the way	The hole in the wall towards La Push
The sea stack off shore	A welcome sight
More starfish	Even more starfish
Anemones	A starfish pool
Faint mist	More sea stacks
Pelicans or pterodactyls?	More pelicans
The beach	More starfish and friends
Tide pools	Even more starfish
Saying good bye to the sea stack	The trail back

Keywords: second beach, summer, third beach, tides

06/17/21 - Dungeness Spit It is hard to walk the Dungeness Spit in the winter. The mid-day low tide is usually almost as high as its surrounding high tides, and the what there is of the beach lacks sand so progress is hard going. We're in the season of good tides now. Check the left hand side of this web page or our tide tables to find a good tide. Note that the lighthouse is closed for the duration, so no bathroom or running water. Still, this is the best time of year for the ten mile round trip hike.	The forest walk to the spit
The sea and clouds	Take off!
More sea and clouds	An eagle on the driftwood - Check inland now and then.
The view back to land, again mainly sea, sand and sky	A view from the climb out
The forest trail again	and again

Keywords: dungeness spit, tides, summer

06/16/21 - Summer Along the Elwha It's summer along the Elwha River. The river is milky with snow melt and the water is running high. The foliage just about everywhere is green and thick, and we even saw a young fawn. We took our usual walk starting at Madison Falls and heading along the closed portion of Olympic Hot Springs Road. We took the detour around the old campground through the high ground and forest and emerged again on the road to the Altair bridge. As usual, we went a bit beyond the road gate and looked for the waterfall across the river. We saw it, but, as usual this time of year, this meant a glimpse now and then revealed through the foliage. Eventually, we'll head on and check out the old dam overlook, but it's a two hour hike for us just to cross the bridge. Next time maybe.	The Elwha now running through the old campground
The Elwha as seen from the Altair bridge	Roses in bloom near the bridge
A doe and fawn, still speckled	The green wall
Elderberry buds	Milky blue water
Another look at the Elwha	And another
Green trail on the detour	A turk's cap lily

Keywords: elwha, summer, waterfall

08/23/19 - Marymere Falls We haven't been getting out to Marymere Falls lately. The construction on route 101 along Lake Crescent with its 45 minute delays has discourage us. We took advantage of a pause in the work to take the 50 minute falls loop. It was a bright sunny day, and the forest was beautiful with the bright illumination. There were a good number of others out visiting the falls which were relatively quiet as one might expect in the late summer.	The wide walk to the falls
Another view en route, dark trees, bright sun	The bridge
Water in the canyon	The falls
A view of the falls from the upper overview	Pyramid Peak visible through the trees

Keywords: lake crescent, marymere falls, summer

08/22/19 - Klahane Ridge - High Summer Once again we put on our hiking boots, grabbed our hiking sticks and hauled ourselves up to Klahane Ridge by way of the Switchback Trail. We didn't set any speed records, but we made it. The climb was sunny with a blue sky, but by the time we made it to the ridge, clouds were rising from the sea and shrouding peaks and valleys. We rested a bit and watched the clouds rise with the warmth of the day. By the time we made it back to the parking lot, the sky was mostly blue again. It was a late summer hike. The lupines and larkspur were long gone. Vegetation was thick, but only a handful of flowers remained, mainly in microclimates. Many plants had gone to seed, but the yarrow was near its peak.	Clouds and Mount Olympus
Brilliant sun	Another bright scene
Two butterflies	Those two again
A last bit of phlox	More clouds at the ridge
Clouds seeping in from the north	A view of the Olympic Mountains
Asters	Another spectacular view
Larkspur and paintbrush	Late summer blooms
A view from on the way down	A bit of the trail now that the sun had returned
Paintbrush	A hawk we had seen soaring earlier
A last few lupines	More paintbrush

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge, summer

08/15/19 - Late Summer Little River Trail We were back on the Little River Trail, and it was obvious that summer is passing. There were fewer flowers and a lot more berries. The mushrooms were up and about. It's a nice easy trail and a good way to track the seasons.	The trail
Another bit of trail	Thimbleberries
Spooky pipes	More spooky pipes - Halloween must be nigh.
Devil's claw berries	Possibly a chanterelle
Last bit of Pacific dogwood	False solomon's seal berries
The Little River	More of the forest trail
Another bit of magic forest	Old wood
More pipes	Onward
Ghost mushrooms	More devil's claw - Maybe Halloween really is nigh.
A rock face	Little mushrooms

Keywords: little river, summer

08/06/19 - Obstruction Point - The Hike We went out to Obstruction Point again and took our usual walk along the ridge. Most of the snow had melted, and there was just a touch of late summer color - a bit of red and a bit of gold - creeping in. There are more pictures of flowers and marmots in another post.	This is actually a view from the start of Obstruction Point Road at Hurricane Ridge.
The trail	The little lake one sees descending the staircase
The stone staircase	Distant mountains with melting snow
Another bit of trail	Yet another bit under a big gray sky
The Olympic Mountains	Three recently melted lakes below a cirque
More of the trail - Can you guess which side is the north face?	Another view with a bit of autumn color
Distant mountains in the cloud	A peek at the big mountains
Still another bit of trail	Another spectacular view - The whole trail is like this.

Keywords: obstruction point, summer