Kaleberg Symbionts

Hurricane Ridge Melt Watch

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0700

05/10/13 - Hurricane Ridge Melt Watch

We've been watching the snow melt at Hurricane Ridge on the park webcams, and we've been following the snow depth at the weather website, but we had to drive up and see what is happening live.

The Kaleberg Report - The snow is melting rapidly. We were quite surprised. The phlox is in bloom a bit below the Switchback trailhead, so the high country is opening for the season. The biggest surprise was the state of the road to Hurricane Hill. It was blocked off by a barricade of orange highway cones, but instead of the usual high ramparts ending in a wall of snow, the road seems to have been plowed, at least as far as we could see. It may even be open now as you read this.

Elwha - Down to the River

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 +0700

05/08/13 - Elwha - Down to the River

We didn't really get down to the river, but we get down far enough to have a good view of it. The glacial melt is starting, but it's still early in the season. The tiarella are not yet in bloom, so we'll probably have to come down to the woods near Hume's ranch to watch their progress. Meanwhile the trilliums are starting to show their age with many petals turning a subtle pink.

One thing we particularly noticed, as we took this hike on a very sunny day, was that while most of the trail is purely of the Pacific northwest, there are dry stretches where one turns a bend or comes out of the forest, and it feels as if one were hiking in California. The vegetation changes, and the smell of the trail changes. If we didn't know the trail and where we were, we'd imagine we were hundreds of miles south. Then, the trail turns or reenters the forest, and we are back in the Pacific northwest.

Catalan Salmon

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Sun, 05 May 2013 00:00:00 +0700

05/05/13 - Catalan Salmon

There was a dearth of good salmon a while back, but now that the good stuff is coming in we made one of our favorite salmon party dishes, Catalan stuffed salmon. The way we make it isn't really stuffed, we just have three layers in our baking dish. The bottom layer is just thinly sliced potatoes, chopped up tomatoes and thinly sliced onions. The middle layer is the stuffing with shrimp, cocktail olives, hard boiled eggs, garlic, bread, sherry, milk and a couple of raw eggs to bind it. The top layer is the salmon, and we pour a half cup each of white wine, lemon juice and olive oil over the dish before baking. It's a bit of a production, but it's always a real treat.

The Dungeness Dike

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/30/13 - The Dungeness Dike

The Dungeness Dike Trail has its trailhead along a pretty stretch of Towne Road, not far from the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse. It's a pretty tame walk, but it offers spectacular mountain views. The trail follows the river, as it is a dike, and there are side trails that lead down to the river proper. We saw a few adult bald eagles flying around the fields, possibly a mated pair, and, by the river, we saw a group of three young bald eagles who posed for photos.

Spring Changes on the Elwha Trail

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/28/13 - Spring Changes on the Elwha Trail

We were back on the Elwha Trail out of Whiskey Bend and couldn't help noticing a lot of changes. To start with, there were trilliums everywhere, or at least everywhere with enough water. (Trilliums like streams and drainage ditches.) There were also a lot of other flowers, but the real change was the light. The Northwest isn't noted for its sunny days, but when we have them the forest floor is transformed. The tree trunks are steely pillars and the undergrowth just glows.

Lake Angeles Trail Update

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

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 Trilliums of Spring

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/24/13 - The Trilliums of Spring

It really is spring now. We were out on Lake Crescent looking for trilliums, and we found them. They are coming out in force. There are also a lot of other spring flowers.

Winter Crespeou

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/22/13 - Winter Crespeou

A crespeou is a multi-layered omelet with each layer being a small, two egg omelet, with suitable accompaniments, in its own right. We usually associate this dish with the late summer or early autumn when we can find all sorts of fresh vegetables, but last year was disappointing, and this winter has dragged on long enough, so we were craving one. So, we made a winter crespeou using what ingredients we could find in all too early spring.

Our crespeou had five layers, from bottom up:

some baby potatoes, sauteed in olive oil until tender.
some dandelion greens and parsley from our garden, sauteed in olive oil with dry cured black olives
diced roasted red pepper with pine nuts
diced raddicio, sauteed in olive oil, with anchovies
diced tomatoes with mint This dish takes some preparation, slicing, roasting and dicing the various ingredients, but it doesn't require much of each. We cooked each layer separately in a crepe pan, and then stacked them to make a lovely five layer crespeou. Knock wood, that will hold us until late summer, or maybe not.

Elwha Trail Out of Whiskey Bend and Our First Trilliums

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/20/13 - Elwha Trail Out of Whiskey Bend and Our First Trilliums

Whiskey Bend Road has been open most of the winter, but we were waiting for a clement, sunny day. Then we turned off the paved road and made our way to the trailhead and were pleasantly surprised. The trail was as green and lush as ever with streamlets and little waterfalls here and there. We headed down after Michael's Cabin, rather than up, but we didn't get all the way to Hume's Ranch. Instead, we turned at the waterfall.

It was on our way back that we were surprised. We saw the first trillium of the year growing by one of the little waterfalls. Somehow, we never seem to see trilliums on our way out on a hike. Maybe we are too intent on our destination. Maybe they all grow on the wrong side of the trail or pointing in wrong direction. But, on the way back, there they are.

The Science of Middle Earth

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/15/13 - The Science of Middle Earth

Science is learning all sorts of new things about the earth, particularly about hot plumes rising from the mantle and creating islands in the Pacific and splitting continents. For the latest, we checked out the April 5th, 2013 issue of Science Magazine, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science:

"Plumes of all sizes seem to rise from two huge piles of who-knows-what sitting 2900 kilometers down at the bottom of Earth's mantle embedded in a mystery layer hundreds of kilometers thick. The outline of an operating manual is coming into view, but some pieces of the Earth engine are yet to be labeled."

We are definitely on the frontier here. Let's face it: no one knows what; it is a mystery layer. That's real science.

Even More Walla Walla

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/14/13 - Even More Walla Walla

Before dinner, we explored downtown Walla Walla a bit. Most of the downtown area seems to have been built in the early 20th century, so there are lots of nice old buildings to look at. We made a quick stop at El Corazon Winery which is right in town and looks as much like a hip bar as a winery. Then we wandered around a bit and dropped into Salumiere Cesario which sells charcuterie, salumi, cheese and other gourmet items. It looked like a great place to pack a picnic lunch.

Then we went to dinner at Saffron, a mediterranean restaurant which made the most amazing turkish lamb flatbread sandwich called a gozleme. It tastes like they put grape leaves and zaatar in it. We ordered one to go for breakfast. We also tried the lamb fatee, a stew with lamb and celeriac. Our appetizers were the grilled quail and grilled octopus, two separate dishes. Everything was wonderfully prepared and wonderfully spiced. The serving staff was great, especially given that it was Cayuse weekend, and the house was packed.

Walla Walla Continued

rssfeedback@kaleberg.com — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0700

04/13/13 - Walla Walla Continued

We wandered a bit more and dropped by Reynvaan Winery which made wines in what they called a French style, but they were too high alcohol for us.

We did get to learn more about the area. The Walla Walla valley is a broad, flat expanse, but bounded by gently rolling hills. The wineries occupy much of the flat land, but they also follow the land as it rises. The wine makers try to take advantage of the varying temperatures and exposures, as well as the type of land itself. Some vineyards have river stones arrayed between the rows of vines to hold the heat better. Others simply rely on the weather and land.

Wine making is an interesting business. Even we can understand its appeal. Back at our hotel, there was a winery for sale right outside our window. It looked like a bit of a fixer upper, in need of a lot of work and some replanting. Presumably this was reflected in the price what with it being "for sale by owner" rather than through a realtor. We were truly tempted, but we had other fish to fry this trip.