Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: flowers, Page: 3

09/28/09 - Fall Color in the High Country Autumn is a great time to explore the high country of Olympic National Park. If nothing else, the colors can be spectacular. The alpine flowers peak early in the summer, but then the vegetation dries and withers. In the fall the foliage gets a second chance with its brilliant autumn colors. We drove out to Obstruction Point to see if this year's dry spell would deprive us of our anticipated reds and golds. As it turned out, we had no reason to worry. The trail crossed quite a few patches of bright red. It was like walking the Field of Mars. We also had a great marmot sighting. One of the little guys was right by the road. We just had to stop and roll down our window for an amazing close up view. All told, 2009 has been a great year for marmot watching.	One of our local golden marmots
The same guy, on the lookout	Some scenery
More scenery	Lingering snow
Bright red	More autumn color
One of those garden show rock gardens	The trail through the Field of Mars

Keywords: autumn, flowers, high country, marmots, obstruction point

08/26/09 - Great Year For Grouse You can really see the change in color up at Hurricane Hill. The grasses are getting golden, and most of the flowers have passed into straw. The mountains are spectacular as ever, and there are grouse all over the place. You just have to keep an eye on the tall grass.	Passing green
Scenery	More scenery
Watch out. They'll eat your shoelaces.	A grouse: one of many
More scenery, and if you look carefully at the rocks you'll see a marmot.	Even more scenery
More grouse	A young grouse
Late flowers and the mountains	The last of the corn lilies

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, high country, grouse

08/25/09 - Obstruction Point: Late Summer Summer is brief in the high country. Spring comes in a rush with the melting snows, and then there is a brief time when the land is lush with alpine blooms. Then the warmth and dry air of summer do their work and make ready for autumn. It isn't autumn yet, but the landscape is sere. Still, there is the awesome beauty of the high country and the more subtle blossoms of late summer.	Just another view
More scenery - Are we jaded yet?	The trail on top of the world
Mountain lakes and lingering snow	Paintbrush
Some succulent we were too lazy to look up	Late lupines - Hurry if you want your lupine fix.
The kind of stuff they try for at garden shows	The fields
Flowers	and more flowers

Keywords: obstruction point, autumn, flowers, high country, summer

08/08/09 - Frogs at Lake Angeles Some time back we mentioned the frogs peeping up at Lake Angeles. We didn't see them back then, but we saw one of them on our last visit.	One of the frogs of Lake Angeles
Scenery	Corn lilies in bloom

Keywords: lake angeles, flowers

07/27/09 - Klahane Ridge and the "Kick in the Ass" Usually by the time we reach Klahane Ridge via the Switchback Trail we are so exhausted that we take a rest, turn around and head back down. But, now and then we continue along the trail that leads down to Lake Angeles. This trail heads along open mountainside, generally covered with wildflowers, and then into a series of "rooms" delineated by trees and rock formations, each carpeted with its own display of alpine blossoms. If you get up to Klahane Ridge and you have the strength, it is definitely worth walking another ten or fifteen minutes and climbing the additional hundred and something feet to explore these amazing gardens. We were discussing this part of the trail with a fellow hiker one day, and she knew exactly what we were talking about. "That's the little extra kick in the ass", she said, and given what it takes to go on after climbing the first 1400 feet or so, we understood her exactly. If you don't think you can handle the climb, you can still enjoy our pictures.	One of the "rooms" with its magic carpet
One of the "towers"	More magic carpet
A carpeted glade	A carpet with a view
The open slope abloom	Spectacular scenery

Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge, lake angeles

07/12/09 - Obstruction Point 2 - Flowers and Animals The trails leading from Obstruction Point have a lot to offer besides spectacular scenery. If you can take your eyes off the mountains for a moment, you'll notice that you are surrounded by dozens of different kinds of plants, and right now it seems that most of them are in bloom. There are lupines, asters, glacier lilies and paintbrush in red, orange and pink. If you are lucky, you might see one of the local golden marmots, or a blue sage grouse, a chipmunk or deer. So, don't let the drive daunt you. This may be your chance to see Obstruction Point at its most varied best.	These look like miniature lupines with silvery leaves.
Our friend, the marmot	Pink paintbrush
Lupines and friends	This reminds of the silverswords at Haleakala on Maui
More blooms	More paintbrush, but another shade
A young deer	A blue sage grouse taking a sand bath

Keywords: obstruction point, trails, high country, flowers, animals, marmots, grouse

06/24/09 - The Hall of the Mountain Goat Our most recent journey up the Switchback Trail was more menacing than usual. True, the ridge was no higher than ever, and the trail no steeper. True, the light clouds portended no stormy disaster. It was only the hastily posted mountain goat warning stapled to the trailhead sign that gave us a clue as to what awaited us. We had further warnings on our ascent. One hiker had turned back in defeat. Tales were told of a jogger who had been followed by the angry beast. Still, our experiences with mountain goats had generally been uneventful, save for the loud clicking and whirring of our digital camera. This time, however, was different. We met the goat after climbing a full thousand feet. Mount Olympus now loomed over Sunrise Point. The goat was on the trail above us and proved to be a cool customer. He took note of us, nibbled some greens, then made his way down the trail towards us. Nimbly, he took the switchback. Viciously, he nibbled the vegetation. We tried moving forward, then forward again. The goat hissed in warning. We had gone too far. The goat would not be moved. He, for the goat was a billy, would not let us pass. We retreated and contemplated our failure. Cabrito, we have savored, but this fellow was beyond our limited capacity. We started our retreat, but then fate intervened in the form of another pair of hikers, better adapted to the rigors of the trail than we. We pointed out our nemesis. They took our intelligence calmly. "The slingshot," said the woman. "The slingshot," replied the man extracting said weapon from his backpack. Armed, our party advanced. He chose a few pebbles from the trail, each no larger than a quarter for the most part. His first shot fell short. The second connected. The goat stopped his nibbling and looked about. A second pebble followed. The goat moved on down the mountainside, abandoning the contested stretched of trail. The goat had abandoned the trail proper, but was still close by, threatening. We advanced. We consolidated our victory with one or two pebbles more. The goat wanted no more of us, and sauntered a few yards farther from the trail. The way was clear! Our victory was the ridge itself, and the view had never been better for having been earned in adversity.	Our nemesis, almost
Ominously nibbling beside the trail	Vanquished
The view	North face and south face
The bonsai garden	Phlox - the scent of victory
A fuzzy picture of a marmot	The marmot in context
The hillside is in bloom.	Bog orchids are in bloom by the roadside. We had to follow our noses.

Keywords: klahane ridge, animals, marmots, flowers

06/16/09 - Butchart Gardens We spent a day up in Victoria, BC, mainly visiting Butchart Gardens. They have a garden for every taste, with arrays of roses, formal beds, Japanese styled plantings and a wonderful sunken garden set in an old quarry and now a fantasy of ponds and plantings. We had dim sun at Don Mee in town, then wore out our seats at the iMax at the Royal BC Museum.	Leaving Port Angeles on the Victoria Express
The rose garden	The Japanese garden
A hungry resident	The harbor
The Italian garden	The sunken garden: a repurposed quarry
One of many water lilies	The fountain

Keywords: flowers, victoria

06/14/09 - Angelcrest Farm We recently needed a new hanging basket, so we stopped at Angelcrest Farm on route 112, west of Port Angeles. We had driven by quite a few times, but never had occasion to stop in. Now we had an excuse, and we were well rewarded. They had a great variety of hanging baskets, and a good selection of plants on sale. We bought a white fuschia, and we plan to return.

Keywords: port angeles, farms, flowers

06/12/09 - The Marmots of Hurricane Hill Not only is the trail to Hurricane Hill nearly free of snow, but there are a number of golden marmots there including a baby. The flowers are all in bloom, so this is the time to go.	A marmot at the summit
View from the hill	Lingering snow on the north slope
The trail is lined with phlox.	Another view
The flowers are out.	Flowers from the stone

Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, marmots

06/11/09 - Pacific Dogwood and Tiarella Pacific dogwood and tiarella are blooming along the lower parts of the Lake Angeles Trail. Only a few trilliums are left, but a new season has started.

Keywords: lake angeles, flowers, trillium

06/06/09 - Hurricane Hill We haven't made it all the way up Hurricane Hill, but we have been making progress. The road from the lodge at Hurricane Ridge to the trailhead for the Hurricane Hill hike is still closed, though most of the snow has melted. The road isn't in very good shape, so the park service may be reluctant to use their heavy plows on it. So, we hiked from the lodge the to the trailhead and then a fair ways uphill. Our efforts were well rewarded. The high country flowers are coming out in spades. The trail is lined with phlox, lupine spikes, glacier and avalanche lilies, paintbrush and a host of other flowers we haven't bothered to look up yet. Even with a stuffed nose, we couldn't miss the sweet scent of the phlox. We usually aren't big on sneak previews, but this year looks like a great year for the flowers on the Hurricane Hill trail.	Phlox in the rock garden
We aren't sure of what this plant is, but that butterfly seemed to like it.	Lupines and paintbrush
Some deer in silhouette	This is where we turned around. This is usually the last part of the trail to melt, so if we had pushed on we could have made it to the summit.
Glacier lilies - Look closely and you'll see a small blue butterfly.	An avalanche lily
Mushrooms seem to be doing well this year.	The view - The mountains seem to have made it through another winter.

Keywords: flowers, high country, hurricane hill, hurricane ridge, spring

06/03/09 - First Climb To Klahane Ridge For 2009 We made it up to Klahane Ridge today. Thanks to the warm spring weather, most of the snow on the trail has melted, and even we, the Klumsy Kalebergs, managed to make it up the Switchback Trail to the ridge. There was some snow on the trail, but we managed to clamber through it with our trusty Yak Trax. At this rate of melt, if you tried the trail tomorrow, you'd wonder what all our fuss was about. The trail was lined with furious alpine growth, and there were already some summer flowers, including avalanche lilies, lupines, and wonderfully scented phlox. The views were stupendous, and even as we climbed, we could sense the snow melting. On our way down, we noticed that the band of snow nestled in the corner of Mount Angeles was melting into a series of cascades. The high country is open, and the Switchback Trail is as spectacular as ever.	The trail and the mountains
Phlox in the foreground, Sunrise Point in the mid-ground and the Olympic Mountains in the background	North slope, south slope
More mountains, of all things	Port Angeles and the Strait below
The ridge and the mountains	A mushroom
An avalanche lily	Lupines
The snow melting - Click to enlarge, and you can see the waterfalls.	The band of snow

Keywords: flowers, high country, klahane ridge, spring

05/09/09 - The Spruce Railroad Trail

There are more flowers coming out on the Spruce Railroad Trail. There is even a bit of salmonberry, which is supposed to bloom in February or March, so we are having a late spring.

We'll also note another tree down, so it may be tricky getting by on horseback. It wasn't too bad on foot. The fallen tree is a bit west of the metal bridge at the Devil's Punchbowl.

Paintbrush

We love the way this just grows out of the rock.

A fallen tree

Keywords: flowers, spring, spruce railroad, salmon

04/30/09 - Elwha Update

Spring is coming to the Elwha Trail which starts at Whiskey Bend. There are more people, more trilliums and even some other flowers around. The male grouse are lekking, setting up bachelor pads to attract les femmes. Their deep, booming cry, almost a glottal stop, apparently does something for the ladies. There must be a good number of grouse about judging from the sound of things.

An obligatory trillium shot

Looking downstream

A local orchid

Keywords: elwha, flowers, spring, trillium, grouse

04/19/09 - Flowers Along The Spruce Railroad Trail

We are finally having a few real spring days, and that means that April showers are at long last yielding April flowers. Of particular note, the trilliums are coming out along the Spruce Railroad Trail. These three petaled flowers are a bit hard to spot, at least at first. Our experience is that we don't see any trilliums until we are a mile or two down the trail, but then, once we see our first blossom, we start seeing lots of others. On the final leg of our hike it seems like every other plant is a trillium, and we can't help but wonder how we missed a veritable carpet of these lovely flowers.

There are also a lot of other flowers blooming, including some of the succulents growing out of the rocks in the sunnier parts of the trail. If you crouch down and look carefully you can see lots of little flowers in the sunny patches. We aren't sure of what all these flowers are, but the ones here were growing out of gravel, which is probably why they are blooming so early, where "so early" is strictly comparative.

Keywords: flowers, spring, spruce railroad, trillium

04/15/09 - First Flowering at Lake Crescent If we seemed fixated on blossoms this season, blame it on the long winter and slow spring we've been having. The good news from the Spruce Railroad Trail along Lake Crescent is that the flowering currant is flowering, and the first paintbrush flowers are coming out in that sunny area near the footbridge.	Flowering currant, actually flowering
The first paintbrush of the season	Lake Crescent, as ever

Keywords: flowers, lake crescent, spring, spruce railroad

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