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05/17/11 - Seen on the Spruce Railroad Trail

It's definitely getting more spring like.

An abstract painting (Can you spot the salamander and how many didn't we see?)

Actual flowers

Actual mushroom (Sorry, no plural)

Green

Greener

Flowing water

Those spooky old maples

Keywords: flowers, salamander, spring, spruce railroad


03/31/11 - Spruce Railroad Spring Report

At long last, spring is coming to the Spruce Railroad Trail on Lake Crescent. On our most recent hike we were greeted by salamanders, and there was even a bit of wild currant in bloom. It was a typical cloudy day, and the mountains, still covered with snow, loomed mysterious.

Oh yes, the trail is a bit muddy.


"Welcome to the Spruce Railroad Trail."

Snow and clouds in the mountains and valleys

More mystery

Mount Storm King draped in cloud

The rocks are alive.

Some madronas

Some wild currant blossoms

Another salamander

Yet another salamander - There were a lot of them. We stepped carefully.

Keywords: lake crescent, salamander, spring, spruce railroad, storm king


09/30/10 - Save The Spruce Railroad Trail

We are leaving this post up here at the top of our site because we want to get the word about the proposed changes out as best we can. Scroll down a bit for our usual updates.

The Spruce Railroad Trail is in danger. The park service and the county are seriously considering a plan to eliminate the existing wilderness trail and replacing it with a twelve foot wide, sturdily paved transportation corridor relegating its traditional users - hikers, joggers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders - to a three foot wide unpaved margin. Basically, they want to turn it into an urban bike path with some accomodation for the rest of us.

If you explore the Spruce Railroad Trail now, you get a true national park experience, with ferns, salal, mosses, and sometimes salamanders lapping at your feet. You can stop by the trail side an picnic or just rest on a rock or log. The trail has a soft surface which makes for easier hiking and jogging. The proposed transportation corridor eliminates all of this. It uses most of the right of way, eliminating a lot of the vegetation and natural diversity. It will be paved, changing the scent and atmosphere, and increasing runoff into Lake Crescent.


The current trail, and one of the wider sections

The proposed "improved" version
If you want to find out more, you can check the park's web site and the section on the proposed transportation corridor.

The plan is still open for public comment, but not for much longer. They've been rather quiet about it given its impact. There was a small notice on the cluttered bulletin board at the trailhead, but little else. You can:



Keywords: lake crescent, port angeles, salamander, spruce railroad


09/07/10 - The Salamanders Are Back

Now that the rains are back, the slugs and salamanders are back as well. We saw a couple of our local salamanders on the Lake Angeles trail, so watch your step.

They are usually better camouflaged than this.

Keywords: salamander, lake angeles



Yet another salamander

03/16/10 - Seen On The Spruce Railroad Trail

You are probably getting tired of all the pictures of salamanders we have been posting. Sorry, but here's another. We saw five salamanders on the trail, possibly a record.

Keywords: salamander, spruce railroad


02/13/10 - Lake Crescent: Salamander Alert

We know this has been a mild winter, but we didn't expect to see salamanders out and about in February. There they were, right in the middle of the Spruce Railroad Trail. They can be tricky to see, so it is a wonder we didn't step on one. We spotted two or three of them. (We may have spotted the same salamander twice.) We also noticed that the big logs that had been blocking the trail had been removed, clearly by the hand, and most likely chainsaw, of man. The trail is in great shape, and rain or shine, it is a beautiful trail.

Salamander #1

Scenery

Salamander #2

More scenery

Salamander #3, or possibly Salamander #1 spotted again on our way back along the trail

Keywords: salamander, spruce railroad, winter



12/01/09 - The Last Salamander of the Season

This has to be the last salamander of the season. It was an awfully cold day for salamanders when we spotted him on the Spruce Railroad Trail.

Keywords: salamander, spruce railroad


09/24/09 - Lake Angeles Trail Salamander

Olympic salamanders are all over the place. We ran into this little feller on the Lake Angeles trail. Unlike slugs, salamanders can be pretty hard to spot, and it seems that every other twig looks something like a slug or salamander. Still, it pays to watch where one steps on the trail.

We love the crazy geometric background

Keywords: lake angeles, salamander


05/12/09 - Hazy Day On Dungeness Spit

There were some good tides at Dungeness Spit, so we decided to make the most of them. The day was sunny inland, but there was a sea haze out on the spit. There were also salamanders on the trail down. The beach itself was broad, but surprisingly rough going with lots of rocks and soft sand. We didn't get as far as we had hoped, but we did enjoy our visit.

If you want to explore the spit yourself, check the tides on our tide pages, or just follow the column to the left of this article. Down towards the bottom is a list of the next good tides at Dungeness, La Push and Cape Alava.


One salamander ...

The descent to the spit

... and another

The beach ...

... and just some of the rocks

Keywords: dungeness spit, salamander, tides


05/04/09 - The Spruce Railroad Trail - Watch Your Step

Watch your step on the Spruce Railroad Trail. We've been spotting our share of salamanders, snakes and slugs. That's the three S's. Then again, it's always worth keeping one's eyes open on the trail.

Salamanders

Snakes

Slugs

Spooky maple trees

Some flowers

Keywords: salamander, slugs, spruce railroad



03/26/09 - Another Sign of Spring, We Hope

We'll admit it. We're getting pretty hard up for signs of spring around here, so this salamander picture taken on the Spruce Railroad Trail is going to have to do. Yes, we know that we post an awful lot of pictures of these little fellows, but they are only found on the Olympic Peninsula and they are pretty neat. Watch out, we might get a salamander-cam and offer live coverage. Or, better yet, spring might come.

Keywords: salamander, spring, spruce railroad



03/03/09 - First Salamander of the Season

Salamander season has officially stared out at Lake Crescent. We stepped over this little fellow towards the east end of the Spruce Railroad Trail.

Keywords: lake crescent, spruce railroad, animals, salamander


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