Kaleberg Archive for Keyword: trails, Page: 3

We've done some more exploring in the Elwha River Valley. We've got some new pictures. We've played around with some Photoshop filters. We've updated our web page again.

We finally made it down to Hume's Ranch. For most people that isn't very spectacular, but for us it was quite a feat. We usually head towards Lilian Camp, but something drew us to the river this time. We even made our way towards the terrifying steel cable bridge, high over the Elwha, at Dodger's Point, but good sense asserted itself, and we backed off, squealing in terror.

Check out the latest Kaleberg hiking trail report on the Elwha River Valley to find out more.

Keywords: elwha, trails

03/06/07 - First Salamander (and Slug) of Spring

A lot of trails are closed right now. Whiskey Bend Road is more or less wiped out, and the Hoh Rain Forest is inaccessible. This means we are spending a lot of time on the Spruce Railroad Trail at Lake Crescent. We were out there a few days ago, and it sure smelled of spring. Today, it smelled even more spring-like. The currant and salmonberry blossoms are getting ready to bloom. Then we saw it. The first salamander of spring! We knew that slugs could not be far behind. We were right. A bit down the trail, there it was, a slug, slugging its way through the trail debris.

Eventually other trails will reopen, and even the high country will thaw out and open up, but for now, we are going to watch for spring.

We often have trouble believing how clear Lake Crescent water is. The upper rocks in this picture are under water. The water is radioactive pool blue, even without radioactive waste to make it glow.

Keywords: elwha, spruce railroad, spring, animals, salamander, slugs, high country, hoh rain forest, lake crescent, trails, salmon

12/24/06 - The Dungeness Dike Trail

We were exhausted from all our Christmas preparations and just wanted a place to stretch our legs so we checked out the Dungeness Dike Trail off Towne Road. It is right near the Dungeness Valley Creamery and Nash Huber's farm stand, so we could get some exercise and do some shopping.

The trail is a little gem. We had seen cars parked at the dike access area, and we had heard that this was a good area for birding, but now we have discovered another little treasure. Read our report for more info.

Keywords: dungeness dike trail, farms, trails, christmas, dungeness, nash huber, shopping

09/15/06 - Kalebergs' North Olympic Peninsula

We have put together a full color, 48 page book covering thirteen of our favorite day hikes in Olympic National Park. It is based on our web site, but it includes over 150 pictures of the area as well as our own maps and practical hiking advice. You can use it as a planning guide, a vacation tool, or a souvenir. It is available for $13.99 at lulu.com. They are a one-off web based printing and publishing outfit, so they'll print you a copy to order, or you can download the rather large PDF and print your own.

Whether you buy the book or not, do check out our descriptions of our favorite hikes. You can start at the Kalebergs' North Olympic Peninsula book page or North Olympic Peninsula map page and explore from there.

Thirteen day hikesi n Olympic National Park

Keywords: trails, maps

More Logs and Brush on the Elwha Trail

02/10/06 - Winter Trails in Olympic National Park

We don't stop hiking in the national park just because it is winter. True, we need to snowshoe up in the high country, and a lot of the high country roads are closed, but there is still some beautiful hiking down below. Even the recent winds and rains haven't kept us from the Spruce Railroad Trail along the north shore of Lake Crescent or from the Elwha River trail from Whiskey Bend towards Lilian Camp.

There was a recent wind storm that caused a lot of damage, though it was much worse in Seattle and the Puget Sound area. We could even see this on the weather map, which showed the wind speeds in Port Angeles as about a half to two thirds of the wind speeds in areas not sheltered by the mountains. If you fly in a small plane, you will often feel the strong winds starting as you fly over Discovery Bay, and out of the shelter of the Olympics. Still, our internet service was down for most of a day, and the Whiskey Bend Road was closed while the Park Service cleared the fallen trees and brush. Whiskey Bend Road is an interesting drive under the best of circumstances. About a lane and half wide, hard packed, but unpaved, it twists and turns and climbs along the ridge to the east of Lake Mills.

There was a fair bit of freshly sawn timber by the roadside, but the road was quite passable in our Honda Civic. There were a few trees down along the trail, and a fair bit of water in the little side creeks, but the trail was open and the views of the Elwha River and the surrounding hills as gorgeous as ever.

As for the Spruce Railroad Trail, the much disputed roads in the area seem to be open, though there were a good number of downed trees along the roadside, and a bit of brush on the road. Lake Crescent is high, but the water has been going down lately during this drier spell, so it is just one short step over water to get on the Devil's Punchbowl bridge. Our special surprise waterfall has dried up, but a number of other channels that are usually dry are now full of running water.

In other words, the roads are opena nd the trails are open, so take advantage of the sunny days of February.

Keywords: winter, trails, elwha, high country, lake crescent, port angeles, seattle, spruce railroad, maps, surprise waterfall

01/08/06 - The View From Storm King

Every so often we steel ourselves and drive out to the Barnes Creek area of Lake Crescent and climb Storm King. Storm King is one of the taller mountains on the south side of the lake, and it often creates its own rainshadow. Actually, we don't climb all the way to the top of Storm King. You need technical equipment, and a lot more oomph than we have, to do that. We climb about 1500 feet to the lookout to get a view of Lake Crescent and the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. That's Pyramid Peak across the lake in the picture to the left.

On a damp day like this, the trail has good traction. Usually, it is rather dusty, so it is easy to go skidding down in a wave of dust and gravel. Barnes Creek was full of water, and if we had had the strength we would have gone over and checked out Marymere Falls. We did take a short video of Barnes Creek, which might be fun to watch if you like to watch running water.

Keywords: storm king, trails, lake crescent, barnes creek

10/20/05 - Obstruction Point Road Before Winter

The road to Obstruction Point from Hurricane Ridge is still open.The trails are still clear, and the views are stunning. We didn't go very far, but Mount Olympus and its glaciers dominated our journey, and there was just a bit of left over snow from the previous season. We found these ice crystals (lower left) on the ground, shaded by one of the firs.

In a month or two, the ground will be covered with snow. On our drive, we saw a coyote hustling about, but the marmots have taken cover. There was one other car in the parking lot when we set off, and ours was the only car in the lot when we returned. We were quite relieved when the car started. It's a rough 7.5 mile hike back to Hurricane Ridge

No Snow On The Trails at Obstruction Point

Keywords: winter, obstruction point, hurricane ridge, marmots, trails

02/10/05 - Logging at Striped Peak

We had heard that there had been some logging at Striped Peak, so we weren't surprised to see the old trail out of the Salt Creek parking lot is now a full fledged, full width logging road. They've followed the old right of way, and it is still a steep ascent, about 960', from the playground to the high point of the trail.

It may not feel as wild as it used to, and if they do a lot more logging, it will feel even less so, but the views are still spectacular. We figured we'd better enjoy Striped Peak for now, and hope it doesn't get changed beyond recognition. At least they haven't found any shallow mining coal.

Keywords: trails, salt creek, striped peak

02/09/05 - The Elwha River Trail

We took advantage of the excellent weather to check out Whiskey Bend and the Elwha River Trail. The dirt road that leads up to Whiskey Bend was in excellent shape, though there has been a bit of erosion. The Park Service seems to have matters in hand, and they've put in some new reflectors at one of the narrow points. We made it fine with our Honda Civic, but we're not sure we'd do it in an SUV.

There was no snow or ice at the trailhead and there was none along the trail. There weren't even very many downed trees or branches which made it easier going than along the wind damaged Spruce Railroad Trail. We made it all the way down to Lilian Camp where the river is in winter roar. Still, we've heard it louder.

As usual, the light along the trail that follows the river valley is glorious. Most of the trail is in the shade, but now and then there is a glimpse of the mountains or a view up the valley. The photos here do not do the trail justice.

Keywords: elwha, trails, spruce railroad, winter

12/17/04 - The Snow Is Back On The Mountains

The snow is back on the mountains We were out on the Elwha Trail out of Whiskey Bend yesterday and we could not help noticing the difference.

Keywords: trails, elwha, high country

11/15/04 - Klahane Ridge

The weather has been rainy and blustery and the snow line has been creeping down. We were up at Klahane Ridge the other day and the path was easy going, but there was already a bit of snow on the ground here and there. As you can see in the picture to the right, there was perhaps an inch or so of snow total, and most of it has melted. Since yesterday's wind and rain this whole area is probably under several inches of snow, and it is not likely to melt until spring. One must take the high country when one can get it.

Keywords: high country, trails, klahane ridge, spring

08/09/04 - To The Lighthouse

Last week we took a walk on the Dungeness Spit which is an unusual sand formation jutting out from the North Olympic Peninsula into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. It is basically a sandbar shaped by the prevailing current from the west meeting the silty flow of the Dungeness River. The hike is about five miles each way, from the parking lot to the lighthouse and back, 4.5 miles of which are along the sand bar. You often see seals, cormorants, loons, and other wildlife, along with the sea traffic along the strait. There are excellent views of the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island, and a great sense of isolation being both so close to short and so cut off from it and surrounded almost completely by water.

On a cloudy day, the driftwood forest and the sky seem to be the same color. We tend to try and walk close to the water, so we can smell the sea and watch for washed up kelp and shells. The footing is also better closer to the see, since the wet sand holds one's weight better, and sand is easier to walk on than the lumpy, polished rocks that are deposited by the tide. The less determined hikers drop out by the one mile marker, which is next to the remains of a beached dinghy perched with the driftwood well above the sea. The bluffs vanish behind one as the spit curves between mile posts two and three. Then come the sandy tide pools stranded by the sand bars. By mile four, you often find a pod of seals who seem to hang around out towards the lighthouse.

It rained on our last trip, but the real challenges are the rocks and sand. You can wear a raincoat and broad brimmed hat, but the trick is to find the right low tide. Since our last trip, we've put together a little driver for finding tides using the XTide program. It is a really dinky little program, and in retrospect it seems kind of obvious. You might want to check it out before your next littoral adventure.

Keywords: dungeness spit, trails, dungeness, tides

08/03/04 - Salmon Off A Truck

Yesterday, we took a hike along the Elwha River Trail. We didn't get really far, but we did get to our favorite overlook between the two canyons on the route to Lilian Camp. This might not have been much of a hike by some people's standards, but we were tired enough after two and a half hours on the trail and an overall climb of about 950 feet.

Needless to say, by we were hungry on the drive home, so we planned to drop by the Safeway and get ourselves the fixings for a steak hash. We turned down Lincoln and there we saw our answer, right in the Rite Aid / Goodwill parking lot.

The Rite Aid and the Goodwill thrift shop share a huge parking lot, and often there will be someone in a van or pickup truck selling stuff at the far end. Sometimes they are selling firewood. Others sell flowers or fruit, today, there was a group selling salmon.

"SALMON", the sign screamed at us. We slammed on the brakes and turned in.

"What kind of salmon do you have?", we asked.

The blue and green light of the Elwha River Trail is something special. It's like an Impressionist painting.

We decided to experiment with our Sebsoft Impressionist special effect for iMovie. Click on the picture above for the Quicktime movie.

"We've got some silvers and also some king."

"King salmon, we'll take some of that."

"We caught them yesterday out near Neah Bay."

The next thing you know we were poking around in the ice chest on the back of the truck and breathing in the salty scent of the sea. Fresh fish doesn't smell like fish. It smells like the sea.

"Wow, that's a big one", we remarked pointing at what seemed the Moby Dick of salmon.

"That's the one everybody is asking what it weighs."

"Let's find out."

It weighed in at 13 1/2 pounds. It was quite a fish. We paid up and raced home. Safeway could wait.

While the grill heated up we took the last three of Nash Huber's nectarines we had on the counter, all eight of our Shiro plums from our dwarf trees, a few of our pie cherries, two medium onions, chopped, a whole bunch of Nash's coriander, some salt, some pepper and a couple of teaspoons a five spice powder, and we stuffed them into the boned fish. (We removed the spine and most of the bones ourself. It's hard to bone a fish on the back of a truck).

We wrapped the fish in aluminum foil and popped it on a hot fire. We were worried that the fire might be too hot, but the fish could take it. The skin and flesh merged to form a sort of crackling layer which was absolutely scrumptious.

We flipped the fish over after 25 minutes. It was quite a struggle. It weighed at least ten pounds without the head and tail, but we did it. The fire was cooler now, so we let the fish cook another 40 minutes. It was perfectly done. Even the onions in the middle were cooked. It was amazingly good. There is nothing quite like fresh salmon and a tart fruit based stuffing.

We had it with New Zealand spinach from the Farmer's Market, but that's another story.

Keywords: elwha, trails, fish, movies, flowers, nash huber, salmon

07/08/04 - New Bridge on the Lake Angeles Trail

We were up the Lake Angeles Trail today and noticed that the Park Service has put in a new bridge over the river. It is bigger and higher than the old bridge, but it feels quite sturdy and is just as easy to cross. Our thanks to the National Park Service.

The trail itself is in excellent shape, but do watch out for the slugs. They area all over the place, and no one wants to step on these kindly, if rather sluggish, denizens of the forest. Check out the specimen to the right. It's some kind of albino slug, and it even wiggled its antennae at us.

In addition to slugs, the recent wetter weather has also brought out the fungi, including this lovely yellow marvel. It fairly glowed at us this gray day. It's a good foot and a half across and probably growing at a good clip.

The New Bridge

The Lair of the White Slug

Keywords: lake angeles, trails, slugs

05/28/04 - Gravel Pit Tales

We were out on the Spruce Railroad Trail today, and we couldn't help noticing that the mud is back. That and the salamanders. You have to keep your eyes open, or you'll step on one of the unique species of the Olympic Peninsula. These little lizards are a sort of red gold, and as you can see in the photograph, they rather blend in to the background. The rain brings them out and it brings out the slugs, so this is a great time to explore the trails of Olympic National Park.

On our way west to the trailhead, we heard a cautionary tale about feeding wild animals. We picked up some gravel at the quarry a bit off of 101, west of the Elwha. We're retail customers and drive a Honda Civic. Most of the folks here drive umpty ton gravel trucks, or diggers, or grinders. It's sort of a grown up Tonka paradise.

Anyway, we stopped in at the office to be sociable, and pay for our gravel, and we heard the story of cougar.

It had been a hard winter, and the cougar was about as thin as a housecat. The owner of the quarry had never seen a big cat so skinny, and having several hundred pounds of hamburger going stale in the freezer decided to feed the poor thing. Needless to say, he carried his pistol, and he kept his distance, but the cat went for the beef and not for him.

As the season progressed, the cougar put on some weight and and started to flesh out a bit. A few hundred pounds of hamburger will do that to beast, or man. There's a documentary on this that just came out, which says something about restating the obvious. Needless to say, having been fed, the cougar was much more energetic, and the owner of the quarry was figuring it was time for the creature to return to the wild.

Then, one day, the cougar dropped by a neighbor's place and went for the ducks and geese right on the front porch. The neighbor shot it. So, if you do come to the Olympic Peninsula, think twice before feeding the wild animals.

Keywords: animals, spruce railroad, salamander, elwha, slugs, trails, winter

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