Category: Meadow

Ooops. My mistake (but it turned out well)

Soft image Meadow Walk

Starting off in the early morning in the high country of the Olympics, it can be a little be chilly, even in the summer. When I took this image, I thought there was something odd looking through the viewfinder. After clicking the image, I checked the lens and it had acquired a thin layer of condensation on the lens. I cleaned the lens, but the image was a keeper anyway. This is the West Fork Dosewallips trail … frequently hiked by folks coming up the East Fork Quinault and crossing Anderson Pass and exiting the Dosewallips Trail on a cross Olympic National Park hike. (we were dayhiking up LaCrosse Pass from Honeymoon Meadow)

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Bear Grass and Tow-headed Baby

Bear Grass

Just a couple of flower photos to brighten up the last few days of (calendar) winter. Both Bear Grass and Tow-headed Baby are relatively common wildflowers in Olympic National Park. Tow-heads are an anemone that have gone to seed (aka western pasque flower). Towheads are found in mountain meadow areas, but bear grass is found at most elevations.

Tow-headed Baby
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Critters on the Trail

Olympic Marmot in the Trail

These two photos were from the same hike, the same day. Below shows hiking the Hayden Pass Trail (in Olympic National Park) … and you can see a momma bear and cub crossing the hillside just below the large rock outcrop. On the other side of the pass we had an Olympic Marmot on the trail … and we were very glad it was a marmot and not a momma bear and cub. (neither bear nor marmot attacked)

Hayden Pass Trail (with Momma Bear and cub)
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From Worst to Best

Cat Basin in Fog

These photos are from a long ago hike. One of the toughest days I have had backpacking … the “off trail” traverse from Appleton Pass to Cat Basin in the Olympic National Park. As we struggled across the side hill, the clouds came in and our visibility dropped. While we were on the sidehill, there was no real chance of losing our way, since we could just keep the uphill side to our right, until we ran into the Cat Basin Trail that comes in from the High Divide. We were tired and set up camp in a small flat spot above the trail. We were sorta miserable and thought the spot was one of the worse we had camped in. But in the morning, the cloud was gone and we were looking directly down into Cat Basin and a herd of a hundred or so Olympic Elk. It went from one of the worse camps we had to one of the best … in a few hours.

Elk in Cat Basin
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High in the Olympics

High in the Olympics

While I have been posting a lot of shoreline images lately, I really prefer the high country in the Olympics. Of course, this time of year, they are totally snowed in. One must dream of summer … although even in August, there is still snow.

And, even if snow-free, this area isn’t easy to access. You need to hike at least 15 miles to get to the trailhead.

(Please note the hiker on the trail in the lower left)

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