On the far side of the valley is the current river bed. The little bit of water in the image is just a few wandering streams that likely show a future river channel. This is the Chilkat River outside of Haines, Alaska.
Flood Plain
Pyramid Mountain
This mountain is outside of Haines, Alaska … I know it by Pyramid Mountain … but I’m not sure that is the official name. You can tell why it would have that name locally, regardless of what the maps say. I lived up in Haines one winter in the mid-70’s. I’ve heard that their annual snowfall has taken a big hit since then. The river is the Chilkat and at this point it is starting to be impacted by tidal flow. This was taken September 1st, so shows the low point of snow pack.
I may have emphasized the clouds some, but they were boring before. Just some increase in contrast.
Valley Fog
I really like watching valley fog up in mountain valleys as it changes and moves up the valley. It can be a constantly changing show. This is the North Fork Skokomish in Olympic National Park in November … this time of year (February) this same area can be a challenge to access due to snow.
North Fork Skokomish Winter Hike
In my last post I talked about a trip we took up the Staircase Rapids Trail along the North Fork Skokomish in Olympic National Park. This was a section of the rapids … where they are not quite so dramatic. But this spot gives a view up valley and the frost was covering the rocks along the bank (needs a close look in the photo). We hiked up to the bridge crossing the river and turned around and hiked back. The image below is taken from the middle of the bridge.
Staircase Area, Olympic National Park
We took a trip down to the North Fork Skokomish area this last weekend and parked just outside the Olympic National Park boundary … since the road was blocked off at that point. There is a nice forest service day use park there (but it’s small). It’s a mile and a half up a blacktop road to the Staircase Ranger Station and Campground … and we brought along our bikes. It was a nice ride (i.e. flat) and once we got to the campground, the road ended and we hiked up the river for a mile and a half, to the Staircase Rapid bridge. A beautiful winter day … lots of folks out enjoying the sun … but we were the only bikes. There were a lot more cars parked along the road than were day hiking. I’m sure there were several parties winter backpacking … much heartier than I.
The image below is just by the campground where we left the bikes.
