Category: River

Elk in Winter

Elk in Winter 1

The Olympic Elk (or Roosevelt Elk … Teddy, not FDR) are much easier to see in winter when they are hanging out in the lowlands than in the summer when they wander around much of the Olympic National Park and at some high elevations. The first three shots are of the “Dosewallips herd” … in fact, the first two shots were taken in Dosewallips State Park. Number 3 was taken just across the river in the town of Brinnon … in the school yard. Number 4 is of the Skokomish herd, pictured crossing the North Fork of the Skokomish River at the upper end of Lake Cushman.

Elk in Winter 2
Elk in Winter 3
Elk in Winter 4
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Middle Elwha

Middle Elwha

The Elwha River has been getting a lot of press lately. It is the site of one of the largest dam removal projects to date. Salmon runs are returning in numbers (miles and miles of recovered salmon breeding habitat), the delta is being rebuilt and numerous species (including bears and birds) are benefiting from the decaying salmon carcasses.

The section shown here is between the two dams that were removed (the Elwha Dam below this point and the Glines Canyon Dam above).

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My Favorite Lunch Spot Views

Lunch Spot View 1

There is a nice rocky knoll about 1.5 miles in from the trailhead of the North Fork Skokomish river trail (Olympic National Park). I have hiked the trail around a hundred times, I suppose, in all kinds of weather, in all times of the year. My favorite spot for lunch is this knoll … although the quality of the view is now being reduced due to the growth of trees in the previous slide area. This was part of the area of the Beaver Fire in the late 1980’s (you can still see some of the resulting snags) … and the slides the following winter/spring wiped out additional areas that didn’t burn. The slides did create some views that are now going away … it’s worth it, but the views will be missed.

Lunch Spot View 2
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Staircase and the North Fork Skokomish

The North Fork Skokomish near Staircase

The image above shows the North Fork Skokomish river just above the Staircase area in the Olympic National Park. If you look closely, you can see the bridge that runs across the river … providing access tof the Staircase Loop Trail. This is a very wide angle lens … which causes the curvature distortion. The image below is taken from the bridge looking further downriver.

At the bottom, a section of the North Fork Skokomish trail running through Maple Flats, about 6 miles up from the Staircase area.

North Fork Skokomish from the Staircase bridge
Maple Flats area of the North Fork Skokomish trail
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Dosewallips Camp Area

Dosewallips Trail

I have posted several images of hikes along the Dosewallips River trail in the Olympic National Park. Here are a few more images that I enjoy and thought I would share. The first (above) shows the trail above the old Dosewallips Campground (below) … now isolated by about 6 miles by washout of the road. Hiking the (closed gravel) road is a different experience than the lovely trail shown above. The bottom image shows the river dropping down the steep rapids (falls) just below the campground … the highlight of the road hike.

Dosewallips Campground
Dosewallips Falls
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