October 2018
Pacific Northwest
Olympic Peninsula. Lake Crescent (blue) is on the northern edge of Olympic National Park (dark green).
This past week I was on the Olympic Peninsula for our annual trip to the open ocean. Ordinarily we go in midwinter to maximize the drama of big waves and big storms, not to mention fewer people on the beaches, it being generally cold dark wet and windy. But this year we scheduled our trip to coincide with a weekend family gathering out there, an event my 93-year old mom was wishing for, and it worked out well. Granted, the ocean drama was less and the people more numerous on the beaches, but there were some unexpected pluses (in addition to a glorious day playing with my grandkids on the beach, climbing driftwood, building sandcastles, splashing in the creek and waves and all). First, there was more daylight to enjoy the outdoors, and second, it was pretty much peak foliage color time. I know I know, we in Washington state have nothing like you folks east of the Mississippi, but it’s still pretty gorgeous.
In coniferland, generally the only places we see deciduous color is in developed areas (including lots of nonnative trees like Japanese maples, Green ashes and such) or alongside waterways. Lake Crescent (not Crescent Lake) on the Olympic Peninsula is edged with native deciduous trees, predominantly Big Leaf maples, and Highway 101’s twisty 12 miles there are lined with them.
Lake Crescent is long and narrow, sculpted by Ice Age glaciers. The Olympic mountains rise steeply up from the shoreline on both sides, with enough runoff even in summer keeping the trees happy. The lake itself has crystal clear water which turns dazzling shades of turquoise, cobalt, aqua and other blues in summer. Rumored, but never actually seen by me, the deep cold waters are inhabited by a shy creature known as Cressie. Keep an eye out for her if you go by.
I took these pictures from the passenger seat of our car as we drove along the road. There’s construction going on there right now, resurfacing with asphalt and replacing the guardrails, so it was even more slow going than usual, but that’s fine by me! It’s the most beautiful stretch of road the whole way.
Westward, Thursday afternoon Oct 18, a partly sunny day:
Convoy following a pilot car.
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On the rocky slopes Pacific Madrona joins the mix.
The lake is on the right below those trees.
Midway along the lake the road goes through deeper forest, going over a small rocky point. Newly bare branches reveal epiphytic mosses draping the maple trees. Maples are glorious in every season.
Heading back down to the shoreline.
Occasionally you get a view of the shoreline ahead around a corner:
Still water reflections
One of the reasons they are having to resurface this road is because of the logging truck traffic. These gigantic heavy trucks come hurtling around these curves all day long, and have for decades. Empty westward, laden eastward, hauling logs cut from National Forest private land and state DNR property on the Peninsula. The faster they get their loads moved the more money they make, so the drivers push the limit. It’s a lot of fun being tailgated by a multi ton logging truck on a narrow road between a cliff and lake — not!
Note how small these trees were. When I was younger these trucks would carry just a few trees total per load. The old growth is gone now. I expect these are going for pulp.
This empty truck was following us westward (seen in rear view mirror). When it was close we could read its Trump bumper sticker. Rural Washington is conservative politically, even in a blue state overall.
Eastward, Tuesday Oct 23. Overcast day.
We were stopped longer this time waiting for the pilot car to lead traffic coming the other way. Construction requires closing one lane.
Looking up the slope into ferns and young maples. The conifers grow vertically regardless of the angle of the mountainside.
Installing new guardrails.
These new guardrails are higher since cars are higher now. They also have rubber between the rail and metal post so cars will bounce off rather than crumple.
Old guardrail. Cliff with netting to lessen chance of boulders falling onto cars and road.
Golden maple leaves drifting down. We JUST caught the colors this year. The trees had lost leaves in the few days between coming and going. I expect the colorful foliage will be gone next week.
Incidentally, among all those hundreds of Big Leaf maples I saw on my trip across the Olympic Peninsula, thankfully none showed signs of BigLeaf Maple Dieback that’s been seen elsewhere across the West. Very happy to see that.
Back home now, there’s showers and cool temperatures in the Pacific Northwest islands today.
What’s up in nature in your area today?
🍁
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