I turned in a draft of my spatial model methods and results yesterday, so today we went for a hike in Olympic National Park because it's 70 and sunny and perfect outside. Tomorrow, I leave for a work trip to Anchorage where it's in the 30s-50s, with a chance of snow. Got to enjoy some sun while I can!
We headed around towards Hood Canal, then up the valley around Cushman Lake to a trailhead that was pretty empty when we left, but really full of people and cars when we got back. It was also pretty cool and cloudy at the trailhead, and about 20 degrees cooler than the sunny day we had in Olympia when we left. But the forecast said the clouds over the Olympic peninsula would burn off, and boy did they! This was the view of the upper end of Lake Cushman when we left for the drive back home:
We hiked along the Skookum river, or a fork of it, at least. We also crossed the river or small tributaries a couple of times too.
We've had some terrible wind storms here over the past six months, and the trail was littered with downed trees. We had to crawl up and over and shimmy under about four big ones that were too long to walk around (with all the undergrowth in the way).
I think the white trees are dead from a fire a long time ago. I though they looked pretty with the clouds around. On the sand bar in the foreground there was a lot of elk poop, but we didn't see any elk.
On our way back out the sun started to peek out. The water color of the river was a beautiful blue, with incredibly clear water.
We stopped for a snack in the sun.
Happy April!
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