[Hesman]

Hike up the closed portion of the Dosewallips Road to just before the national park boundary. The river was quite full of water. There were a number of flowers in bloom and I discovered that Vine Maples have an interesting flower. Saw a few overnight hikers heading to the old car campground for the night. Had a good walk and not much else to say, except: enjoy the flower pictures!

Vine Maple

[meck]

Beautiful photos Hesman! How bikeable do you think it is to the NP boundary, lots of blowdown?

[Hesman]

Meck! It’s very bikeable, not a single tree across the road. Though there is one spot about half a mile up the road from the Elkhorn campground where small trees along the road haven’t had their limbs trimmed in a long time and the path through was not straight so there were blind corners. So coming down the road at a good clip, you would not see someone coming the other way. Just a fyi.

[The Ghost of Bear 380]

So beautiful @Hesman! Those flower shots are amazing and dreamy!

[Anne Elk]

Were the rhodies in bloom yet, Hesman? I've done that walk and part way up the Lake Constance trail 7-10 days later in the month. I didn't see all those lovely small flowers (past bloom?) but the rhodies were gorgeous. I discovered how "ballerina-like" and delicate native rhodies look in their natural habitat, compared to cultivars in the city which I often refer to as "le blobs". You see so much more now that the road is closed - a compensation, I guess, for the longer access to where you want to go - especially Constance.

[Hesman]

The rhododendrons were not in bloom when I went.

[Salal]

The rhodies are probably blooming now. Certainly are at lower elevations.

[zimmertr]

I went up to Goat Lake on the peninsula yesterday and did see a handful of them but they are largely still green buds. Also the Little Quilcene trail remains the best Rhodie show I've ever seen. Near the bottom third, I recall you're in a tunnel of them for like a half mile or more. Awesome.

[Hesman]

The Tubal Cain trail is like that too. I would guesstimate it’s about a mile of rhodies. I have a native rhododendron in my yard that I planted several years ago and this year was the first time it bloomed. It’s been blooming for about two weeks now.

[Hiker Mama]

Sweet collection of flowers, Hes!