We don’t have Punxsutawaney Phil to help us tell if spring is around the corner. Instead, we have Skunk Cabbage! Other signs of spring include Alder catkins, Witch Hazel blossoms, and more Trumpeter Swan activity on the lake. We don’t know if we’ll be having 6 more weeks of winter, but the last few days at least have been beautiful!
From Cabin Ellinor’s Journal – Happy New Year
Ellinor you are such a cute dear
So relaxing reading by the fire with a beer.
I fear myself and beautiful girlfriend fall in love
with Ellinor, we are sincere
We did adore you
Ellinor the cottage with the great view.
From Cabin Christie’s Journal – I rang in the new year in the most beautiful place imaginable. I had solitude to end 2011 and enjoyed it with hikes, bike riding, relaxing, and writing. My family joined me for New Years and we made a joyful day of it with the loop drive around the lake and great Italian food for dinner. Thanks to the builder of this cabin on the rock because he has brought joy to many!
We decided to start a new tradition for the first day of the new year. That tradition is to walk our north ocean beaches no matter what the weather might be. Who would guess that the first day of 2012 on the Kalaloch beaches would be almost clear and dry with a warm gentle breeze? We started at Beach 4 and walked south past Beach 3 until we couldn’t go any farther because of the incoming tide and headlands. Beachcombing on a winter beach turns up all sorts of treasures.
Thoughts from Chris – This has been the most amazing December! After the wind storm we had just before Thanksgiving, the weather turned cold and dry. We’ve been taking advantage of this weather to do some hiking and exploring. One day we walked along Finley Creek as far as we could go to the river. Another day we hiked up to Pony Bridge. It was beautiful and we were the only ones up there! I never get tired of walking the Maple Glade Trail and checking on Kestner Homestead to see the progress they’re making on restoring the old house. This is where we almost always see elk. Now in the next few days we’re hoping to make it up to Wolf Bar before the rains set in!
Thoughts from Tom – We’ve both been wanting to see the progress of removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the lower Elwha River north of us on the peninsula, so a few days ago, we left before dawn on what turned into one of those gorgeous autumn mornings with frost, sun, and foliage color. There is no current viewing access to the Glines Canyon dam, but a nice trail and overlook is provided at the Elwha dam. Already the dam is half gone with earthmovers and excavators moving steel, concrete, and soil. We arrived home to find an article in the December Smithsonian magazine about this “most ambitious dam removal project” in the nation. Read more about this: Smithsonian.com/elwha
Yesterday it snowed off and on all day but didn’t stick. Then this morning when we woke up everything was dusted with a thin blanket of snow! We ran outside and couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. It sets the scene for the upcoming holidays.
Thoughts from Tom – The début of our new web site corresponds with the end of our first year in the newly remodeled / rebuilt house here on the property. Still lots of details to complete, but the piles of debris and construction materials are gone as is the construction noise. The exterior is weather tight and it does look so much more like the house of the 1930s than the rotten bat infested structure that we came upon more than 30 years ago. Chris and I are so excited to have reinvented ourselves and now have the opportunity to live and work here in the Quinault community.
Thoughts from Chris – This has been quite a summer and fall for wild life sightings. Black bears have been spotted almost every day by guests and neighbors. We have an apple tree behind the garage that has done very well this year. I’ve just been waiting for the apples to get just a little bit riper before I picked them. When I got up this morning I saw that someone had beaten me to it! We went out to assess the damage and ambling up the road was a young black bear! A little later this morning, we saw him again, this time heading down the road past the house. He took off through a neighbor’s yard heading for the lake. That rascal!
Thoughts from Chris – After a number of weeks of warm sunny weather, toward the end of September, the weather decided to remind us that we actually do live in the rain forest. We got 3 inches of rain in less than 48 hours and because of the flow from the river and streams, the lake rose more than 4 feet. We had to move all of the boats and, as you can see, the chairs to higher ground. It could be kind of fun to sit in those chairs if only the water were a tad warmer!
From Cabin Ellinor’s Journal – Two nights are way too few to spend at a beautiful place like this! Kayaking on the lake in the sunshine, hiking in the forest and seeing elk close up! And still we feel like we have so much more to discover! We will keep Ellinor, Lake Quinault and Olympic in best memory and hope to return for a longer stay!
The Guestbook
"We love the time away to enjoy all that nature has to offer and beauty that goes on forever. All of the seasons can be enjoyed here but a sunny day beats all. the best is when the otters come by, hunting and squeaking and tumbling about. My daydreams in Seattle always return to the vistas of Lake Quinault. The river, the mountains and the ongoing cycle of life here. "
