Home > Trip Reports > March 31, 2017, DeerLakeBowl ONP

March 31, 2017, DeerLakeBowl ONP

3/31/17
WA Olympics
5500
6
Posted by RonL on 4/1/17 8:37am
A day off without rain. I should have been doing so many other things, the lawn is getting long, the potholes are deep on my road...              ...So I went back to Deer Lake and said "Hi" to the otter again.

Snow depth was about the same as when I was here last year. It begins to be continuous-ish after the Canyon Creek bridge. There is a slide path just past the bridge that is easily seen from the maps, but it is concerning in that it sweeps right over the trail and would push anything on it well into the creek. It had slid in the recent rain event and dirt was visible. Another difference to my trip last year was the rain effects. So many creek crossings this time. It slowed travel considerably. I left the truck a little before 8 and got to the lake a little after 10.

My turn around was about noon near the highpoint of the bowl. I didn't want to venture too far into steeper terrain. There were wind an rain effects everywhere on a supportable crust with 2-3 inches of new. The new was all ready warming to be grabby in the shade. The south facing stuff was on its way to glazing. Stuff in the trees was dripping and dropping on its way to wash over the backs of those steelhead off the goodman mainline road who ignore everything I throw at them.

I took a peek into the Bogachiel and Hoh headwaters from the ridge but didn't venture farther. Maybe later in the month things will corn up and look better for a longer journey. Today was not a day for second laps but it was still a fun leg stretcher and way better than mowing and filling potholes.

couple more;

haha Locals Only, nice one.  Worth it just for that.  Looking way too comfortable like he's never thought about mowing the lawn...  which (s)he certainly hasn't.



Great shot of the otter who seems to care less about your presence.

Between the hidden animals and the writing (my favorite line is last sentence 3rd paragraph) this was like an Easter egg hunt TR.  So many hidden gems.  Wish I could have enjoyed the not-rain with you, Ron!

Otter was ignoring you, haole, but you go near his/ her pond and you'd get a knuckle (paw?) sandwich.

That is one chill mustelid. Here is another pic for you buncha otterluvas. Especially on solo trips I find myself trying to interpret the different tracks and patterns in the snow. They tell some interesting stories of squirrels meeting death from above via owl or sometimes hints at how terrifyingly big a cat can get. This pattern had me stumped for a moment though but I think the story it tells goes like this;

The otter was in the upper pond tasting the fish and frogs there and then decided to make some turns down to Deer Lake for a snack there. The tracks emerge from a hole by the melted ice in the upper pond, then a hop and a skip, a couple of galumps and then belly glissade down the hillside!


Reply to this TR

13654
march-31-2017-deerlakebowl-onp
RonL
2017-04-01 15:37:55