Hikes, birds, conservation on the famous Elwha River

Olympic National Park's Elwha River is famous! Historic dam removals have revived the river and its spectacular watersheds. When you visit, you'll see beautiful forests and wildlife -- including dipper birds! We share lots of info about dipper birds, where to hike, and how to conserve this Pacific Northwest treasure for our grandkids.

Hiking

Madison Falls

Glines Canyon Overlook

West Elwha Trail

Conservation

River Restoration - Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe

Elwha Legacy Forests

History

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to the Malky Marmotts Podcast, a show where nature lovers and neighbors discover untold wildlife and community news, find ways to enjoy and protect this beautiful area, and of course, have fun. I'm Carol from Port Angeles, Washington. Thanks for tuning in.

Elwha River hikes and birds

SPEAKER_01 0:22

There's an amazing place in Olympic National Park that feels like a miracle. And it's a place anyone can visit. And when you do, knowing its history, I think you'll be inspired. That place is the Elwha River, which flows from the very heart of Olympic National Park. For over a hundred years, two massive dams are prison, destroying the ecosystem, flooding sites sacred to the lower Elwa Colour tribe. But thanks to the longtime advocacy of the tribe, the dams were removed, and Elwa runs free the sailors. The watershed has revived. Wildlife has returned. It's really an amazing success. And what's really cool is that anyone can experience this revival. Today's show invites you to discover the Elwa River, the hikes, the birds, and you can learn how to protect this incredible river and its watershed for future generations. Take a listen to these hiking friends who met at our local pub and started waxing poetic about the Elwa.

SPEAKER_04 1:33

Hi Nancy. Hi Iris. So we do spend a lot of time along the Elwa River and the various trails out there. Nancy, what's the last hike you did out there?

SPEAKER_02 1:42

Last hike I did out there was Glines Canyon. So went to up just to look at the falls, Madison Falls, and then walked out to Glines Canyon. But I did, but I went up on the Olympic Hot Springs part to the end where the dam was taken down and it's got all the information about what happened. It's very, very cool. What is that, like eight miles? It's about eight miles round trip. And it's it's not hard. It's really not hard. There's only a tiny bit that's on trail. The rest of it is on old road.

SPEAKER_04 2:13

I love that because you can either hike it, or if you're feeling intrepid, you can take your bike. So it's one of the one of the few places in the national park that's kind of bike accessible in a way that feels remote. I love to take my bike up the bypass trail and then take it out to Glines Canyon. One of the other things I like to do is go up Whiskey Bend Road, which is on the other, it takes you on the other side of the river. And years ago, when I first moved here, before the river washed out the road, you could drive up there. So we would drive up there, and there's a trailhead at the top of Whiskey Bend that'll take you to a place called Hume's Ranch. And it's an old homestead site that you hike to. You can also hike to this place called Goblin's Gate. And it's this brute spot through the Elwa River where where the Elwa River gets pinched through these like rock formations. And it's really cool. It's like just you have this wide, wild river that just gets funneled through this little bottleneck. And there's all these like whirlpools, and it's really dramatic. So that's another thing you can see up there. And past Teams Ranch is this bridge that goes to across the Elwa to Dodger Point, which is one of the peaks up in that area. So that's like a nice at this point, you're hiking from Madison Falls up there. It'd be a great like overnight backpacking trip. And you can experience the river in like a whole bunch of different ways.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

And for those of us who don't backpack, um Yeah, like me, I don't do it anymore.

SPEAKER_04 3:51

I know. Nice job, Iris. You know, you talk about the American Dipper. And as the bird nerd in the club, I would be remiss not to talk about the dipper. So I think if it were up to me, the American Dipper would be the state bird, not the I mean the American goldfinch is a fine, colorful. It's a fine choice, common at the feeder, but really the American Dipper as the North America's only aquatic songbird, and so iconic of the Elwa River, would if at the very least, if we could have an official bird of the Olympic Peninsula, I would call it the American Dipper. So one of the cool things about the Elwa being undammed and the dipper is that the dipper really survives on things like salmon roe. It is a songbird, but it swims, so it will dive under the water and catch invertebrates and larvae and small fish and all kinds of like whatever it can find down there. And it feeds on salmon rows. So I've been out to the old Eltair campground along the Elwa when the salmon are running and watching the dippers come in and like just feeding, it's like a feeding frenzy. It's super cool. And since the river has been undammed, there are more dippers than ever because the salmon are coming back and they're the dippers are just thriving. So it's really cool. We've seen them almost every time we've gone out there. Almost every time, because I will not let the group continue until I spot one, basically.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

That's 100% true.

Dipper birds

SPEAKER_04 5:46

One of the things that I really enjoy, especially at this time of year, is walking on Olympic Hot Springs Road from Madison Falls just to the washout. It's like a super easy after work kind of one-mile walk. And the washout area is a very consistent nesting spot for the American dipper. So I was just out there about a week ago. The dippers were flying back and forth from their nesting site to the gravel bars, catching food and bringing it back to the nest. So they clearly have some chicks in the nest. And the interesting thing about the dipper is it is a songbird, it's about the size of a robin, but it actually nests in the bank of the river. It'll find like a little cavity and they'll stuff it with moss and stuff, and they'll hang moss at in the front and kind of hide it. So they're like a songbird that swims and nests in it like a riverbank. They're very cool. They can open their eyes underwater. Yes, yes, they have a nictitating membrane. Very good, Nancy. Thank you. Nancy's been listening to my rambling. Clearly, someone's listening during the hikes.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Nancy, where else can we go on the river? One of my favorites we've talked about is the West Elwa, and that's about seven miles round trip. And you see the river off and on on that trail. And we have looked down, we've seen Steelhead in the water, we have seen Dippers and watched Dippers there. My favorite. That was so great. And then you walk down to the to the abandoned campground, and we have a little lunch down there, and that's right on the river. And so it's really, I mean, you get different views of the of the river throughout the hike. And as most of the trails are are around here, it ends on an uphill. So how is that possible? It's it seems to happen a lot. And it you go through all different kinds of area. They they all look different. Like when you first go through, there's all there's ferns, and it's really beautiful, but you see all kinds of moss along the trail, tons of flowers. We've seen all kinds of flowers, seen a salamander out there. You saw a salamander? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

I know, are you jealous? Fairy. Was it a salamander or a newt? It might have been a newt. Could it have been a rough have you seen a newt? Rough skinned newt. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

God, she always one-ups me.

SPEAKER_04 8:13

You know what's interesting on the West Elwai Trail is there's one spot where there's a little bit of a rock outcropping, and it has a really clear view of the sun, and it all these kind of sub-alpine plants are growing there. It's like a really unusual vegetative spot on the West Elwai trail. So you've got ferns and ferns and ferns, and then you've got paintbrush and a bunch of sedums, just like a weird little sub-alpine spot, but at 400 feet of elevation.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

And and I like being up above the Elwa, so you can look down, which I think is really great because you can see what's going on in the water, which is when you saw that steel head that time.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

That was so funny because we were walking back and I and we got to that spot and I said, Hey, this is a good spot when the salmon are running to see fish. And Vanessa looked down and she said, Is that a salmon? And there it was. So you never know what you're gonna get out there. For one thing, the river always looks different, the configuration is always different, but then you just never know. Like maybe you'll see elk. I mean, I've been out there and saw elk. Yep, see milk out there too. Yeah. I was standing at the washout recently, and two people came back from hiking up to Glines Overlook. We both were reminiscing because early on, when the dams came down and that area was revegetated, a couple years into it, there was this super bloom of lupins. It was just the entire old lake bed was covered with blooming lupins. And the it felt like everyone who could make it up there went up there because it was spectacular. And now it's a beautiful spot. It's all filled with uh red alder and it's perfect habitat for flycatchers and warblers. It's cool to watch it change over the years. You know, having lived in so many other places in the US, the rivers are all sort of controlled and banked in these concrete banks, and the Elwa just feels so wild. And it's it feels cliche, you know, wild and free, but it really is. And now that it the dams are down, and watching how it changes, not just along the Hot Springs Road, but also at the Elwa mouth, the terrain is constantly changing because the river is free. And it just feels it almost feels primal, you know, and it hasn't been that long since the dams came down, but it's constantly changing and becoming what it wants to be instead of what we want it to be. And I don't know, it just I feel really like complete when I'm walking at the Ella, it's very satisfying.

SPEAKER_02 10:57

I think at the mouth, like you said, the way it changes, I don't think it's ever looked the same, even if you go back a week later. It's like a completely different place.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

I know it's controversial to say this, but I really hope part of me really hopes that Olympic Hot Springs Road is never reopened to traffic because over the years it has become a great way for local people who don't have the ability to go on to more rugged terrain, and also visitors who don't have a lot of time or ability to go into the backcountry to really experience the El Wa River. I think it's become like an attraction unto itself, that road, where you can park at Madison Falls, experience the waterfall, and then experience the river without devoting your entire day or you know, a lot requiring a lot of gear. So I hope the road always stays closed.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

And and I agree because I think the accessibility is super key. I'm uh my 87-year-old aunt is coming to visit, and she's a pretty good hiker, but there's a lot of hikes around here that I couldn't I can't take her on, and I know I can get her on that hike and be able to get her out on that hike, which is you know, it's really important that people of all ages are able to get and all abilities are able to get out.

SPEAKER_04 12:20

The more ways we can get people to experience this beautiful place that we get to experience every day, I think that's really important. So you know, and especially the L Y, I think it's a great example of how we can correct the mistakes that we've made in the past.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Great hiking info from Nancy and Iris. The trails they discussed, such as Glines Canyon, Overlook, and the West Elwa Trail, you can find info about them on our website at mouthymarmotts.buzzsprout.com.

Limited mobility hikes

SPEAKER_01 13:02

And for folks with limited mobility, Leela has some tips.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Hello, my name's Leela. I'm a woman with mobility issues who loves the outdoors. My favorite place to enjoy the Elwa River begins at the parking lot for Madison Falls, where a meadow spreads out before you, ringed by stands of gigantic big leaf maples and mountain vistas in the distance. You can start with the Madison Falls Trail, a short and gently sloping wheelchair accessible paved path through the woods to a lovely waterfall. Back at the parking lot, the road into the distance is gated, closed to vehicles due to an old washout about one mile down the way. This road is a paved, easy path through the forest. A short distance in on your left, you'll meet the Olympic National Park mules. These are the 31-pack mules that provide vehicle-free support for trail work throughout the park. The staff are happy to answer questions, and it's fun to watch the mules relax and kick up their heels between their trail work expeditions. The river is just beyond the trees on your right. As you reach the half-mile point, you can begin to see the river through the trees. It's quiet here. The trees are magnificent. My favorites are the native dogwoods that blossom in the spring. Interesting plants like the ancient horse tail line the trail in the early spring. The birds are amazing, particularly the darting and diving violet green swallows that feast on flying insects in the spring and summer. Once in a while you may see an American dipper bird near the rocks at the river's edge. There are no benches to rest on, but the paved, gently sloping road makes it easy for me to take my rollator walker and stop to sit whenever I feel the need. The road wash out is about one mile from the parking lot, and there ends the accessible trail. You go back the way you came. Two beautiful miles round trip along the Elwa and doable with mobility issues. Give it a try.

Elwha Legacy Forests

SPEAKER_01 15:28

What's a legacy forest? She'll explain it all.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

My name's Wendy Ray Johnson, and I live here in Port Angeles, and I uh just love the outdoors. I would call myself a soil advocate and a climate solutions educator. I'll tell you a little bit about what a legacy forest is. It's a forest that was logged before mechanization, before intense mechanization, before World War II. You know, nowadays, when logging occurs, one of the reasons there's so few jobs nowadays is an entire forest, like the hundred acres of the Aldwell, was harvested in about three weeks by three men in giant machines that are called feller bunchers. So these forests were logged by like manually by people cutting them down, dragging the logs out, you know, in the old-fashioned ways. And then they didn't have herbicides and pesticides, you know, all the chemicals and nitrogen to help the new trees grow. So they were caught what we call naturally regenerated. In these legacy forests, there's a lot of diversity. Like there's so many different plants. That's one of my favorite things to do when I'm in one of these forests, and I see how many different plants are there and um how many different mushrooms are there. These are almost old growth forests because they have a lot of trees on them that are over 100 years old. They're not old growth enough yet to be protected. So we're saying, let's just hang on and let them become old growth and let them be protected because here's what I learned living up here. We happen to live in the most unique temperate rainforest in the world. Think about that. It starts from Northern California and goes all the way to Alaska. But where we are is especially incredible because of our rain and our climate, right? And we literally, this forest sequesters more carbon than the Amazon. The trees here grow incredibly fast. That's why this state was founded on logging, right? And the idea of the timber industry is that these trees are like grass, and if you cut them down, they're just gonna grow back. And in some ways that's true, but they don't grow back the same because we've ruined the soil nowadays. And so when you look at a what we call now a plantation forest, it's this very stark contrast. There won't be much on the understory, and there's a lot of skinny trees together, and they're usually most of the ones I see are the same trees. And see if it's a good idea to conserve these last legacy forests.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

An entire watershed.

SPEAKER_03 18:55

An entire watershed. There is on our website a survey. They're actually asking us, the people from all over. You don't have to live here to fill out the survey. It's a really easy survey. It probably takes about five minutes, but there are some questions that are asking you about your favorite view, your favorite spot. And it doesn't have to be at the Elwa River because the watershed is pretty extensive. It includes Lake Sutherland, and that's an awful pretty area, too. Uh that's that's one thing, the Elwa Watershed Survey, and there's dates in there to sh to be on Zoom at the next conversation, which is June 18th. And I'm really excited, you know, that they want to have a conversation with the people, yeah, with us. Yeah. That's right. So I current we're encouraging everyone to fill out the survey as best you can and uh participate.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

For me, one of the most interesting stories about the Ella, the dams on the Ella, is how the salmon used to come up and bump and bump against it. That's it. And then the dams come down, the salmon are back, the wildlife is coming back in the upper reaches.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

I I love the stats on that. The salmon came back so much quicker than they ever dreamed that it blew their mind. And the wildlife has they they're really tracking that through the lower Elwa tribe. They they have some a lot of those uh tra uh wildlife cameras, and it is just so exciting to see who what has returned and the biodiversity that's happening. Because you know, all of these systems are dependent upon each other, right? You take away the food source, then there's no more wildlife. When a legacy forest is uh variable retention harvested, or as we would say, clear-cut, there's nothing left for the creatures, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:59

So, what's happening over at Salt Creek? I've seen you guys, the L Well Legacy Forest Coalition has tables out there. What's going on?

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Oh man. You know, my friend and I were just talking today, Salt Creek, when you're and when I was visiting here, I didn't live here. Somebody said, go out to Salt Creek. And man, you drive into Salt Creek and you come down and you look out at this expanse, this campground where you see across the Strait of Wan de Fuca and you're looking at Vancouver Island, and it just takes your breath away. It is the gem of the Clallam County Park. The DNR has on its schedule to clear cut a very steep section, uh parcel called Bird's Eye View. And it is right on the most spectacular trail that goes right along the coast and it You start at Salt Creek Recreation Area. And this trail, when you is a giant loop, and in the upper parts of the loop, away from the strait, there's a lot of clear cutting. So when you do that five-mile loop, you're gonna be walking through some clear cut. The idea that they're planning on logging this very steep, right down to the Strait of Juan de Fuca section of legacy forest, right? It's a definite, by our definition, a legacy forest. But we believe that this is just a no-brainer. First, it's really steep. It's our county park's big draw. You know, people, what we found from the tabling is where are people coming from? Gosh, one day nobody, nobody was a local person. People come from all over because it's just such a beautiful hike. So we started tabling out there to create awareness so that we can have a voice in this. You're tabling and you're raising awareness. What are what are you asking people to do? At the table, we want to tell people what's going on. They don't have any idea that where they're hiking today is good, parts of it are going to be clear-cut. Yeah. We're asking them to comment and to, you know, write letters. Uh, you know, there's we have actual, just like on our website, the same things that are on our website, we're asking them to participate in. We will be asking them to uh participate in the county parks public comment for the 10-year plan. With the county parks of Clown County is just about to embark on their 10-year plan. That'll be the next thing we'll get people moving on.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Yeah, I love that trail. There's a lot of old snags, and always look for the uh the the woodpeckers. You can see the giant holes and these old trees. And uh one time I saw them, the giant pile and wood woodpeckers, and it's just yeah, it's a special place. Sometimes the eagles are flying back.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

Oh, we can hear them chittering, you know, the the sounds out there, not just the sights, the sounds and the smells, you know, and all year long I really appreciate that when the trillium comes out, and then if you look really close, maybe you'll find a little lady slipper orchid. And I feel like I've won the lottery if I can spot one of those. So, you know, and then there's that beautiful cove that looks like if you took a picture of it, it could be in Greece or a a tropical Mediterranean paradise with the colors of it. It's just so aqua and spectacular. It's worth just to have those places. You know, nowadays our emotional well-being and our mental health is greatly, greatly shared up by being out in nature. And I want to make sure that these places are still available to us to get okay. You know, because sometimes it's hard to get okay with the times today.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

We're on the peninsula really lucky, and actually all the visitors should be thankful for folks like like you, Wendy Ray Johnson, that are working with the L Wild Legacy Forest Coalition and all the people out there trying to keep our natural spaces as beautiful as they are, because we certainly need them.

SPEAKER_03 25:32

Yeah. I I agree. It's a pleasure to do this work and to really just educate people on how many reasons, and we all have our own personal reasons. And what I would ask everyone is to what happens when you go into a forest like this for you in your heart or in your body, your mind, and to translate that into the value that it has for all of us, and for our kids, and grandkids in my case, and your dog, and my dog.

Is a river alive?

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Listening to our hikers and birders and Wendy Ray Johnson and the hearing about what the Elwa Legacy Forest Coalition is doing, gosh, it gets me inspired. And that that brings me to something I've been thinking about. It's the idea of is a river alive? Should a river have legal rights like a corporation? You think about it, the Elwa River is a life force. It's a healthy watershed that sustains wildlife, otters and bears, cougars, salmon, and us. So should the Elwa and all the rivers that support so many lives be preserved? Should they have the right to flourish and in turn like we flourish? Well, I think so. Some food for thought. I hope you've enjoyed our talk about the river's richness and joy. Thanks for listening.