Mouthy Marmots of the Olympic Peninsula
Nature news and community goodness from the forests and towns around Olympic National Park. Discover ways to help protect this beautiful area and, of course, join us in having fun!
Olympic Marmots are a threatened species found only here in Olympic National Park. Unique! They emerge from their dens with stories to tell. Just like our Mouthy Marmots podcast crew.
Mouthy Marmots of the Olympic Peninsula
Hike by bus, volunteering and spooky trail tales
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Yes, there is a way to hike by bus at Olympic National Park! And Friends of Olympic National Park talk about volunteering and trail advice. Plus, it can get spooky in the woods. We'll hear from hikers and birders who lived to tell the tales.
Learn more:
Friends of Olympic National Park
Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society
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SPEAKER_06Welcome to the Mounty Marmot's 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.
Hike by bus
SPEAKER_06What if I told you there's a way to go see a magnificent area of Olympic National Park that save you worry, time, and also help save the planet? You wouldn't believe me, right? Well, we have news about that. And we'll also hear from friends of Olympic National Park and some tales from the trails, surprising and sometimes scary encounters in the woods. First, let's talk about a very cool way to get up to Hurricane Ridge. In Olympic National Park, Clallam Transit runs a Hurricane Ridge shuttle that cost just one dollar. You catch it downtown in Port Angeles and it cruises past any lines way up to Hurricane Ridge. Last July, almost 38,000 cars, that's 38,000 cars in one month, drove to the ridge. I did the math. That's about 3,800 tons of CO2 emissions, which is bad. Bad, bad, bad. And think how boring it is to wait in a line in a car at a national park. So it's great. There's a winning alternative. The Hurricane Ridge shuttle bus goes every hour all summer. It's Carol. I'm uh taking the bus up to Hurricane Ridge. I'm so excited because you know what? I hate driving up here. And you, you know, there's all this traffic. Sometimes people go too fast. And then, you know, it's just so beautiful to look around and see all the mountains. That's the best way to get up to the ridge. Look, the parking lot is full. I got my little backpack and my water. I'm gonna hike around and just relax and all on the bus.
SPEAKER_02Hi, I'm Carol, and I'm taking the uh shuttle to the Hurricane Ridge shuttle from Port Angeles up to um Hurricane Ridge today. And I'm gonna stop at the switchback. Um I'm gonna get off at the switchback trailhead and walk up to Clehania Ridge and then back to the visitor center. Well, what was the visitor center? Um and and I'll catch the bus back. I'm from Olympia and I'm taking the bus because I think it's a really great idea to be able to catch the bus from downtown. There's free parking. Um, you know, you can drop some breakfast before you head up if you want, and it runs every hour, so it's great. It's a great way to do it.
SPEAKER_00My name's Ed, and I'm from Squim, Washington. And uh I just think this is a lovely thing to do. Take the bus up to Hurricane Ridge. So you get a chance to see uh the beauty of this place without having to worry about driving so much.
SPEAKER_06What are you gonna do when you get up there? You've got your bike.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'm gonna ride my bike around and I might ride my bike back, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Uh, my name's Becca. I'm from New Hampshire. I'm Felicia, also from New Hampshire. Um, we found out about the bus from a park ranger, and we thought it'd be a good idea to take, especially because it's a holiday weekend. But just in general, I know that on weekends and all the time parking can get really hectic at national parks, and I wanted to avoid it. Um, and I'm surprised that the bus is not more full. I thought there'd be a lot more people on the bus, but it was really easy to take, and I like that we don't have to worry about the scary mountain curves up the road.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and the accessibility of the bus was really nice, uh, coming from Port Angeles, and that it was one dollar. That was also really nice. Good, cheap, affordable.
SPEAKER_06It's fun to take the bus. I do need to say the Hurricane Ridge Shuttle is not open to all riders. Last year, Clylum Transit took the unprecedented action of banning some riders. No longer can marmots hitch a ride. An adventurous marmot did that just last year. It hopped off the bus downtown and had to be wrangled by park staff. It was tempted by a giant head of lettuce and relocated back up top.
Friends of Olympic National Park
SPEAKER_06Olympic National Park feels the pressure of increased visitors. Maybe that's why the marmot took the bus. Over three million people visited last year. And the park, of course, suffers from the pain of federal budget cuts. There's a group of locals who help out the park, and they have ways you can help out too. The Friends of Olympic National Park is a small all-volunteer group with a huge impact. Here's more.
SPEAKER_07My name is Tony Harms. I'm the past president of Friends of Olympic National Park. Kristen DeCou is the current president. So I'm filling in for her today.
SPEAKER_06You have the Facebook page with 130,000 people.
SPEAKER_07Yes, isn't that crazy? Now, you know, it's very challenging because a lot of people get on there and want information about the Olympic Peninsula. And we are really not the group for that. Our group wants to stay focused on the national park, but we have a lot of dedicated people who are who know the park intimately and they are able to answer questions. People visiting here have no idea how to get on the ferry and get over here. And so while we don't want to be offering restaurant suggestions like a trip advisor, we are able to recommend hikes, camping, and all kinds of things like that. Yeah, so like uh hiking by bus. That's yes, absolutely. Or, or, you know, or educating about what the weather's like, what to be prepared for, um, how to use the shuttle from Port Angeles. That's that's where I think that our dedicated volunteers who are on that group um really provide good information. And and in that way we support the part because that's one last phone call to the Ranger station.
SPEAKER_06What are some of the surprising things people have asked?
SPEAKER_07Oh, you just can't even imagine. I think one of the most important questions that we get is because we don't have mega roads into the park, and we also offer such a diverse, diverse ecosystems. I think that just navigating the peninsula is probably our number one question. Like, do we stay in Port Angeles? Do we stay on the Hood Canal? Do we how do we go to forks? How much driving is there? That kind of thing. And so that's probably the number one question. We get frequent questions about shoes because people are hiking, they're going to the coast, they're coming from all areas of the country, and we do still see visitors out on the trails in flip-flops. So we really try to provide a lot of education about the 10 essentials, about how quickly the weather can change in the Olympics, how quickly your trip can turn into your fun, turn into an emergency from your fun vacation.
SPEAKER_06It's pretty amazing to look at the social media and see all those followers and a lot all the questions that people are patiently answering. And they're all volunteers.
SPEAKER_07Exactly, exactly. And we have about um six people on our board who have volunteered to monitor the Facebook group and try to guide people in the right direction. Oh wow, that's just yeah, it's I know, isn't it crazy? Yeah, but but you know, in a positive sense, it gives us such a forum for education. And we try so hard, along with the park, to provide the most accurate information on there that we can and updates.
SPEAKER_06What are some of the other volunteer projects that that are available if somebody in town wants to help out?
SPEAKER_07Well, first of all, thanks for helping us the other day.
SPEAKER_06You were volunteering with us as well. The cleanup at the entrance sign, I I mean, people may not think much of it, but it's a really big deal because I think the entrance sign at the main visitor center is probably one of the most photographed places in all the park. I agree. It really is. So to get rid of the weeds there is like, oh gosh. It was a bad job. Wow.
SPEAKER_07It was, you know, it was a really big job, and we had a great turnout that day. I really, really enjoyed it. So um I want to give you an idea just for the next couple months. In August, we sponsor a volunteer appreciation picnic. In September, we do a mushroom walk for mushroom identification, not foraging, but just learning about different types of mushrooms. And then if in October, we have our fall membership meeting. And that's usually a combination of education and then awarding either a most inspirational volunteer or a most inspirational park employee. In the winter, we sponsor the Perspectives Winter Lecture Series, which is which takes place at the library, and that's really a nice thing for locals. And oh my gosh, so much more. There's so much more on the website as well.
SPEAKER_06It's just you guys are so busy for being an all-volunteer group.
SPEAKER_07I know it really is. That's why we have to have 13 members on our board of directors.
SPEAKER_06Olympic National Park celebrates its 88th birthday this month. What's so special about the park for you?
SPEAKER_07I've lived here for 10 years, and I get out frequently, once or twice a week, and I've only seen a postage stamp of what there is to see. And every time you go out, something magical happens. You know, you do the work to climb the hills or walk the beach, and you always see something amazing. So that never gets old for me.
SPEAKER_06What is something magical that you've seen recently?
SPEAKER_07I think probably uh I was walking in the soul duck on the North Fork Trail, and I walked past a big root ball that was tipped over, and I heard a little rustling underneath, and I tried to pretend that I didn't hear it. But as I walked past the root ball, there was the black bear just standing right there staring at us. And you know, it was the last thing I expected. Um, but we just kind of looked at each other and he just turned and walked away eventually. But my gosh, it's it just happened like on a random Wednesday afternoon, he was down under that root ball, I think. So you never know what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_06I love it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it was amazing. Okay, is there anything else you want to add? I am really excited about where we're headed. The growth over the last five years has been just tremendous, and I think um we are gonna be in a position to do more and more for the national park, which it needs. So I think you're gonna just see this group really take off.
Spooky trails
SPEAKER_06There are magical, scary, surprising things that happen in the woods. Iris, our birding expert, has quite a tall tale of terror. Let's listen.
SPEAKER_04Hey Nancy. Hello, Iris. Good to see you. Oh, it's always so good to see you. So we went on a hike recently, and um something really scary happened, and I feel like we should tell people about it.
SPEAKER_05It was really scary, and we also had something really cool happen.
SPEAKER_04Oh, God, can you tell us about it? Because that was I'm I'm kind of speechless about it.
SPEAKER_05So we were out on one of our favorite trails. Which shall be unnamed. Which shall be unnamed, and it was late because we didn't leave till the afternoon. We were sitting around a waterfall and a water area, and we were watching for dippers, and there was a big, big dipper that was just standing there, and I think he was watching us as much as we were watching him. And then all of a sudden, he started flying and he flew towards us, and he flew up and over my head because I was looking backwards at him, and your eyes were twice the size. You were so excited. It was so great to see, and then he flew back and he was trying to eat something, and then he was still playing around in the water there for a while. It caught that fly, it caught the fly, right? Right.
SPEAKER_04Right, he caught the fly. I thought it was gonna land on your hat. It's too bad he didn't. It was, I'm not even kidding, the best, 100% best dipper sighting of my entire life.
SPEAKER_05It was pretty great, and we were both, I think, just completely shocked that it happened.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, the level of joy, you just never know what you're gonna find on the trail. Always filled with surprises and delights. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05And this was a delight. The whole the hike, not just seeing the bird, that was great, but also just seeing you and how excited you got was was that that was worth the whole day. You were pretty amped up too, though.
SPEAKER_04Well, I was because you are a birder now.
SPEAKER_05And I am, I and I love a good dipper. I mean, who doesn't?
SPEAKER_04This you can't just go, you just can't go wrong with a dipper, and especially one that almost lands on your hat. Yes, I was shocked to see that dipper like catch, it's kind of like a mayfly type thing with kind of big fluttery wings. Caught it right in midair after it missed it the first time. Incredible. That was bananas. That whole trail that night was just gorgeous.
SPEAKER_05Well, we we don't usually go at that time of day, so it was really interesting to see things looked different, and the the light was different, and everything was going great. We were about a mile. Yeah, everything was going great, everything was going great. Until until yeah, we stopped.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we were about I don't know, about a mile from the car, and I heard a sound, and I was like, oh nighthawks, nighthawks, cool.
SPEAKER_05So we stopped and we were looking up at the nighthawks and listening. Yeah, it was pretty magical.
SPEAKER_04And and then we heard a sound. Oh my gosh. I've never heard a sound that it was it was Sasquatch. I'm still I am still kind of convinced that it was. I and I'm gonna try to do the sound because we kept trying to do the sound after we so we didn't hear it just once. Let me just tell you, listener, we heard it four times. Yes, we did. In like maybe a couple second interval between each one. Yes, and it sounded like it was moving deeper into the forest with each iteration of that sound, and it sounded like a very large animal.
SPEAKER_05And I remember saying, Is that a bird sound? Yeah, and you and you looked at me and you were like, I have never heard that sound.
SPEAKER_04I had never heard that sound in my life. So I was like, absolutely not. That is not a bird, and it kind of sounded like that is kind of what it sounds like. That's how I remember it. It's like yeah, it was deep, it was deep, deep, long weird, long sound in the dark evening forest, right? Just the two of us, nobody else, nobody else on the trail. Yeah, because this is like a you know, a locals trail, right? That we'll not name. And my blood ran cold. I was I'm not gonna swear on our podcast because this is an adult or a family show, but I was yeah.
SPEAKER_05I was scared, I was literally like really, really scared.
SPEAKER_04I was too. Yeah. I and I didn't know what it was, and I know on this particular trail cougars abound. Right. And I've had those moments, and I know you have too, where like you're like, there's a cougar somewhere here. I just know it. You just get that feeling.
SPEAKER_05Or gosh, there's a bear on the trail just right over there.
SPEAKER_04Or Sasquatch. Or Sasquatch. And we were pretty convinced this was Sasquatch. And I'm still Yeah, I'm not I'm not so sure either. Yeah, so this was the sound. We hustled back to the car and were like the whole time like practicing the sound. So we wouldn't forget it. Yeah, so we wouldn't forget it. And then we got to the car, and there were those women who were just heading out on a hike. I'm like, it's kind of late for hike, but whatever, man. You do yeah, by that time it was like 5 30. At least. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And they were going in, but we didn't tell them that Sasquatch was in there. You were like, should we tell them? Should we tell them? Nah, they'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_04You know, they're locals too, they know what they're doing, surely. So if they encountered this, you know, I apologize, but um but then we I gave you the task of figuring out what it was.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So I got on the internet as one does and started like Googling for different sounds. I listened for elk, bears, cougars. Um, maybe a grouse is making a weird sound, but you know, I've heard a million grouses.
SPEAKER_05I heard a grouse, no. So it's more like food. We knew it wasn't a grouse.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, this was not a grouse. This was definitely Bigfoot. So the closest thing I could find was a cougar. So I get in onto and text you, I'm like, yeah, I have been listening to all these sounds, and I swear this, I'm pretty convinced that was a cougar.
SPEAKER_05I knew it wasn't a cougar, but I was gonna go going along with it.
SPEAKER_04Sure, it's your if you want to say cougar, whatever. And not two minutes after I did that, I sent that text, I found the sound. Just random chance, thinking, you know, we were looking at those nighthawks. Let me just get on to Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Macaulay Library of Sounds. And sure enough, it was the Nighthawks. It was the Nighthawks. I have never heard of Nighthawk make that sound. So do you know how they do it? I do not. It has something to do with their wings, right? Yeah, yeah. So have you ever seen like Anna's hummingbirds do that swoopy thing? Yes. And then when they swoop down their wings make that zing. Yeah, so you hear that's why you can hear them sometimes when they're next to you. Yeah, it's like the sound going the wind between their primary feathers, basically, of their wings. Well, nighthawks apparently do the same thing during courtship. But they're big birds. It's a big bird, and they go much higher and much pretty much faster, and it creates like a booming sound. So it's like you're so good at that. I did it a lot. But it blows my mind. Like I have encountered nighthawks my entire life, but I've always encountered them in urban settings. I've never encountered them like above a trail where it's quiet, and in places where they are doing that courting swooping. Usually it's like over the baseball fields or over my house here in town or like over the mighty pine.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, there was love happening in the air above us. Apparently, there was hot stuff going on. That's I don't know, that's some love.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So, listeners, if you are ever out on your favorite trail at that crepuscular hour and you hear something that sounds like foom. Sounds like what you would think Sasquatch sounds. Yeah, it might be Sasquatch, could be a cougar, probably not, but most definitely a common night hawk. Well, Nancy, I look forward to our next hike and the next weird bird that we get to hear. And with that, happy birding.
SPEAKER_06Now that was quite a tale. Tony from Friends of Olympic National Park talks about her bear she just encounters on a trail. And Iris and Nancy, with our heart thumping fright at the sound of a bird at dusk. Well, not just any bird, a mating bird. Nature always brings wonders, and you just never know what you find as you head out. With everything going on now, I think it's so important to think a bit about how we can preserve and help our beautiful park and planet. Some people say we ourselves can't solve the climate crisis. Only corporations and governments can. But it's kind of like the chicken and the egg. Which comes first? Do we wait for the government or corporations to do the right thing? Or do we ourselves create a culture here and now that works to preserve the planet and the park for future generations? It's something to think about on your next hike. Don't forget to check out the Friends of Olympic National Park website. Thanks so much. Have a great day. The Mouthy Marmots Collective acknowledges that the lands we broadcast from are the appropriated homelands of six tribal nations who continue to care for this region today, including the Ho, Jamestown Sklalam, Lower El Waklam, Macaw, Quilut, and Kinult tribes.