Auburn photographer Scott Eliot was named this year’s winner in
the “Night Skies” category of the “Share the Experience” photo
contest for this stunning image of stars over Mount Rainier.
Night Skies winner: Mount
Rainier by Scott Eliot.
The annual contest, sponsored by the National Park Foundation,
invites amateur photographers to submit their favorite views,
moments and adventures from America’s national parks and public
lands. See all the winning photos on the
NPF Blog.
As Scott described it when posting his photo to the contest
website last year: “The early morning hours of late July begins to
bring the Milky Way into alignment with Mt. Rainier from a vantage
point along the Silver Forest Trail on the Sunrise Plateau of Mt.
Rainier National Park in Washington state.
“A mid-summers new moon and clear skies were the only occasion
necessary to spend a peaceful night out alone for some
astrophotography composing the Milky Way with Mt. Rainier, before
the Pacific Northwest weather changed its mind.,” he continued.
Time-lapse photography can add a new dimension to the way we see
things. When done well, these speeded-up videos not only help us
see things in a new way but also call us to remember feelings about
special places and natural wonders.
On their first visit to Olympic National Park, brothers Will and
Jim Pattiz captured images from various park locations for what
would become a captivating video for the series “More Than Just Parks.”
They traveled to some prime locations that many of us have visited,
but their careful use of time-lapse equipment create a new sense of
inspiration for familiar places.
So find a quiet moment, sit back and enjoy their video
full-screen on your computer if not your TV.
If you’d like to learn more about the video project and what the
brothers learned about Olympic National Park, read the interview on
the
Exotic Hikes website, or check out the background on “More Than Just
Parks.”
One of my all-time favorite time-lapse videos was shot in
Yellowstone National Park, where photographer Christopher Cauble
captured the rhythms of nature in a place where geysers, streams,
clouds and even the animals move with a natural fluidity. I
especially like the sections where the video slows down to remind
us about the normal pace of events — something not seen in most
time-lapse videos.
The last video on this page shows Mount Rainier in a time-lapse
video by West Coast
Time Lapse, a company of Nate Wetterauer and Chase Jensen. Like
the Olympic National Park video, this one about Mount Rainier was
posted within the past year.
If you would like to see more time-lapse video of national
parks, take a look at
“15 time-lapse videos that capture national parks at their
best” by The Wilderness Society. It contains parks from here in
Washington (a different Olympic National Park video) to Maine, from
Alaska to Texas.
American Rivers, an environmental group, has released an
inspiring new short film that captures the sense of wonder and
adventure people can experience in the wild outdoors.
The video features one little boy named Parker who exudes
enthusiasm as he runs, jumps and explores the rivers of the Olympic
Peninsula. We listen to fast-paced music as the scenes change
quickly, jumping from one place to the next, while Parker
demonstrates his “top 50 favorite things about Northwest Rivers.”
(Be sure to watch in full-screen.)
“We wanted a video that would connect with people on a fun,
personal level, reminding all of us why healthy rivers matter and
why rivers make the Northwest such a special place to live,” Amy
Kober of American Rivers told me in an email. “Wild rivers are
amazing places for kids and adults; they can make us all feel like
Parker.”
Amy said she chose filmmaker Skip Armstrong of Wazee Motion
Pictures “because of his talent, unique style, and creativity — and
his own love of rivers.”
Hayden Peters, left, Parker
Arneson and Skip Armstrong review footage shot at the Elwha River
delta for the new American Rivers video.
Skip says he got the idea for a simple film about unbridled
enthusiasm and curiosity while watching his fiancee’s nephew
playing on the beach. When it came time to shoot the American
Rivers video, that particular boy was not available. Skip looked
around his hometown of Hood River, Ore., and found an equally
energetic and curious youngster named Parker Arneson, son of Emmie
Purcell and Shane Arneson. This high-powered 8-year-old is an avid
snowboarder and skateboarder.
Skip spent three days last summer scouting out locations on the
Olympic Peninsula, then came back in the fall with Parker for an
eight-day shoot, traveling the Highway 101 loop around the Olympic
Peninsula in a counter-clockwise direction. Being a home-schooled
student, Parker did not miss any school.
“We just followed Parker around when we got to locations,” Skip
said. “He literally did everything else. He’s an amazing person.
What struck all of us on the shoot was his ability to engage us and
the camera and to come up with ideas. He’s a ton of fun to be
around.
Parker gets a ticket for
running too fast in Olympic National Park. (It’s a
joke.)
“We only had one comical setback,” he said. “Hayden Peters and I
set off to scout a location and got a bit lost on the way back to
the van. It was pouring rain. We finally got to a hillside that
looked like the road was above it, so we set off to climb the hill.
Only problem was a benign-looking puddle that I stepped in with
great confidence, only to sink immediately to my armpits.
“Shortly thereafter, we arrived back at the car, me smelling
like a swamp and totally soaked. Parker thought it was pretty
funny.”
Parker took some pretty good falls while running around, but he
always bounced back and was ready to go again, Skip said.
Parker shows off his speeding
ticket.
Parker even got a speeding ticket from an Olympic National Park
ranger for running too fast in the Staircase area near the North
Fork of the Skokomish River. It was a joke, of course. The ranger
was one who accompanied the film crew as part of the permit
requirements for shooting video in a wilderness area.
Emmie, Parker’s mom, said he had a great time shooting the
video.
Skip has produced numerous films with a water theme. Check out
“featured work” on his website, WazeeMotionPictures.com. He
says it is important to remember the joy we feel in wild
places.
“To me, there is no faster access to unbridled joy than through
the eyes of a young person or child,” he wrote me in an email. “It
was refreshing for our team to spend so much time with Parker, and
it’s cool to see audiences connect with his enthusiasm, too.
“American Rivers works so hard to protect our precious
resources, and I love that Parker shows us why this is important.
When we were shooting, we met so many wonderful people of all ages
enjoying the rivers and sights of the Northwest.”
Skip’s film reminds us that some of our best times can be had
outdoors. As the weather improves, I’m inspired and eager to get
back to some wild places with my own kids and grandkids.
I also want to thank Skip for sending along the still photos
that show Parker and the film crew out and about on the Olympic
Peninsula.
The film crew and supporters,
from left, Jay Gifford, Skip Armstrong, Emmie Purcell, Hayden
Peters and Parker Arneson.
I believe it is important to commemorate the final day of the
Glines Canyon Dam — even though only a relatively small chunk of
the structure had been left in place since February, when flows in
the Elwha River covered over the last 30 feet.
In a massive explosion on Tuesday, that last 30 feet of concrete
was blasted away. Almost immediately, the river began to flow
freely, at basically the same elevation it was before the dam was
built in the 1920s.
The video above was shot by John Gussman, who has done an
amazing job documenting the restoration of the natural river. See
John’s
Facebook page and check out a preview of the film
“Return of the
River.”
Olympic National Park officials say it will take several weeks
to clear away the rubble dislodged by the final blast, but dramatic
changes have been taking place downstream of the former Glines
Canyon Dam — the second dam on the river, built eight miles
upstream of the Elwha Dam.
Researchers are carefully monitoring sediment distribution and
salmon migration, officials say. During the past three years, the
Elwha River has experienced unusually low flows, so experts are
waiting for more typical winter flows to move around some of the
larger boulders in the stream.
Since last fall, salmon have been swimming upstream of the Elwha
Dam site. The dam, built without a fish ladder, blocked salmon
migration into some 70 miles of near-pristine habitat. Now,
biologists expect all five species of Northwest salmon to
recolonize the river.
In a story in today’s Peninsula Daily News, reporter Arwyn Rice
quoted Robert Ellefson, restoration manager for the Lower Elwha
Klallam Tribe: “It’s a good day… It has been the dream of tribal
members for a hundred years.”
The tribe will have something special to celebrate come next
July, when members hold their annual welcoming ceremony,
acknowledging the return of chinook salmon to the Elwha River.
Guided tours of the empty reservoir behind Elwha Dam near Port
Angeles will be offered on Saturdays beginning Aug. 3 and
continuing through Sept. 7.
The Elwha River flows
through what had been the Lake Aldwell reservoir, fully drained
after removal of the Elwha Dam.
Photo by Steve Zugschwerdt
Rangers from Olympic National Park will lead the tours and talk
about the massive dam-removal project. This will be a wonderful
service for visitors who wish to get up close and understand one of
the largest ecosystem-restoration projects in the world.
Instead of wandering aimlessly in what many would consider a
wasteland, visitors will gain an appreciation for the shifting and
eroding sediments and understand how the gravel is moving as the
river reclaims its channel. They will view newly established
vegetation and hear what it takes to restore native species to the
area. They will stand alongside the mighty stumps of old-growth
trees buried within the lakebed until the sediments began washing
away.
The hour-long walks will begin at 1 p.m., leaving from the boat
launch at the end of Lake Aldwell Road. Turn off Highway 101 just
west of the Elwha River Bridge. Explorers should wear boots or
sturdy walking shoes and plan for windy conditions with no shade.
For information, contact the Elwha Ranger Station, (360)
452-9191.
Earlier this year, I wrote a story for visitors interested in
the Elwha restoration. Given that the tours of Lake Aldwell will
last about an hour, you may wish to visit some of the other
viewpoints while you’re there. See
“Visiting the Elwha: Explore a River Transformed.” Also, check
out a few of my observations in
Water Ways, April 30, 2013.
Meanwhile, officials at Olympic National Park posted a new entry
to the Dam
Removal Blog yesterday. It describes how aerial surveys are
being used to measure changes in the sediments during this period
of low flows on the river. The entry also discusses the
revegetation effort, pointing out that sediments along the river
are drying out faster this year than last.
When my editor, Kim Rubenstein, asked me to write a story for
people who wish to check out the Elwha River restoration, it seemed
like a good idea. After playing the role of tourist for a day, I’m
convinced that many visitors will have a good time learning about
this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Looking upstream where the
Elwha River flows into an empty Lake Mills, the upper reservoir.
/ Photo by Steve Zugschwerdt
I wrote a story for
Sunday’s Kitsap Sun that describes where you can go to see the
river and various features of the restoration project. The area map
we created for the newspaper can be downloaded and taken with you.
Click
here for map (PDF 438 kb).
Learning about the natural features of the Elwha River watershed
is an important part of the experience. Before you leave home, I
recommend that you view a series of “webisodes”
on the Olympic National Park website. I’m told these videos by
Wings Over Watersheds are a sampling of what will eventually become
a longer video production.
A more complete story about the Elwha Restoration Project,
including a history of the two dams, has been captured in a new
book by Seattle Times reporter Linda Mapes. I wrote a
review of her book, “Elwha: A River Reborn,” to accompany my
visitor’s guide to the area.
I think kids and adults alike will enjoy playing around with a
model of
Glines Canyon at Feiro Marine Life Center, where one can pull
out the dam and watch the sediment move downstream.
Randall Walz, director of education and volunteers at the
center, told me about misconceptions that some people have. Many
believe that the sediment in the Elwha moved downstream and piled
up behind the dams, he said. Instead, most of the sediment was
dropped off in the upper portion of the two reservoirs, where the
water slowed down as it entered the lakes.
The restoration work included digging a pilot channel through
the Lake Mills delta to form a new channel and guide the river
through the trapped sediment. The goal is not to move the sediment
downstream as quickly as possible, Walz said, but rather to
stabilize the deltas and allow them to erode over a longer period
of time.
If you want to see change, be sure to visit the mouth of the
Elwha River, which you reach from a dike trail at the end of Place
Road. Wherever you see sand, that’s change, because there was no
sand here before, said Anne Shaffer of the Coastal Watershed
Institute.
The sandy habitat will better support the migration of juvenile
salmon and provide spawning areas for sandlance, a forage fish. The
decline of the rocky habitat could mean the end of tall kelp, but
researchers hope the new sandy habitat will support the growth of
eelgrass and a burgeoning community of diverse plants and animals.
Check out the
story I wrote in March, following a conference on the nearshore
changes taking place.
I have to say there’s not a lot of excitement to behold in the
upper portions of the two reservoirs unless you remember what it
was like when the lakes were in place or can visualize the enormity
of the change. The river now carves its way through a dry lake bed,
where one can see large old-growth stumps, which were either under
water or buried by sediment. Plants are coming back, some placed
there by restoration workers, others by natural processes.
With or without the dams, one can enjoy the escape into this
natural area, particularly as one moves into the higher trails in
Olympic National Park. Be sure to take time to enjoy the natural
surroundings, even if you need to cut out parts of your planned
trip.
If you want to observe the changes over time, I suggest you find
a vantage point and take a picture during your visit. When you
return the next time, take another picture for comparison. The
heavy gravel and silt seems fairly inhospitable at the moment. But
if you return again and again, I expect you’ll be amazed at the
transformation taking place over the next few years.
Changes are coming rapidly to the Elwha River, as massive
amounts of sediment shift around in the river channel and flow out
into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Phoebe Tyson, a Student
Conservation Association intern, joins in planting efforts in the
former Lake Mills to help restore a natural forest. /
Photo courtesy of Olympic National Park
Over the past few months, researchers have documented the
formation of new beaches and the growth of the delta at the mouth
of the Elwha. I described these latest changes in a story in
Sunday’s Kitsap Sun.
The new information came out of an annual workshop of the Elwha
Nearshore Consortium, which has a special interest in the river,
especially its effects on the coastal reaches along the strait.
It’s exciting to hear about the transformation of the river, and
I would like to congratulate the scientists for the monitoring work
that allows us to talk about “before” and “after” dam removal —
although the “after” part will be an ongoing story for decades.
Many research organizations are involved in the Elwha, and I hope
their funding holds out to tell a more complete story from a
scientific perspective.
Meanwhile, many writers, photographers and videographers are
telling their own stories about the restoration in various ways,
and new books and documentaries are on the way. I’ve talked about
some of these in the past and will continue to do so as new works
are released.
The human connections to the river, particularly those of the
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, have been widely recognized as an
integral part of the restoration story. Many Klallam elders have
been gracious in sharing their culture and traditions.
Although the Elwha Dam removal is far from the only restoration
effort taking place in Western Washington, it may be the one place
where nature is working at an extraordinary pace to put things back
the way they were.
The folks at Olympic National Park who keep us informed about
the Elwha River Ecosystem Restoration Project could not have
described it better: “It has been an explosive week at Glines
Canyon Dam,” they said in their “Dam
Removal Blog.”
Blasting this week at
Glines Canyon Dam. Click on image to start video.
Video courtesy of Olympic National Park
The “salmon window,” designed to protect migrating fish, has now
closed, allowing work in the river to begin again. This week, four
big blasts blew out large sections of the dam on Saturday, Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday, as the reservoir level dropped from 489 to
476 feet, according to the blog. Click on the image to start the
video of the blasting.
After an upcoming blast on Sunday, a 14-day waiting period will
begin to allow the river to erode laterally.
The remote cameras at both the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are
useful for observing environmental and structural changes in the
areas around the two dams. An unexpected use came into play
Thursday, when an average person looking at the Elwha Dam webcam
noticed a fire burning at the edge of the picture.
Someone noticed a fire on
the Elwha Dam webcam and was able to call in firefighters before it
got out of hand.
Photo courtesy of Olympic National Park
Firefighters from Clallam County, the Washington Department of
Natural Resources and Olympic National Park were able to extinguish
the blaze before it could burn more than half an acre. The cause of
the fire is under investigation. Read the
news release about fire danger in the national park.
Click on image for video
showing the first year of Elwha River restoration work.
Video courtesy of Olympic National Park
It’s worth noting that we have just passed the first anniversary
of the start of dam removal. The Elwha Dam is gone and most site
work is complete. Glines Canyon Dam is about 60 percent removed.
And salmon have been observed swimming upstream of the Elwha Dam.
Click on the image (lower right) to start the video, which shows
what has happened over the past year.
In-water demolition pauses
at Glines Canyon Dam. / Photo courtesy of Tom
Roorda
The delta and shoreline above Glines Canyon Dam provide a
stunning contrast to the surrounding forest in this photo take
yesterday by Tom Roorda.
Work in the Elwha River stopped Aug. 1 for the “fish window,”
which will halt all in-water work until Sept. 15. During this time,
steps are being taken to reduce flows of sediment, which can harm
migrating salmon. Salmon are being trapped downstream for transport
into clearer waters above the dams.
As you can see, the reservoir level has come down at Glines as
more of the delta is exposed and the river seeks multiple routes on
its downstream course.
Tom Roorda, owner of Northwestern Territories, has taken aerial
photos of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams and their sediment
plumes since the beginning of dam removal. Check out his website,
Roorda Aerial, which
contains a slideshow of some interesting and beautiful aerial
photos.
As we have discussed, the lower Elwha Dam has been removed and
the river is flowing at historical levels. Massive amounts of
sediment are moving downstream and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The finer sediments that have reached the Strait so far tend to
disperse rather than accumulate.
During the fish window, work crews at Glines are preparing to
demolish the intake tower, which is no longer in the river. A blast
at the base will drop the tower onto its side, allowing a
jackhammer attached to an excavator to break up the concrete.
In July, six controlled blasts lowered Glines Canyon Dam by 24
feet to the current elevation of 490 feet. About 90 feet of the
original 210-foot-tall dam remain, according to the “Dam
Removal Blog,” written Olympic National Park staff.
The two final blasts on July 29 and 31 notched the dam the final
six feet to elevation 490 feet. Videos of three of the blasts can
be viewed below in these explosive shots provided by URS:
Removal of the Elwha Dam and drawdown of Lake Aldwell behind it
have gone faster than originally planned, and now the story of the
Elwha River restoration becomes a story of erosion. Experts are
watching the sediment movement very closely.
Taken today, this photo
shows the sediment once impounded by the Elwha Dam but now free to
move. The drawdown is on hold to allow the river to redistribute
the sediment.
Elwha Dam cam, Natonal Park Service
The Elwha Dam has been entirely removed down to the river bed
(see photos below), and the river is now flowing in its original
channel, where it will remain. The river is being held back mainly
by a “check dam” of boulders. At the moment, the drawdown has been
halted at 133 feet elevation for a scheduled two-week holding
period.
Andy Ritchie, restoration project hydrologist with Olympic
National Park, says the pause in drawdown will allow the river to
snake around to redistribute the sediment more evenly across the
valley. The final target elevation for the river bed is 100
feet.
Drawdown of Lake Mills, behind the upper Glines Canyon Dam, also
is on hold at the moment. Even more sediment is trapped behind that
dam. While project managers have largely lost control over the
movement of sediment behind the lower dam, the upper dam remains
intact enough to control migration of sediment from farther up the
canyon.
As the weather improves this spring (or at least we can hope),
it may be time for many of us to visit the former lake beds at the
two dams. We can walk out onto the deltas and see the new
vegetation starting to grow. Lake Aldwell’s delta can be reached
from the old boat launch. For Lake Mills, take Whiskey Bend Road,
which has been reopened, and you will come to Humes Ranch trailhead
with access from there.
