Hoh Rain Forest

The rain had subsided so we thought we better take advantage and go to the rain forest. It turned out that the morning was perfect for hiking the trails in the forest as we took both of the trail hikes. One was a hike into the maple groves that have dense moss hanging from the trees. Apparently, the moss only grows on the maple trees in this manner. The other trail winds you through the rain forest and along the Hoh River.

This picture is of hanging moss from a maple tree. The green reflection in the water below is moss growing in the stream.

Green, green everywhere.

Looks like something out of Jurassic Park doesn't it. You are surrounded by the sweet smell of decay as you stroll through the park. Ferns grow any and everywhere they can. We learned about moss, lichen, and nurse logs. Nurse logs are trees that have fallen over and offer a haven for other trees and ferns to grow on that wouldn't survive if they tried growing on the ground due to the dense foliage. Sometimes, only the large roots of the surviving trees are the only indication that they grew out of a nurse tree. We saw several nurse trees that had not decayed away but the trees growing out of them were obviously very old based on their size.

The stump in the forefront of the picture below really caught my eye as it looks (to me anyway) like a dragon's head. See the eye sockets, long nose, and the open mouth?
Here are two fallen cedar trees on the trail that really make John look small. It is not unusual to have the old growth trees be 220 feet tall or more.

The ranger had told us in the morning that he had seen a herd of elk outside their barracks. We did spot obvious signs of the Roosevelt elk but that was it.

By the time we returned home for lunch, it had started raining again. Rain continued on throughout the evening. I was able to tune in only one station on the radio, the NOAA station. We have stayed on top of the weather for Western Washington and locations along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Guess it is time to pull out and turn on the Ipod.