The Forest Primeval

"This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, 
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, 
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, 
Stand like harper hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Our morning hike takes us on a 5-mile walk where every square inch of ground is covered with life,  plants and animals live on top of each other. There is intense competition for space.

Whether they're temperate forests or tropical jungles, rainforests are densely populated. Standing among trees hundreds of feet tall, where every spot of space harbors life, I find the rainforest is eerie, intriguing, and awe-inspiring-- an intricate, interwoven biological  ecosystem.

The Olympic Peninsula temperate rainforest has few equals. The western valleys get ten+ feet of rain a year--more than any other part of the continental US.   Three factors produce all that rainfall -  cool ocean currents from the Pacific combining with the westerly winds, and the Olympic Mountains. When the moisture-laden clouds move in from the ocean, they rise to meet the mountains; the air mass cools as it goes up,  moisture condenses, and the rains fall, nurturing life and land below.  By the time the air reaches the northeast side of the mountain, it has little rain left to offer.

The temperatures here don't reach extremes: the coldest weather rarely goes under freezing, and summer temperatures infrequently exceed 80°F.

The stages of the forest life cycle are visible everywhere.  Down here on the ground, as dead wood decays, it becomes the life source for mosses, new trees, fungus, small mammals, amphibians, and insects.

Nurse logs -- remnants of trees that have fallen --litter the forest floor and now provide nutrients for the next generation of life.  The nurse logs are covered with moss, and then give homes to ferns and other floor plants.  New trees sprout from old ones.

Nurse Log--fallen log whose remains allow moss to grow and give new life sustenance.

All that covers the ground creates opportunity for new life to rise up. I’m overwhelmed by the size of the ferns, the trees, and moss hanging from the branches. 

Rainforest Fern--the person standing next to it gives you an idea of its size

Some of these giant old trees are well over 250 feet tall, with a circumference that exceeding fifty feet.

One thousand year old Sitka Spruce

Even with people for perspective, it's difficult to grasp the size of this 1,000 year old spruce tree.  Since my trip, the park service has put a sign:

 

from http://www.rainforestresort.com/spruce-tree.htm 

The rainforest biome is filled with life, all of it interacting to maintain the ecosystem.  Among the valued life forms---Slinky the Banana Slug (ok,  I named him...I don’t know what his mother called him)

Slinky the Banana Slug

I can’t say I find banana slugs appealing, but they are an essential part of the natural cycle.  Slugs decompose dead plants and animal droppings, recycling them into nutrient-rich matter that contributes to new growth.  I’m glad they’re there, I’m glad they do their job.  I’ll also be glad if I don’t get to close to one again. 

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As I make my way through the woods, some up, some down, all fairly manageable,  I realize I’m clutching my hiking pole like a crutch.  I’m a little tense about my ability to do this, and a lot angry at my body for turning on me.  Enough of that….

From the City to the Temperate Rainforest

After the very ‘citified’ experience of Tacoma's beautiful Museum of Glass, we head to Lake Sylvia, a little over an hour from Tacoma, for our first ‘warm up’ hike and lunch by the lake.

The first part of the trail around Lake Sylvia has gentle slopes but there’s no significant elevation gain.  The tranquility of the natural beauty is a significant contrast to the man-made beauty of the Museum of Glass that we’ve left behind.

Lake Sylvia

After lunch, we have a one hour drive to Lake Quinault in the southern area of Olympic National Park.  The lake is in a temperate rainforest that can get ten feet (or more) of rain a year.  North American temperate rainforests are primarily in the northwest coastal region where winds bring ample rainfall from the ocean. 

Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas fir and western red cedar all grow to great heights in this area.  In fact, sitka spruce grow well only in wet, foggy conditions of the temperate rain forests. The sitka spruce can’t control water loss through it’s needles, so the coastal moisture--fog and rain -- is critical for its  survival.

The trees loom above us; at the lower levels, big leaf and vine maple are proliferate, along with many kinds of ferns, blackberries and huckleberries.

We arrive at Quinault Lodge in time to settle in,  enjoy the end of day and a beautiful sunset.

Lake Quinault Lodge

Lake Quinault Sunset

Sunset

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An important reminder that I should have put earlier in this series:  my blog posts are based on journals I keep when I travel;   I write now from the comfort of my home.  I supplement my notes and photos with research as necessary, because things change, and I don’t want my posts to mislead my readers.  I welcome any additional updated information you may have to offer on places I’ve been.