The Magical Hoh

Yesterday I visited the Hoh rain forest in Olympic National Park.  I first saw this place about 50 years ago on a family vacation, and even as a kid I remember being amazed at the lushness and beauty.  It remains wonderful and mystical.  On a balmy, humid day, mists rise above the river and cloak the hills.  Everything is soft, all lines are rounded.

Sitka spruce trees tower in the rainforest, nourished by 140 inches of rain a year.

This is nurse log central!  These four trees started out as saplings growing on top of a log, which provided them nutrients as it rotted.  Eventually, the saplings grew larger and sent roots down the log into the soil.  When the nurse log finally disappeared, this scene is what was left.

The Hoh is a kingdom of moss.  It cloaks everything.  The myriad moss formations and the soft, changing light make the Hoh valley a fantasy world.

The forest floor presents fine patterns of vegetation.  Elk keep it fairly well groomed by chomping the vegetation down.

Fungus also finds a congenial home here.

Mist drifts along the hillsides, day after day, nourishing and shrouding the trees.

At the end of August, a few vine maples are already changing color.  There are many maples among the spruce and hemlocks, and by October they'll put on a nice color show.

A banana slug cruises the trail.