Impressive Trees

Big Cedar in Olympic National Park, outside Forks, WA

Spruce in Ecola State Park, OR

Larch in Marysville, BC

L to R: Pine, Spruce, and Fir in Manning Park, BC

Japanese Maple in Forks, WA

Western Juniper by Gilmore Lake, CA

Every landscape looks better with trees in it. This trip has broadened my appreciation for trees, those stalwart, long-lived contributors to air, soil, water, and animals. The Northwest offers wide expansive forests that stretch as far as the eye can see. Although the redwoods of home are special to me, I admire the mixed conifers covering the mountains, with deciduous oaks, alder, and maple along the creeks. The forests, though free of poison oak, are not inviting for cross country walks because a bushy understory occupies the middle space. And because the forests are so vast, the scenery doesn’t change much as one walks. But the trees can get really large here, and each old tree has a more distinct look than the young ones. Not a bad metaphor for aging. Here’s some pine reforestation in the Deschutes National Forest, a beginning to end with: