Inside the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park, there was a short 3/4 mile loop called the Hall of Mosses. Initially, we skipped the short loop, because we thought the scenery would be comparable to the longer hike. Plus, we wanted to see how far we could get on the rainforest trail first. But on our return, we gained a second wave of energy and wandered into the Hall of Mosses occupied by moldering logs, lush trees covered in beards of moss, and giant sitka spruces.
Photos from the Hall of Mosses in Olympic National Park:
There were mossy trees on the hoh rainforest trail but none like these.
The sitka spruces average over 200 ft and some grow over 300 ft tall.
The clubmoss survives solely on air and light and gets enough moisture and nutrients from the atmosphere. Low maintenance – sounds like my kind of plant!
In this older part of the rainforest, the old and new live together. Larger trees fall and provide for new life that would otherwise not survive on the forest floor. Below is a colonnade of trees straddling a decaying nurselog. When the new tree roots reach the soil, they look like they are standing on stilts as the nurselog decomposes under them.
Most the slugs we saw were black, but we saw this one perched on some leaves posing for a photo.
This short loop highlighted the best of the Hoh Rainforest. You may not see the river, but you see some of the best mossy trees.
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