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Page 3

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Willow catkins

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I’m back on Hwy 4 again, still heading west. and it's getting late. I want to get to the coast and hike in an old growth Sitka Spruce Forest before this day is over. Too much to ask of one glorious day? I don't think so. So I head for Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby State Park) a historic site that overlooks the Pacific Ocean, with 2 lighthouses, and an easy 1½ mile trail that winds through a preserved stand of old growth Sitka Spruce, leading to an outstanding ocean view.

 

Long Beach Peninsula is a narrow strip of land that connects to the SW corner of Washington and goes north, separated from the Willapa Hills by Willapa Bay. The road I choose takes me along the eastern edge of the bay. The sun is getting low in the sky and glints on the water and marshy edges. The yellow Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanum) is starting to bloom in mucky spots along the road. I don't want to hurry, but I need to if I want to get my hike in.

 

There is an island in Willapa Bay called Long Island, 7 miles long, 2 miles wide, accessible only by boat. I can see it clearly, it's not too far from shore, only about 200 feet, so I have read, from the boat dock on this side. Someday I will get there. The secret treasure of this island, what I long to see, is an ancient grove of Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata), tucked away within the logged over, but now regenerating, forest. This protected grove of trees is over 1000 years old ( ! ), one of the last remaining old growth stands of its kind. The thought of it haunts me.

 

But I must get to my final destination. I drive into the state park through the coastal town of Ilwaco, in the farthest SW corner of the state. It's 5:00, plenty of time for a quick hike. The old growth Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) forests are almost gone now, but this patch has survived under the care of the State Park system. And it is spectacular. Sitka Spruces have very broad bases, massive in feeling, and mosses and ferns are everywhere. An unexpected treat for me is to see the large mats of the coastal Licorice Fern relative, Polypodium scouleri, living on the trunks and in the crooks of the branches of the Sitka Spruces. This fern only lives near the ocean, growing on rocks and trees in salt spray. It is very difficult in cultivation, but luxuriates here in its element, with the big dark green fronds with rounded pinnae dwarfing the common Licorice fern, Polypodium glycyrrhiza with which it shares the trees. And of course the mosses are a distraction. I am heady with the feeling of being immersed in so many life forms. Such old trees.

 

By the time I get back to my car, it is nearly dark, and now I must leave. I cross into Oregon for the long ride home, over the mouth of the Columbia River on the impressive 4 mile long Astoria Bridge,

 

And as I start home from Astoria, the full moon rises behind the trees, huge and creamy white. I am taken completely by surprise. I have to look twice to realize what it is. As I drive east, the moon precedes me, full and bright in an absolutely clear sky, and I follow it home.   

 

Yes, a perfect day.  The only thing that would have made it better is if it had been longer.

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Willapa Bay

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Picea sitchensis

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Back to

Field Tripping main page

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Alders

Polypodium scouleri

Field Tripping

 

To Long Beach, Washington

February,13, 2006

Collector's Nursery,16804 NE102nd Ave, Battle Ground, WA 98604, 360-574-3832 / dianar@collectorsnursery.com