Tag: Quinault Rainforest

From Wikipedia:

The Quinault Rain Forest is a temperate rain forest, which is part of the Olympic National Park and the Olympic National Forest in the U.S. state of Washington in Grays Harbor County and Jefferson County. The rain forest is located in the valley formed by the Quinault River and Lake Quinault. The valley is called the “Valley of the Rain Forest Giants” because of the number of record size tree species located there. The largest specimens of Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, Alaskan Cedar and Mountain Hemlock are found in the forest as well as five of the ten largest Douglas-firs. The forest receives an average of 12 feet of rain per year. It is believed to be the area with the greatest number of record size giant tree species in the smallest area in the world. It has the largest trees in the world outside of the state of California and New Zealand.

Quinault Rainforest

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment
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6094 U.S. 101, Amanda Park, WA 98526

A cluster of ferns in Quinault Rainforest

Quinault Rainforest

Quinault Rainforest, part of Olympic National Park, is on my shortlist of places to visit again. In July 2013 on my way from San Francisco to Boston, I visited this mossy, verdant wonderland in the northwest corner of Washington State. I could have spent a month taking photos there. The park features overflowing ferns, moss growing off giant trees, and numerous other epiphytes that only grow where it rains all the time. Epiphytes are plants that grow on other plants in a non-parasitic way. Examples include ferns, mosses, spike mosses, and lichens. It rains almost fourteen feet a year in the park, so the place is very green.

Quinault Rainforest is verdant and amazing

The paths were particularly beautiful because the sunlight shone through the hanging moss and ferns and created a green backlit effect. Much of the lush greenery was brightly dappled. The mixture of shadow and light was spectacular. Many fallen trunks in stages of decay were thick with moss growth. Shades of green were very intense. This place is loaded with ferns and moss.

Quinault Rainforest could have been a lovely home for elves and gnomes

Plants grew from every square inch of the earth. Moss draped from every tree. Light filtered through everything. The park was scenic and postcard-perfect. There are hikes of shorter and longer durations, all radiating out from Lake Quinault in the center. It’s a very family-friendly park. There’s even a seafood restaurant on one edge of the park with a view of the sunset.

More ferns and moss in Quinault Rainforest

Quinault Rainforest

Even more ferns and greenery

Quinault Rainforest

Posted in response to It IS Easy Being Green!

Hoh Rainforest and Quinault Rainforest

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ 2 Comments

I took a road trip across country and stopped at many National Parks, including Olympic National Park. It features unbelievably beautiful lush, mossy rain forests.

In my first post, I confused Quinault and Hoh and called it Qoh! Oops.

This one is Hoh Rain Forest.

Gloomy looming large figures! So much moss.

Hoh Rain Forest

This one is Quinault Rain Forest.

So many ferns! Ferns all the way down.

Quinault Rainforest

Extremely mossy

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

Another photo from the extremely mossy Olympic National Park in Washington State. I really could have spent a month in this place. So tropical! Everywhere I went it was crazy-thick ferns, moss dripping off giant trees, strange frondy things that probably only grow where it rains all the time.

I love jungles. I want to visit Costa Rica. I’ve been to Mexica, Belize, and Guatemala. Not bad. I would love to see some sloths either in the wild or in captivity. I’m not a big fan of captivity but what are you gonna do, those animals need help. Also they look like muppets. How can you not want to help an animal that looks like a muppet, and moves so slowly.

sloth

Olympic National Park

~ Kristen Ankiewicz ~ Leave a comment

Where are the gnomes

It is hard to describe how unbelievably hobbit-like Olympic National Park is in July.

Olympic National Park in July

The thick verdant nature of everything is really hard to capture on camera. I was lucky it wasn’t raining. Everything was covered in moss. Electric poles: moss. Electric lines: moss. Everything: moss. I could imagine houses get quite dingy if you don’t keep them dry. I would not want to live here, I think I’d feel damp too much of the year, but it was quite resplendent mid-July.

It was also not very busy. I hiked Quinault Rain Forest. I must have been happily marching along for two hours by myself without hearing a soul in the world, lah lah, my head meandering about how nice the green stuff is and whether I’ll see an elk, when all of a sudden some dude briskly walks past saying EXCUSE ME. I also had my hood up to keep the bugs off, so I really didn’t hear him coming. Sheesh I nearly had a heart attack. After that I stopped hiking with my hood up.