Rev. 06/27/01
Alaska & beyond - continued 6/27
Tillamook, OR to Forks, WA
We crossed the Columbia River at Astoria. It is hard to
imagine just how large and wide the Columbia is until you see it from the
bridge. My granddaughter had the CB on and was obviously listening
to a trucker who was also crossing. He commented that he got spooked
when up on the bridge -- "I always wonder, what if there was an earthquake?"
he said. Nice thought....
Continuing to follow US-101 north, in the coastal rain, lead
through low marsh land and oyster beds.
On the southern edge of the Olympic Park, we surprised a black bear and watched him scamper into the forest. We haven't seen much wild life on this trip.
The drizzle continued, so it seemed appropriate to learn more about the temperate rain forests along this part of the coast. There was a good exhibit at Lake Quinault, so stopped and took a mile or so tour.
They
get quite a bit of rain, 140 inches a year, plus about 30 more from condensing
mist. The trees in the rain forest are huge -- much too large for my
granddaughter, the tree hugger, to get her arms around.
Along the trail, we came to a "brood" tree. A tree had fallen, then four or five young trees had started to grow, in a line, on the dead tree's trunk. At this time they were each about 30 or 40 feet high. The sign said that in about a hundred years the "brood tree" would be completely absorbed -- only five large trees, in a straight line, would be the evidence of where it had once been.
Further along the coast, we hiked down to the beach. Tide was high, I thought it would be low, and a strong wind was blowing in from ocean. Like I mentioned, my granddaughter likes the rain, now found out she detests the wind -- so we didn't stay.
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