HISTORIC ISSUES
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Vol.17
No.2 - 7/15/1882 |
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Courtesy of the New York
State Historical Association Library, Cooperstown, N.Y (.PDF files)
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April 2009
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March 2009
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February 2009
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New York Canal Times -
Online newspaper
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Mercury Media Group
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Pacific Northwest (Part 3)
By Curt & Mariel Richardson |
After a leisurely community breakfast on the cabin deck, we headed out for another full day. Our destination was the Hoh Rain Forest (there are three rain forest valleys within the national park).
Back on Highway 101, we continued our clockwise circuit of the peninsula to the entrance to the Hoh Rain Forest. Our first stop was at the location of a giant Sitka Spruce. The sign said that this spruce was 270 feet tall. It was hard to imagine a tree as tall as a 27-story building but there it was.
It defies description and pictures couldn’t do any justice to this majestic beauty. For an indication of its size, we stood fingertip to fingertip around the base of the tree and it took 9 adults to complete the circle.
In the same area, there stands a broad-leaf maple with leaves that easily measure 12 inches across. The rain forest receives between 141 and 161 inches of precipitation every year. Over a thousand varieties of ferns, mosses and fungi carpet the soggy floor of the rain forest.
Our biologist led us on a walking tour of this area. We were introduced to many secrets concerning life in this strange environment. When one of these giant trees dies and falls to the ground, it becomes a host or “mother tree” to several seedlings.
At one place, I counted no less than 12 new trees growing on one host tree. This straight row of new giants is known as a colonnade.
As a ranger explained, it takes 250 years for a tree to reach maturity. It takes another 250 years for the tree to die and another 250 years before it falls down. As the host tree is decaying, new trees begin to grow along the fallen trunk. When the decaying is finished and the host tree disappears, it leaves the new tree in a perched position with the roots reaching into the ground and the main trunk several inches in the air. This was quite fascinating.
Returning to our cabins in the late afternoon, we had a choice to rest or to explore Second Beach. Mariel and I decided to go with the group to the beach. The road leading to the beach trailhead was lined with beautiful purple and pink foxgloves. This flower was very abundant in this area.
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| Curt checks out the driftwood on the beach. (Photo submitted) |
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On the trail to the beach, we found a five-inch yellow banana slug. This is the biggest slug we had ever seen and it was very photogenic. Here at the beach we were able to examine the sea stacks much closer and to inspect the tidal pools that abounded with sea-life-starfish, sea urchins, anemones, barnacles, clams, mussels and many more.
The many different colored starfish were particularly interesting. It was like a giant outdoor aquarium that disappears and then reappears with each tide.
For dinner that evening, we purchased a fresh 17-pound salmon. In a fine community effort, the fish was prepared for grilling under the watchful eyes of our traveling chefs, Arnie and Deanne Jungkind. Salads, potatoes and fruit were made ready while the fire was setting a brilliant bed of coals.
The appetizer was fresh steamed mussels (gathered on our beach outing) dipped in melted butter. The foil-wrapped salmon was done to perfection. No one went away hungry that evening.
The next morning, we packed up and headed back across the peninsula to Highway 112 west to Neah Bay. At Neah Bay, we were treated with a visit to the Makah Cultural and Research Center, where we had the opportunity to look back in time and see how the people of the Makah Nation lived.
The center contains exhibits pertaining to Makah history and culture as well as flora and fauna wilderness habitat. Some items are 500-year-old finds from the Makah’s ancestral village of Ozette, part of which was buried in a catastrophic mudslide.
The name Makah, which was given to them by their neighboring tribes, means “generous with food.”
There were displays of whaling and sealing harpoons, nets, hooks, basket crafts, carvings and bowls.
We then drove to Cape Flattery, the most western point in the 48 contiguous states. The newly restored Cape Flattery Trail led 1.5-miles to the tip of the peninsula and provided us with cliff-side views of sea caves and beautiful blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.
From the observation point, the Cape Flattery lighthouse was visible across the inlet. The playful sea otters could also be seen bobbing around in the bay.
Our return trip to Port Townsend along Highway 112 was a beautiful drive and offered us more great views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. At the Port Townsend Inn, we enjoyed a quick swim in the pool before we had dinner at an Italian restaurant. The meal was no comparison to last night’s beach-side fare of fresh salmon. On to Mt. Rainier!
To be continued.
The Richardsons reside on Pumpkin Hook Road in Van Hornesville.
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