The Elwha River has been getting a lot of press lately. It is the site of one of the largest dam removal projects to date. Salmon runs are returning in numbers (miles and miles of recovered salmon breeding habitat), the delta is being rebuilt and numerous species (including bears and birds) are benefiting from the decaying salmon carcasses.
The section shown here is between the two dams that were removed (the Elwha Dam below this point and the Glines Canyon Dam above).
I find it interesting how various trees in an area will have such varied timing of color display and leaf drop. Probably some genetic variation …
I thought this flash of red from a small vine maple was a nice counterpoint to the greens and greys.
There is a nice rocky knoll about 1.5 miles in from the trailhead of the North Fork Skokomish river trail (Olympic National Park). I have hiked the trail around a hundred times, I suppose, in all kinds of weather, in all times of the year. My favorite spot for lunch is this knoll … although the quality of the view is now being reduced due to the growth of trees in the previous slide area. This was part of the area of the Beaver Fire in the late 1980’s (you can still see some of the resulting snags) … and the slides the following winter/spring wiped out additional areas that didn’t burn. The slides did create some views that are now going away … it’s worth it, but the views will be missed.
The leaves in fall in the Pacific Northwest often don’t get colored brightly red … yellows are more common. Here the vine maple growing in the understory of old growth cedar and Doug fir are past whatever red phase they had. The trail shows the heavy drop of fir needles and their reddish color.
Both images were taken along the North Fork Skokomish trail in the Olympic National Park.
