Mid-June 2020
 |
| Old
growth |
The
morning started with a loose plan; head north on I-5, exit and follow Highway
530 east along the North Fork Stillaguamish River valley, past the Oso
landslide, through Darrington, then follow the Sauk River north to where it
joins the Skagit River at Rockport. Part
of my loose plan was to walk walk-through Rockport State Park.
 |
| Rockport
State Park |
Rockport State Park is a patch of old growth forest that
stands as a rare example of unbound lowland forest that once covered a vast
area of western Washington. The trees
are stunningly large western red cedar, western hemlock, and Douglas fir; some
over 600 years old and over 250 feet tall.
This forest is untouched by the cold steel of the saw. The park covers 632 acres where you can walk
among these giants along a network of several trails. The trail I chose was the Evergreen Trail, a
three-mile loop trail. You can see my
route on the Google Earth image.
Watch
and listen to these short 20-second videos.
Is that not the sound of tranquility?
I
had read recently about the connection between salmon and old growth. These trees have high components of nitrogen
15, an isotope of the element nitrogen found mainly in the ocean (technically,
as I try to understand the chemistry, at a higher ratio N15/N14 in oceans
compared to the standard, which is based on the N15/N14 ratio in the atmosphere
pegged at zero). Salmon leaving the
ocean and swimming upriver to spawn are consumed by all manner of animals that
eat both living salmon and the spawned-out carcasses. The animals that feed on the salmon; the
bears, the bald eagles, and even insects, poop and die which spreads the
nitrogen 15 throughout the forest. The
trees then uptake the nitrogen 15. It’s
an amazing connection.
The forest floor is well shaded by the tall canopy of evergreens. Broad swaths of vanilla leaf and western sword fern carpet much of the forest floor.
 |
| Vanilla
Leaf (Achlys triphylla) |
 |
| Western
Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum) |
Mosses
of all kinds cover fallen logs and the forest floor. Stairstep moss is abundant and easily
identified by its stairstep growth pattern; each step representing one year of
growth.
 |
| Stairstep
Moss (Hylocomium splendens) |
Thimbleberries
were still blooming. Salmonberries were
ripening. I found a patch of ripe
blueberries. I ate a few and left more
for the wild animals.
 |
| Thimbleberry
(Rubus parviflorus) |
 |
| Salmonberry
(Rubus spectabilis) |
 |
| Blueberry
(Vaccinium sp.) |
Not
many plants in western Washington forests can hurt you. But there is one nasty plant, known
appropriately as Devil’s Club, whose stems are covered in numerous small sharp
spines that break off easily. Don’t
touch it.
 |
| Devil’s
Club (Oplopanax horridus) |
Even
this native old growth forest is not free of a few non-native plants including
Herb Robert, Creeping Buttercup, and several grasses.
 |
| Grass
(Bromus sp.) |
It
was a most enjoyable walk in the forest.
The weather was clearing after an overnight rain. I took Daisy with me, one of our two
dogs. We saw no one else on the entire
walk.
