Where Shall We Go? The Rainforest of the Pacific Northwest
After the beauty of our trip to British Columbia, you might be wondering if anything could beat the beautiful Butchart Gardens and the Empress Hotel. Well, hold on to your hats!
Do you remember, back in high school, studying the importance of the ecosystems of rainforests and the role they play in our lives? Not many of us will ever get to see the Amazon rainforests but, guess what? You don’t have to go all the way to the Amazon to experience the lush beauty of a rainforest. Right here, in the Pacific Northwest, is the Hoh Rainforest, 24 miles of low-elevation forest along the Hoh River (pronounced “Hoe”).
The Hoh Rainforest is accessed by the Upper Hoh Road, off of Hwy 101. We made our way along the west side of Olympic National Park to Forks, WA. It’s a small town known mostly as the location of the book series, Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. An inordinate amount of rain falls there each year, an average of between 10-11 feet, and this has produced a beautiful rainforest right here in the USA.
If you plan on exploring the Hoh Rainforest, you might want to start out at the Visitor Center, which offers trailheads for two short hikes. The Hall of Mosses Trail is just under a mile long, and you will see old growth and a grove of maple trees covered with moss. Another trail is The Spruce Nature Trail which is just over a mile long and winds along the Hoh River. If you are looking for more of a challenge (we weren’t!), you can take the Hoh River Trail which can be taken to Glacier Meadows or Blue Glacier Moraine where you can enjoy, we were told, a stunning view of Mount Olympus. We were content to remain within the Hoh Rainforest and soak up the heavenly serenity and earthly scents.
The beauty of this place is difficult to put into words. A lush, green canopy drapes the entire forest creating the feeling that one is entering a sacred place, where you are compelled to whisper so as not to disturb the quiet life thriving within. The awe of being in such a space is something I’ve only felt one other time among the redwood trees of northern California.
The beauty of the Hoh Rainforest is enhanced by my two favorite evergreen trees, the Sitka Spruce and the Douglas Fir. With my For Evergreen Drive Time® Wheel Spinner diffusing in our vehicle, I was in heaven, being fully immersed in the woodsy aroma.
The forest is also full of mosses that contribute to the earthy perfume and carpet the forest’s surfaces. One such moss, appropriately called lettuce lichen for its appearance, grows high up on the trees. When it dies, it falls to the ground, providing food for the animals.
I learned something new as we quietly made our way through the rainforest. Nurse logs are trees that fall to the ground providing a fertile location for new trees to grow. They decompose and “nurse” the new trees to good health by providing them with the nutrients needed to survive.
It was hard to leave the tranquility of the Hoh Rainforest, but we finally did and headed to the Washington coast, about 15 miles away. We were impressed with the huge amount of fist-size flat and smooth rocks piled up all along the beach. Us Midwesterners would pay big money for rocks like these to use for landscaping and yet here they were for the taking! Sadly, we couldn’t bring any home in our luggage. What we did bring back with us was the memory of that lush and thriving rainforest and the comforting scent of life giving way to life.
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Lori Herr for Drive Time® Brand