Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Sojourn








Please join these hosts for more

White Wednesday

and

Outdoor Wednesday!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our outing began with the decision to hike on the Southfork

of the Skokomish River in the beautiful

Olympic Mountains, a majestic playground

nearly in our 'backyard'!

~*~

A little history from the reader board at the trail head.


We drove on a little further to begin our hike...

on a 'road less traveled'.
~*~


"When thro' the woods and forest glades I wander...


...and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees"
~*~
This trail is also used by horsemen. The bridges have washed out
at several of the streams and are in the process of being rebuilt.
Notice the white tarp bags in the upper left corner. These heavy
bags were full of large stones brought in by helicopter.
The stones are being used as footings for the new bridges.
(The horses have a difficult time traversing safely over the stoney
stream bed. Horsemen and women use these trails for pleasure
and for hunting in the fall/winter.)

~*~
Three kinds of ferns ~
(I'm reminded of the line in 'Robin Hood; Prince of Thieves'
Morgan Freeman's character says, "God loves wondrous variety!")



Below is some of the beauty carpeting the forest floor





tiny wild rose



Cottonwood 'fluff' floating down like snowflakes on the gentle breeze



Unripe Salmon Berry



Linea Twin Flower



Devil's Club in flower...

...and armed and dangerous!
These thorns have many tiny barbs: when pierced by them,
one usually has to push it through as pulling them out causes greater
pain and damage. Best to avoid them altogether!

This is for my sweet friend Sharon! ;~D
(I think this is Wild Ginger)

Ripe Salmon Berry

And it's not even St. Patrick's Day!
~*~
Below are several varieties of moss, lichen & fungus








~*~

Below ~
Our Destination!
Stopping at the river for lunch. :~P



The 'table' set with flowers!



Won't you join us?
~*~

On our return we discovered someone else had used the trail!
~*~
This one loudly proclaimed his displeasure at our presence!
Can you spot him?
~*~
The trail back is just as lovely as the trail in!



Gentleman Farmer trying to give you an idea of how
magnificent some of the trees are in this area.




Evidence of old time logging in this area.
See the 'springboard' marks?

When we came to this 'bridge' we knew we had missed our trail.
We had not crossed this coming up the trail!
We turned around upon discovering our error ~
adding another 1/2 mile to our travel!
Total distance hiked = 8 miles
But the road home is never long!
~*~
"By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise"
Hebrews 11:9

14 comments:

Nadine said...

What a great hike! Lovely photos, thank you for sharing them with us!
I hope you are enjoying the sunshine...quick, before it's gone again! :)

Blessings!
~Nadine

Anonymous said...

Oh dear friend,

8 miles,oh my goodness...that was a long but amazingly beautiful walk :)

I especially like the tall trees...it shows the beauty of what Our Lord has provided.

Blessings dear friend.

ps: I am at another bloggin site now, hope to see you there :)

Camille said...

Oh Raeann I *so* enjoyed this post! What a lovely hiking spot!! My boys (and girl) would love it!

Aren't Salmonberries yummy? I especially like Huckleberries...they are wonderful! :)

Have a beautiful day my friend!
Love,
Camille

Cindy said...

What a beautiful walk you must have had! I used to live in that area and even as a little child I loved all of the greenery and wildlife. I haven't seen some of those plants for many years. Thank you for that.
Hugs, Cindy S

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

As I scrolled through the photos I could almost hear the birds in the trees and the rustling leaves! So much plant life that I am unfamiliar with in your neck of the woods. Lovely Outdoor Wednesday post!

Kindly, ldh

Denise said...

Wow, what a wonderful visit I've had looking at all your amazing photos. I've never heard of a salmon berry? Thanks for sharing them all with us, truly beautiful.
hugs
Denise

Jennifer said...

Oh how delightful...I walk as if I was right along for the journey! Your pictures are fantastic. Hubbie and I used to hike quite a bit when the kids were smaller - a family outing almost every other weekend. We all loved it...seems it has been quite some time since we hiked. I would love to do it again soon - you have inspired me:)

Light and Voices said...

Amazing that you know all these wild flowers/plants.
Joyce

kayellen said...

What a fun entry...thank you for taking us for a tour of the forest~~~

What fun!!

Blessings,
Kay Ellen

Deborah Kay at The Paint Splash said...

Would love to be able to hike this far again. I have degenerative disks and my back and hips just won't let me. so...I will enjoy the beauty through your eyes. Thanks for posting.

Sharon said...

Dear Raeann,

The photos are lovely! What a beautiful walk/hike. What kind of tree is your honey standing next too? Just amazing. Okay what do salmonberries tastes like and have you made anything with them?

Thank you for the heart, you made my day!

I loved seeing the ferns, it reminded me of going for walks when I was a child, we used to see ferns, wild violets and Lady Slippers growing wild, I always wanted to pick one but they were endangered.

Thanks for sharing sweet friend!
Have a blessed weekend!
Sharon

Karen said...

I enjoyed seeing the photos of your hike. So beautiful!! I love seeing all the different varieties in God's amazing creation.

American Home said...

The only words I can think of is how beautiful! The pictures, your words..... BEAUTIFUL.......


Have a wonderful week!

Your friend,
Donna

Anonymous said...

The luscious greens are making my heart sing!