Hall of Mosses Trail, Hoh Rain Forest

Good morning, my friends. It was a cloudy and cool day for our hike of the Hall of Mosses Trail. It was nice having it a little cooler for the humid environment, and the sun broke through a little in the afternoon. All-in-all, a good day of weather. The road to the trailhead was winding, and although it was only about 30 miles, it was about an hour-long drive.

After turning off onto Upper Hoh Road, we paralleled the Hoh River. We couldn’t see it most of the time, but we could occasionally catch a glimpse through a break in the trees.

A good part of the time, we were driving through a dense forest of very tall trees.

We traveled quite some distance before entering the national park bounday and approaching the gate. We get free admision with out geezer passes. The geezer pass is just about the best thing about being an old fart.

My friend, Mary, warned me about her own previous visit when they could find absolutely no parking anywhere. At this time of year, and mid-week, we weren’t too concerned. (That’s another good thing about being an old fart. We can travel when the kids are back in school.) And all of that to say we weren’t concerned until we actually approached the visitor center and trailhead. There were long lines of cars parked along the roadside.

The visitor center parking lot was equally crowded with parked cars.

I actually took this next picture after we’d finished our hike, but I wanted to use it to make my point. When we drove in here to the hikers’ parking area, it appeared every spot was full.

We drove as far as we could go before we would have to turn around, and whaddaya know. We found a spot right there next to the restrooms and information board. I’m telling you…we must be living right.

Okay, so if you thought lack of parking was going to give you an excuse not to go with us, then I’m sorry. Anything else, and we’ll just assume you’re being lazy. On the other hand, fair’s fair. Let’s consider the many ways you might die out here today. First of all…bears. You could very well be eaten by a bear. 

Also…elk. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Those naughty bull elk. All I can say is, don’t get between these guys and the lady elk they’re courting.

Not to worry, though. If the bears and the horny elk don’t get you, the yellow jackets and wasps will. 

No woofies, please.

I like this…a good safety tip.

Mind your manners, please.

So, knowing the perils that await you on the trail, are you sure you want to go? It’s not too late to change your mind.

Okay, then. Off we go. We're going to see all kinds of big trees on this hike. You can find examples of their different barks to enable you to identify them at this link. This first one happens to be a Western Hemlock. None of the trees in this forest are as big as the largest redwoods in northern Caifornia, but they are no slouches either. These are huge trees.

Looking up…

It was a well-maintained, easy trail. There was a little bit of an elevation increase, but nothing too strenuous. After a lifetime of hiking, I’ve learned to limit our hikes to certain parameters: nothing longer than 5 miles, and no elevation gain of more than about 200 feet.

Here, we came to a place where three trees had fallen across the trail. There was plenty of space to walk under them without ducking. You can easily see how two trees have fallen across one another, but there’s a third one behind them on the left side of the image. It’s like a huge game of pick-up sticks.

Here’s another big boy.

Looking up…

In this next image, I looked up as I read the sign below it.

In this next image, you can see the “lower story,” and the mosses. I’ll show you the fungus fruits in just a minute. But look at these wonderful curtains of moss coating virtually everything. 

Mike pointed out that if you came here and stood still, you too would grow moss.

Here’s a close-up shot of one of the greener specimens. Those little ferns were growing among the moss.

Okay, and the fungus fruits can be seen in the image below.

Here’s a close-up of the one on the right. He appears to be grimacing. Please tell me you see it too.

Here’s another tree with ferns growing on it. I’m reminded that orchids grow like this in tropical rain forests. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?

This was interesting. In the image below is a very old and very large vine maple. We have these growing in our woods at home, but none of ours are bigger around than about 3 inches. I did not know they could grow so large.

This sign will tell you what I’m going to show you next.

Here’s one that has a tree growing on either end. To the right…

And to the left.

Eventually, the nurse log will rot away, and the new tree will be hollow where it was. In this next image, you can see through to the other side.

Here’s another one like this just a little ways on.

Ooooh…woodpeckers have been after this one.

To our left were some huge cut off stumps provided as benches.

We assume they were cut from this fallen tree just ahead of us.

Mike noticed how the rings start out farther apart at the center on the left side of the image, and then narrower and narrower as they move to the outer edges on the right side of the image. 

Standing on the other side, we found this information.

Looking back…

Okay, and by then, we’d walked the entire loop trail and met up with the start of the trailhead. The sun was shining and the swampy area here glowed an iridescent green.

We found this exhibit inside the visitor center.

In the image below, you can see a “rain gauge.” At the bottom near where it says April 10” is a marking for the amount of rain this year. Up there near September is the amount they would usually receive by this time. Yikes.

Also, I picked up my second refrigerator magnet of the trip. 

On the drive back to Forks, I caught another picture of the Hoh River.

In the image below, I’ve zoomed in on the “riprap.” We’ve seen this done near beaches in Oregon to prevent coastal erosion. I’ve always seen it done in rocks. This here was done with some concrete diamond-shaped thingies and then they’re all sort of tangled together with driftwood. 

And this structure. No indication if anyone lives there or what its purpose is. They seem to me as if they are holding a silent story. 

And that was our day. We had some lunch and naps, and then just hung out the rest of the day. And thats what we’re going to do today…hang out. I expect to have lots of time for slow-stitching. My Plaid Cat piece is close. I might finish it today.

We’ll be moving on tomorrow morning. Our next stop will be Neah Bay. We’ll be about as close to Canada as we can get without actually crossing the border. Camping there is first come, first served. There is only one campground that can accommodate RVs and only ten hook-up sites. If we can’t get one of those, then our understanding is that there is a large open field where we can park. We’ll be on the Makah Reservation, which requires the purchase of a pass. No worries about the pass. They are available when we check in. We’ll be in Neah Bay to hike the Cape Flattery trail. The weather forecast is a little iffy, so be sure to bring your rain gear if you’re going with us.

All riht then. Off I go to do as little as possible. As for slow-stitching, I’ll be doing as much as possible.