various things seen and done aroud Sequim

interesting statues on the corner in a gas station
this bridge says "Seattle the Portal to the Pacific."

One of the Elk from the Sequim herd -there are many laying in the field around this one.


here is the herd
this is a log barge on the bay of the ferry crossing to the mainland from Kingston WA.

a small yellow bird on the neighbors chair in our campground

this is the strangest stretch vehicle we have ever seen.

Cascades, Hoh Rainfoest and other sights in WA

The Cascade range on the way to the Hoh Rainforest
Rather large snow blower used in the forest. There was still snow on the ground at the higher end of the park.
This is a couple of the fallen trees in the rain forest. I was near one end and Bill near the other end. They are massive in length as well as height.

We spotted an Elk eating in the forest. There were several calves so you had to stay your distance or chance getting stopped--per the signs in the ranger station.

This is the result of the host or nurse tree being totally gone. A high arched root is left to form the arch you see.


Due to all the rain 40 - 240 inches annually there is a lot of moss hanging on the trees. It gets so heavy that it can damage the trees.
This sign is of the valley you can see below. From Canada and across you can see a lot of territory.
The air was not real clear, but it gives you the idea of where things are.

This was one of the Black Tail deer that roamed the park and forest areas. They were not really afraid of people.
The larger trees topple due to winds. The roots are not deep since they do not need a taproot to get to the water. When they fall they become host to other plants.

This is one of the largest and oldest trees in the forest.

You can see how small Bill is compared to the tree.
The trees below are all in a row as they grew from the host/nurse tree that had fallen in the past.
You can still see some of the host / nurse tree at the base of these trees.

Sequim and the coast of Washington

rocky coastline
Bay looking toward the ocean

North head lighthouse
coast below North head lighthouse


These wild flowers were on one of our walks in the woods to a lighthouse.
coastline in Northern Washington

more coastline
more wild flowers on one of our walks in the back country

Mt St Helen and the aftermath of the volcano

The double waterfall is in amongst the ash and regrowth of the mountains.

The ash debris and remaining logs are a result of the volcano. They are left as part of the National Park. This is a first hand way for the geologists to study what happens after a volcano and how the land recovers.

more debris on the side of the road and a sampling of the whole area.

This valley was formed from the debris from the volcano. This was the dirt and rocks that blew out of the side and from the top of the mountain. The ranger said some of the rocks were about 12 inches across. They now understand that the valleys formed by volcano's are really an avalanche of the mountain that blows.

this was the edge of the blast zone.


This bridge was built after the volcano took out the other one. It was at the edge of the blast zone 17 miles away.


The bridge.

This is the sign in front of the ranger station warning of the possibility of ash in the air at any time. The volcano is always moving and blowing off ash.

The forest is in the continual process of rebuilding itself as evidenced by the flowering tree near the visitor center.

Various major Mountains we have seen

we added Washington to the map.


Mt Baker with Fort Wooden lighthouse in the foreground

Mt St. Helen's is hiding in the fog. That is the closest we were able to see it. It is in the light area according to the ranger.

Mt Hood
Mt Shasta

some more sights of Oregon

Munson Falls is about a half mile or so back in the trees of the main roads near Pleasant Oregon.

This is the path on the way to the falls. It was a very pretty walk.

Hops is just one of the crops raised in Oregon. They do a lot of sod, Christmas trees, fir trees and all sorts of flowers that are shipped all over the country. They have the larges Iris grower out of Silverton. Unfortunately they had all bloomed prior to our arrival.
Just a sampling of the countryside. It is a wide open area whit scattered homes as soon as you leave the towns.

Drift creek bridge was relocated to save it from destruction. Done completely by a couple who built their home on the other side of the bridge. Done through donations, hard work and a lot of prayer according to the sheet about the bridge.
Their home through the bridge.


Three Arches rocks are in the ocean on the way to Tillamook Oregon. Just an example of the rocks and coastline above California and on North.

Tillamook lighthouse on the coast of Oregon
examples of coastline along the way. It is really neat to see the rugged coastline as a difference to the flat beaches of home.