A Mossy Shade of Winter

I don't think I'll ever get tired of the Baker River trail. I hiked there last Thursday, and enjoyed an exceptionally quiet and peaceful day gazing up at old-growth trees and listening to the river. It was a magical moment between winter and spring; the trail itself was mostly snow-covered, but many of the trees and shrubs were budding. A few ice pellet showers notwithstanding, I enjoyed excellent lighting and wind conditions for photography.

First, a sign of spring: the willows along the banks of the Baker River are starting to open up. At this point, I'm not sure what species this is. F/20.

Second, a mossy forest view, with bigleaf maple trees framing an old cedar tree. F/16.

Here's a view over the Baker River valley. This one barely worked; trying to get both the foreground trunk and the background in focus led to a compromise in image quality, and there was some glare from the filtered sunshine overhead. Nevertheless, it's just good enough to be usable. F/18.

Finally, a relatively close view of a bigleaf maple trunk, with licorice fern growing on it; the mossy branches of another bare bigleaf maple tree are visible in the background. F/8.

I'll be posting soon about another recent quiet forest adventure. Until then, take care and stay healthy! A lot of parks and trails, even here in western WA, are currently still open to the public, at least partially (visitor centers and indoor facilities are generally closed). We should definitely all take recommendations for social distancing very seriously, while remembering that there remain safe ways of getting outside and continuing to take care of our physical and spiritual well-being.