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Hoh Rain Forest and the Quinault Rain Forest

© Jerri Brooker

The Hoh Rainforest

The Hoh Rainforest in northwest Washington, the most lush and wettest spot in the contiguous 48 states, is one of nature's wonders. The only temperate coniferous rainforest in the world, it's a beauty to behold. Thirteen miles south of Forks on Highway 101, then 19 miles east on the Hoh River Road in the Olympic National Forest, this nature's wonder greets you with the unequaled flawlessness of a perfect soufflé created by a renowned chef.

If you love nature, it doesn't get any better than this. In fact, if you want to take home a memento of our state, this is one of the big ones. It's hard to beat. Eye candy for the tourist, it is. You'll marvel at the natural wonder it is even if you can't imagine enjoying a forest when you normally live in and enjoy the desert.

It won't take you long to figure out why this is a popular place. The forest floor 30 miles from the Pacific coast sports an untidy natural carpet of mosses, braken ferns, seedlings and huge fungi as thick as any plush floor covering from the 60's and 70's. It really is a sight to behold and you'll want to run off and lie down in the soft-looking mosses, but you'll preserve it for the future by staying on the trail and enjoying it from a few feet.

The Hall of Mosses Trail, which takes about an hour to traverse, envelops your senses in the luscious earthen sights. As you look around this trail, the dense overhead forest canopies beckon you to hike, take in the beauty, photograph the flora, sit and visit on a trail bench or meditate a while. It's a lot to take in.

This green-graced natural cathedral of nature's wonders is a mystical sight for feeling at one with the earth. The trail is a self-guided introduction to nature and ecology of the rain forest. Mosses cover the tree trunks and you wonder what is lurking inside. There's not a tree, dead or alive, that doesn't host life. You'll notice that as you walk.

I remember as a child looking at some of the dead stumps that had openings, thinking there surely must be a bear in there! If you have a bit lighter imagination and look just so you might see sprites dancing in the sunlight. It's that kind of place. I remember how huge the leaves looked on the deciduous trees when I was small. Though I've not been to the rainforest in many years, I'm sure they still do. No telling what hides underneath. Every tree, dead or alive, supports more life.

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