GNRT DAY 6 HOH RAINFOREST

Today’s trip was to the Hoh Rainforest! To say it was 30 miles away would be right and it would be wrong because the only road to get there…is 90 miles long. In no way when I say this am I wanting to complain because not only did we take a beautiful ride in the country… but we were ready for the rain. The Hoh rainforest gets its name from the Hoh River which was given that name by the leaders of the Quinault tribe. The exact meaning of Hoh is lost…having never been transcribed The river and the rainforest are still sacred to the Quinault people… It’s where their children grow…and where their ancestors grew. Which means we needed to do everything in our power to respect the river and rainforest too. Which was easy to do when we saw the beauty and diversity of this rainforest spread out before us on the grandest scale… So we walked as gently as we could along the paths of her Halls of Mosses trail. Over crystal clear salmon streams we strolled…totally enthralled past trees that have been here for centuries…rising 200 and more feet tall. Many of the trees are blanketed in mosses…each one seems perfectly fitted It’s like they’re covered in a variety of green sweaters their tree grandma’s have knitted Our hike went by the Hoh river…and as we stood together on the shore we were serenaded by a host of birds we’ve never heard before. We walked by thousands of new ferns…just beginning to unfurl along the way we met a banana slug, a winter wren and a Douglas squirrel. A misty rain began to fall…which made us smile as we walked along the lane… after all what would a walk through a rainforest be if we didn’t have any rain. Any walk in nature…like today’s short rainforest stroll… has a way of rejuvenating the heart as well as stimulating the soul… So before we left we stopped to think about the Quinalut people and thank this place where they choose to have their children grow… having walked in their ancestors footsteps we understand why they love it so.