"When the human element was small, when there were billions of trees and only thousands of people, it was sustaining to imagine that trees contained spirits humans could talk to, propitiate, befriend. It gave proportion to the world. Now, when there are billions of people, and not so many trees, it is sustaining to imagine what it might be like to open one's flowers on a spring afternoon, or to stand silently, making food out of sunlight, for a thousand years. It gives proportion to the world."
David Rains Wallace
Photo: Devil's Club and old-growth Douglas-fir, Carbon River Valley Rainforest, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA; July 23, 2012. Devil's Club leaves are about 12 inches in diameter, and the plant grows up to 10 feet tall.
I drove 1180 miles in one day, beginning at 5 A.M. in Colorado, and ending up at Mt. Rainier at 10:30 P.M. Most of the day was spent driving through areas of drought in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington. However, as soon as I crossed White Pass and entered Mt. Rainier National Park shortly thereafter, I was suddenly encompassed by an entirely different environment. As I pulled into the campground, huge trees, rich with moss and lush undergrowth, greeted me, while a roaring river passed right next to the campsite. This past winter, western Washington received a surplus of snow, and the cool spring made it slow to melt. What an amazing change!
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