Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Exploring An Old Growth Forest

One of the things we were excited to do in Oregon was go hiking in an old growth forest, so today we did just that, we hiked the Giant Spruce Trail.  We first stopped by the visitors center and watched a quick movie and learned about some of the plants that we might encounter on the trail.





I found a stray otter in the parking lot and brought it inside, my dad liked to tease him so he was always trying to bite my dad.



The trail was absolutely gorgeous, everything was so lush and green.  The hike was two miles round trip and was fairly easy which was nice so we could enjoy our beautiful surroundings.



















The Giant Spruce lived up to its name!  This Sitka spruce is 600 years old, 185 feet tall and has a circumference of 40 feet.  In it's early years of life, this spruce spread its intricate root system over a fallen log, over the years the log deteriorated leaving a giant hole at the base of the tree.




The boys found a river near by that they were anxious to explore and play in














After our hike, we drove to a look out point that had some amazing views





That night we dined at the one and only Drift Inn.  We had all tried to order their famous merion berry cobbler the night before, but they were all out of marion berries!  So tonight we made sure to order our cobblers first to ensure we got to experience their deliciousness.

2 comments:

  1. Ahhh that place was beautiful. Surprised we didn't see any dinosaurs running around in that Jurassic looking forrest. This post is making me miss baby Thomas a little to much, the smiles, the chub. He is such a cutie. Oh and I think I NEED another one of those berry cobblers, they were to die for.

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  2. That forest was magical. My boys could have spent a week there exploring. All the green was so beautiful! Quite a change from our dry desert home! You captured it beautifully in your pictures. I'd like to order another cobbler as well!

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