Hoh Rain Forest

The temperate rain forest is really spectacular.  If you haven't been, go... the sooner the better as the local activists are constantly struggling to save the old growth.  Today, we left Quinault and headed to the Hoh Forest where hiked around in the drizzle.  The hall of moss trail was spectacular—trees covered in long strands of green moss that flowed in the breeze, downed logs covered in new living ecosystems, and… more mushrooms!  We found several more lobsters, another handful or two of chanterelles, and filled a small sack with angel’s wings.  We were back in mushroom territory and I was ecstatic.

The next couple of days, we hit the jackpot over and over again. On the outskirts of the national park, we wandered around the state forest and picked pound after pound of chanterelles.  In just two or three hours, we probably harvested about 12 pounds of chanties, several pounds of lobsters, and few other goodies. The following day, still pouring cats and dogs, I donned my fancy new rain pants and we hiked for about an hour, filling our bags with nearly 8 more pounds of chanties.  That evening, we slept at Joseph’s house, Yanis and Max’s friend, who we randomly met in the grocery store parking lot in Forks.  Joseph is a mushroom buyer.  He’s an interesting guy, and he lives a tough life.  When the mushrooms are good, he makes a lot of money.  When they’re bad, like this year, he loses a lot.  It’s like gambling on the weather, and these days the rains are so unpredictable.  Creeks and rivers all across the states we’ve explored have been dry.  Seattle didn’t get rain for 82 days.  Vancouver 87.  Records.  No rain, no mushrooms, no money for Joseph, no food for us.  It's no wonder our ancestors, tired of the uncertainty, opted for agriculture.  It seems to have worked for a while...