East Fork Lewis River, SW Washington

Not really focused on NW Flora, but I wanted to share this picture taken on an overcast day last Fall just downstream of Lucia Falls.  A 2-second exposure makes for an interesting contrast in the flowing river water and the still pool in the foreground.  In Summer the water level is much lower and it is an easy walk over to the rock 'island' in the background.

Common Horsetail, Equisetum arvense

Early Spring view of a shoot emerging from a swampy area on Bells Mountain in SW Washington.

Pebbles atop ice pillars

Another hike up Bells Mountain in SW Washington in cold weather brought me to this sight.  A spring is flowing past a small island of dirt, and ice pillars have grown upward taking small rocks and twigs along for the ride.  The pillars are about 4" high.

Coral Fungi, Lentaria byssiseda

This ghostly white fungi is coming up through forest floor detritus and is abundant but quite small- for size comparison, those are Doug Fir needles adjacent to the fungi.  These specimens are growing near the summit of Bells Mountain in SW Washington.

Mushroom tree

While hiking the Bells Mountain Trail at about the 1.5 mile mark I came upon this still-standing dead Alder that was covered with Mushrooms.  In the background is an un-named creek that provides welcome cool water on a hot Summer day.

Large Cup fungi, Aleuria aurantia

While hiking on a logging road near the top of Bells Mountain in SW Washington, I came upon these startling orange fungi.  According to North American Mushrooms, they are edible but rather tasteless.

Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park

This picture has nothing to do with North West flora but I felt like sharing a couple of photos from a recent trip to Yosemite.  The first shows the awesome beauty of the Tuolumne River sliding over a granite staircase into a deep pool.

Here is a photo of Half Dome from the same trip.