Tag Archives: lichen

This Valley is Pretty Green!

I may have lived in the Pacific Northwest for a number of years, now, but I am still amazed at times by the moss that grows on so many surfaces here.  The shaded and damp conditions are ideal for moss growth, and it surely shows.  The special thing is how the light will pick up the surface of the moss in the gloomy areas of shade and make it seem like it is glowing.  It really is something special and something that I find hard to show effectively with photos.

Still, I continue to try.  These shots are all taken in the valley at Granite Falls.  No lack of moisture down there, I can confirm!  Looking at the branches of almost all the trees (and plenty of exposed rock surfaces for that matter), you will see moss everywhere.  Looking up towards the light, it really does seem to get highlighted.  I shall continue my quest to get the right photo of moss indefinitely!

How Much Can Grow on a Thatched Roof?

Plenty of the houses in Longparish are thatched.  One of them has a roof line that drops very low to the ground on one side of the house with the door and windows on the other side.  That must be the side that gets more light.  The back side of the house seems to be very shaded with the result that there is a lot of growth on the roof.  It was covered in various lichens/mosses.  I wonder whether they degrade the thatch or actually provide an additional layer of insulation.

Lichen These Colors!

I talked about the Snoqualmie Valley Trail in an earlier post and mentioned how much lichen there is growing on the trees.  I had the longer lens with me on my walk so I tried a few things to get some shots of the patterns and textures on the branches.  I even tried focus stacking on one of them to see whether I could get more detail in to the lichen itself.  The Pacific Northwest has plenty of areas that get very damp and are almost like rainforests in their conditions.  Consequently, these lichen covered trees are easy to find.

Snoqualmie Valley Trail

I can waste a fair bit of time panning around in Google Maps looking at things I had no idea were there.  I was looking up near Snoqualmie Falls when I saw a label for Tokul Trestle.  A look around showed a trail on the track bed of a disused railroad.  The Snoqualmie Valley Trail starts down in the valley near Carnation and runs up to the town of Snoqualmie.  I had no idea it was there and will be looking at riding it at some point.  Anyway, I had a rainy Sunday and wanted to check out the falls – see another post specifically about that – and, having finished up there, I decided to take a walk along a section of the trail.  It was intermittently raining but I was dressed appropriately so took a stroll.  I did see the occasional cyclist, runner or walker but was on my own for most of the time.  It did occur to me that the foothills of the Cascades have plenty of mountain lions but they were obviously elsewhere and left me alone.

The area is quite enclosed by the trees and it is clearly a damp place given the amount of lichen growing on the trees.  That will also get another post.  It does make for some interesting colors when the light does break through, though.  The darkness of the trail contrasts nicely with the greens of the lichen as the sun catches it.  Sections of it feel like you are walking through a tunnel.  (There is an actual tunnel too but, you’ve guessed it, more of that another time.)

I look forward to getting to explore this trail in more detail.  A bike seems like the best bet for checking it all out but there are a few trailheads along the way so driving up and walking along it will be a good option.

Lichenfall

Walking along a path up the Cascades, I went passed a rocky wall that was totally in the shade.  The shady and damp environment makes it the perfect place for lichen to grow.  The whole of the rock surface was covered in this lichen and it blurred the shape of the surface.  The effect was to make it look like water was washing down across the rocks but, since it was lichen rather than water, I felt it should be called a lichenfall.

Moisture on the Lichen

Rain forest conditions do tend to mean lots of moisture in the air.  That much moisture means perfect conditions for the growth of lichen.  The lichen do a great job of collecting the moisture from the air to keep them well watered.  The way the water drops form on the surface of the plant can be really interesting.  Just a small vibration would send them dropping to the plant life below but, for now, they were safe.