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!
In a previous post, I showed the waterfalls at Granite Falls, north of us. At that time, the weather had been quite calm, and the falls were quite subdued. At that time, I had suggested I would go back later in the winter. We had a prolonged period of rain in the area, some of which was very heavy. Knowing this had come through, I figured a return trip was in order to see just how much the falls would be transformed. This was not a wasted effort!
Even as I got out of the car in the parking area up on the main road, I could hear the falls. The flow through them was unrecognizable from my previous time there. The water was the full width of the falls and was crashing across everything in its path. The force of the water was quite intimidating and, while I was quite safe where I was on the walkways, I shuddered to think what would happen to anyone getting caught up in this torrent.
Video was clearly the thing to experiment with on this visit. Sure, I was getting lots of shots. I was seeing whether longer shutter speeds would give a good impression of the motion or whether a slightly shorter exposure might actually be more effective. However, video is the tool that really allows someone to appreciate the intensity of the flow and the noise. Consequently, I edited together the footage below to give you an idea of what it was like.
As I looked upriver, I saw vehicles crossing the river and realized that the road I had come in on, continued across the river on a bridge. I had not noticed this on the previous visit so, once I had made my way back up to the road, I decided to check the bridge out. This is a country road so I wondered if there would be a safe way to walk across. Fortunately, there was a protected sidewalk on both sides of the bridge. It was quite a drop down to the river but the mist over the water and between the trees provided a lovely shot, so I was glad to have diverted that way even if I was a little uncomfortable that high up!
I’m not sure what it was that led to this but I happened to see Granite Falls on Google Maps one day. It is a small town about 45 minutes north of us which I will have seen the sign to on many occasions as I go up Route 9 but which I had never thought of previously. Needless to say, there are waterfalls in Granite Falls. I looked at some of the pictures on Google Maps and decided to check it out some time. We headed up one weekend to have a look.
Since it was just the beginning of Fall, there hadn’t been much rain recently. Consequently, the falls were not flowing very heavily. However, looking at the shaping of the rocks around the water, it was clear that the level can be much higher and the force of the water, substantial. The falls were in stages and, while there is a fish ladder alongside, some salmon were actually trying to leap up sections of the falls. They were infrequent so I never managed to catch one airborne with the camera.
We walked along the trails that runs the length of the falls. The cliffs on the other side are very steep and you are deep in a valley. It was difficult to really capture the scale of the place. However, I did resolve to wait for the weather to get worse and to have more run off from the mountains before making a return trip to see the falls in a more aggressive mood.
A slightly sad tale for this post. We get plenty of wildlife in our backyard including loads of rabbits. They come in to much the grass all the time. They are a combination of cute and inconvenient since they tend to spread a lot of seeds for things we don’t want in our grass. Such is the way of nature of course. Most days we will see one or more of them out there but they disappear quickly if we go outside.
One weekend morning Nancy looked out and saw one on the grass but not looking normal. We went out to check what was going on and the rabbit seemed to have some injury which was preventing it from moving properly. Without the ability to examine it, I thought its leg was hurt. We pondered what to do. Meanwhile, a bunch of crows started gathering on the fence sensing a meal. They flew off when we went outside but the rabbit had moved itself somehow behind the aircon unit. We know that nature has a course in these things but figured, if there was something we could do for the little thing, we should at least make an effort. If it wasn’t going to make it, so be it.
A call to a rescue service told us that we should bring it to them and they would assess it. Despite its injuries, the flight mentality was strong and it was not easy to scoop up. However, I managed to get it wrapped up in a towel and into a box on another towel and off to PAWS in Lynnwood. They did an evaluation and confirmed that this was definitely a fixable issue but not by them. Off to Sarvey in Granite Falls. This bun was getting quite a road trip. We dropped it off with them which is when I took the picture above. I hadn’t wanted to photograph it if it wasn’t going to make it since that seemed wrong somehow but, with someone taking care of it, I decided a photo was okay.
All this effort for one rabbit might seem strange when so many must die every day but it seemed like the right thing to do and it introduced us to two good organizations that deserve support.
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!
