Willaby Creek

My housemate at Lake Quinault was Conner, an Irish-Chinese fellow from Chicago who worked in the kitchen as a line cook and who had a passion for Kerouac, the ukulele and American Spirits. He would sing and play around the house all the time. Willaby Creek was one of his favorite spots and he took me on a hike there one of our last days.

Conner at Willaby Creek.

Willaby Creek without Conner.

This is one of the massive trees in Lake Quinault Rain Forest. What you are seeing here, aside from Conner, is a tree that has grown through a fallen dead tree. You see it quite a bit in the woods, though not with this magnitude. You will see often new trees sprouting from fallen ones or out of dead stumps. These are known as Nurse Trees and they are one of my favorites. They will often result in strange looking shapes, often like fingers curling, such as in thus one where the hand is facing down, impaled by a stalk, fingers curling towards the ground.

You must be this tall to ride this tree.

Perspective