5-4-04: We made a point of going through the redwood forests. Here, a wild rhododendron the size of a small tree finds the company of this giant cedar to be congenial.

5-4-04: This photo, though a little blurry, gives the best impression of the sheer scale of the redwood forest. That's Eric, near the foot of one of the redwood trees.

5-4-04: Redwoods make nurse stumps, too.

5-4-04: We had to stop by the cheesy drive through tree roadside attraction. The drive through tree was a bit of a disappointment (it was rotting and more or less propped up to keep it going), but the drive on a tree was cooler. The sign explains what the lines drawn on the tree are about. The innermost line (marked 6) is the year 1 A.D. This tree was already over a thousand years old in the time of Christ.

5-31-04: It is no wonder that the Northwest produces rabid environmentalists. We found this area right around the time when Bush was proposing his Healthy Forests Initiative. Thus, this series of photos is titled, The George W. Bush Forest Fire Prevention Plan.

5-31-04: Looks a lot like giant piles of kindling to me.

These photos were taken in the Teanaway Ridge area.

5-31-04: A photo of the three-story-tall rosebush that grows on the side of the Metaphorest, in full bloom.

6-2-04: The Icicle creek area is also in full bloom at this time of year. Soon, it will be hot and dry, with yellow pine needles falling to the ground like a bed of straw. But for a quick breath in the spring, the snow melts and everything blooms at once.

6-2-04: This is also when the mushrooms grow. This morel is a little past its prime, but still perfectly edible. The pocket knife leaning against the mushroom is to show its size.

6-2-04: The runoff from the melting snow fuels seasonal streams. It is not uncommon to see them rushing right around the bases of trees. Icicle is one of my favorite places to go in springtime. Many of my other mushroom hunting grounds are in burns, clear cuts, camp grounds, and other well-traveled places. Icicle is both prolific in its mushroom fruitings, and beautiful.