Scenes from the Temperate Rainforest

The leaves may be long gone from the sleeping winter rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, yet their dormant boughs still shine with the emerald green moss that shines through the dim woods like a beacon. Only in a realm so often watered by the frequent storms that wash over over the quiet lowland hills to crash against the Cascade Mountains could such vibrant and diverse greenery thrive.

Raccoons in Olympic National Park

Inquisitive and industrious, the masked bandits of the animal kingdom prowl the rain slicked tidal rocks of Olympic National Park. The Raccoons that dwell here on this Wilderness Coast scan briny pools for tasty morsels washed in from the Pacific Ocean by the ceaseless pounding of waves.

Waterfalls and Waterfowl

 

The heavy rain of Winter in the Pacific Northwest brings quiescent waterfalls to roaring life and soaks the mossy walls of woodland gullies in a billion delicate tendrils of shimmering silver cascades. Down they flow to broad rivers on whose mercurial expanses glide the waterfowl in their joyful multitudes.

New Years Flood

Here in the Pacific Northwest we rang in the New Year with pouring rains and rising waters. 2021 began with a wild tempest, and to see nature at its most extreme is always an inspiring thing to behold. Though the waters have receded since I filmed this video, we can likely expect more and larger floods to come throughout the remainder of the winter and spring as the snow melts and swells the rivers with fresh and frigid runoff.

Wild Winter Waterfalls - Mt. Rainier National Park

 

The tumbling torrents that pour from the glaciated heights of Mt. Rainier plunge through secret tunnels in the snow only to burst out in joyful abandon to fall with fierce joy to the stones below. Here in the grand high country of the Pacific Northwest, in the mountain kingdom of Mt. Rainier National Park, reigning monarch of the Cascade Mountains, the waterfalls are the great organ from which springs a sonorous song played unending from time immemorial.

Waltz of the Wild Woods - The Last Days of Autumn

The end of autumn has descended upon the Cascade Foothills in a fury of wind and rain, and in this turbulence the trees of the wild woods dance a frantic waltz as the last leaves of fall flutter and careen upon the gale. November is a wild season in the Pacific Northwest, a time of cold and storms and buckets of rain.

Termination Dust - The End of Autumn

Termination Dust is the snow that heralds the end of Summer and the coming of winter. A white blanket descends as the temperature plummets and clouds race across the autumn sky. Ice frosts the alpine forest and silence descends as the woodland realm that so recently hummed with the intensity of summer now slumbers and waits for spring.