Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail

Friday, December 27, 2013

Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail

Middle Fork Snoqualmie River July 2012

Oplopanax horridus (Devil's Club) Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail July 2012

Hylocomium splendens (Step Moss) Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail July 2012

Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail July 2012

Dingford Creek Bridge, Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail July 2012

Click here for more pictures of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail.

The Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Trail follows the river very closely through the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest northeast of North Bend in King County. Even though this is a recently disturbed, definitely not old growth forest, it is still quite beautiful. The land is moist & lush. The flora is varied & abundant. The understory here is much more interesting than the trees. The sight & sound of the river are constant companions. There are often views of nearby mountains. The elevation gain is only a few hundred feet, starting at about 1,000 feet above sea level. It is possible to connect to other trails & continue hiking into steeper country for many miles. About 4 miles from the trail head is a large & sturdy bridge crossing the roaring falls of Dingford Creek. This is where I turned back.

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About This Blog

This blog began in 2008 as Metropolitan Gardens to provide information on gardening in Seattle & places like it. Click on Gardening in Cascadia. The blog expanded to include Parks P-Patches Public Gardens in the US, Canada & Europe. Then Nature was added. (The difference between nature & gardens is intent. Nature happens. Gardens are planned.) Many recent posts are not about Seattle, or even Cascadia. They are Urban Landscape: streetscape & architecture. Cascadia is the region including the Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. If you want to contact the blogger, leave a message in comments. Comments are moderated & private messages will not be posted.

Our Land & Climate

The city of Seattle rests between 2 bodies of water: Puget Sound & Lake Washington. Puget Sound is a substantial part of the Salish Sea & a very small part of the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea is set apart from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington & Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. The dense, wet clouds of the Pacific Ocean travel as far as the Cascade Mountains, near the Salish Sea & not very far from the ocean. East of the Cascades lies the desert of the Columbia Basin. The moist, temperate climate of Seattle extends south to northern California & north to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Coast from San Francisco Bay to Cook Inlet shares a flora dominated by evergreen coniferous forest. The central portion, west of the Cascade Mountains, is called Cascadia. The climate is cool & wet from fall to spring, warm & dry in summer. The Olympic Mountains block Seattle from much of the Pacific rainfall. Seattle is drier than the Atlantic coast of North America & northern Europe, cooler in summer & warmer in winter. It lies near the latitude of Paris & Quebec City.