Pacific Northwest - Hoquiam River

August 2nd, 2014
Overcast,  76 degrees
Lat/Lon  46.6N 123.5W

Sweet Spot - Hoquiam River 

Charley enjoying a good book in the shade of the big Alder trees.

Everytime I see the tiny 'cones' from an alder, I am quickly take back to my childhood. Growing up on Alder Creek in Garden Valley, ID, I would pick these up by the hundreds and make things out of them.

The peaceful Hoquiam River. 

We are just a couple of miles upstream from Gray's Harbor, so the river rises and falls about 8 feet with the tides.   

 

The pictures above are high tide, the picture below is low tide.  Between the sun and the tides, the river is constantly changing. I've noticed that different birds and animals show up according to the tides.  The river otters and great blue herons show up during lower tides, the king fisher and seal show up at high tide.

There is a great trail that takes off from the edge of the RV park.  The trail runs along the river and then into the woods a ways.

There are some old train tracks that still exist along part of the trail.

In this pic, both metal rails are still visible along the forest floor, but there is so much underbrush and overgrowth that they are hard to see.

The trail comes out near town, not too far from the little mom and pop drive in that has awesome soft ice cream cones.