"Things You Wouldn't Know If We Didn't Blog Intermittently."
02 December 2011
Drift log
This washed up on the beach at La Push, "a small community on the northwest coast of Washington's most westerly peninsula." The young woman standing in front of it is 6 feet tall.
My immediate guess is Sitka spruce. They're the redwoods of the north, growing slowly (and hugely) in the same narrow geographical band that redwoods thrive in (i.e. the fog belt). Old growth Sitkas are something to behold.
My second guess is Douglas fir, due to the straightness of that trunk (Sitkas tend to be more gnarled). But it's not common for Douglas firs to escape logging long enough to reach that size.
I surf at La Push often and that log has been there for years. There are several other, though not quite as impressively large but large nonetheless, strewn all over first, second and third beach.
danielle, I envy you the experience. You can't imagine how unimaginably cool all this looks to someone stranded a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.
has any of the Japanese tsunami debris washed up yet? I guess this could have been in Canada also. I'm not a dendrologist
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous At the link it said the picture was taken on April 5 of 2010.
ReplyDeleteThats got to be at least 18-20 feet tall.
My immediate guess is Sitka spruce. They're the redwoods of the north, growing slowly (and hugely) in the same narrow geographical band that redwoods thrive in (i.e. the fog belt). Old growth Sitkas are something to behold.
ReplyDeleteMy second guess is Douglas fir, due to the straightness of that trunk (Sitkas tend to be more gnarled). But it's not common for Douglas firs to escape logging long enough to reach that size.
Anon, the Japanese tsunai debris isn't due to arrive at the American mainland until 2013 -
ReplyDeletehttp://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2011/04/japanese-tsunami-debris-heading-toward.html
I surf at La Push often and that log has been there for years. There are several other, though not quite as impressively large but large nonetheless, strewn all over first, second and third beach.
ReplyDeleteDoes this have anything to do with the vampires and werewolves in the area?
ReplyDeletedanielle, I envy you the experience. You can't imagine how unimaginably cool all this looks to someone stranded a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.
ReplyDeleteThat thing must have made a blue whale give it a second look when THAT was floating around...
ReplyDeleteHow do we know it didn't just fall off that hill in the background and wash ashore a couple minutes later during a wicked bad storm?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that tree was there in 2007 when I visited. I did take a few pictures, perhaps some of you will be interested.
ReplyDeletehttp://leoele.blogspot.com/2007/08/forks-and-la-push.html
It's probably a bonsai from the Japanese tsunami debris. This is what happens if you don't prune them regularly.
ReplyDeletelol. had a similar thought...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Does this have anything to do with the vampires and werewolves in the area?