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A Walk Along the
Boardwalk |
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At the edge of the clearing, just
around the other side of the pond teeming with
singing frogs, a trail leads into the trees.
Venturing in, brushing away the fine threads spun
across the trail by spiders, you are surrounded by
sword ferns, salal, Indian plum and, high above,
alder trees sway gently in the breeze. Sunlight
filters through the shifting leaves, and to the
right of the trail you see a tall tree stump that
appears to be wearing a cap of moss. Shortly, the
trail leads to a boardwalk, which beckons you into
the forest of towering evergreens beyond.
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As you wander down the boardwalk,
ducking beneath a fallen tree, the composition of
the forest around you begins to change. Less light
penetrates through the treetops, and on either side
of the boardwalk, a thick carpet of moss covers the
ground. The alders are replaced by Douglas fir,
western hemlock, western red cedar, and Sitka
spruce.
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To the left you see the tall, dark
root ball of a blown over tree. Black arms of wood
radiate out from its center, and out of the mud,
wood, and rock grow ferns and other plants. Beneath
this strange sight, skunk cabbages bloom around a
pool of water. As you continue strolling down the
boardwalk, you can see that around some of the tree
trunks, openings in the moss carpet reveal glimpses
of water, hinting at the nature of the bog you have
entered. |
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You pause to sit for a moment on a
bench on the boardwalk, listening to the sounds of
the forest. The frogs’ calling, now distant,
accompanies the songs of the birds in the forest.
Gazing at the landscape for a moment, you now see
that amongst the moss on the ground, mushrooms of
various shapes and sizes invite closer examination.
As you kneel to admire the mini moss and mushroom
forest, you catch a glimpse of bright orange witch’s
butter blooming out of a piece of wood.
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As you continue down the boardwalk,
the light grows dimmer. Here and there in low areas
lie pools of water, each colored darker than the
last from the tannic acid leached into the
groundwater from slowly decomposing peat. Further
down the boardwalk, the huge spidery arms of two
more rootballs rise up on either side of the trail.
The ground rises here and there in verdant mounds of
moss, and you can’t help but notice the mosses’
various colors and shapes. Deep holes in the mounds,
left by the passage of elk, show that these mounds
are not solid.
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A little further along, the moss
becomes interspersed with low shrubs; in addition to
the salal, now you see bog laurel and Labrador tea.
These shrubs become thicker and thicker, until they
cover the ground in every direction. The trees thin
rapidly, and you blink your eyes in the sudden
bright daylight. You have reached the end of the
boardwalk.
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From the viewing platform, a little ways
off you can see some trees now not commonly seen in
the Pacific Northwest, western white pines. Here in
this hidden corner King County, the unusual
ecological system has enabled these trees to escape
the ravages of the blister rust that has all but
eliminated this tree from Pacific Northwest
forests.
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| Beyond the end of the boardwalk,
the bog offers many more surprises. Some have been
known for centuries to the Native Americans, who
visited every year to harvest wild cranberries in
the bog. Deep in the bog, an observant visitor would
find the round-leaved sundew, a rare carnivorous
plant. |
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Visitors to the bog often find new
surprises. What will you find?
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On December 14, 2000, SHADOW was formed as a 501(c)(3)organization
to preserve the unique peat bog and habitat surrounding the west and southwest sides of Shadow Lake.
Please
send us your questions and comments
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