Trees, Trees and more Trees

After doing my post below about how much old growth forest has been lost in the USA due to clearing for the old time homesteading and mostly for logging.  I decided to make a new post for Mosaic Monday  and  Sally's Blue Monday with my archive shots of the various parks we visited where we saw these huge Redwood Trees. A few people commented that the Olympic National Park also has the old growth forest. Their comments brought back memories of our visit to the Hoh rainforest in the Olympic National Park.

The first mosaic shows my son Brian in his younger days ( he is 18 yrs old now) running around all in blue in the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park. If I knew then what I know now I would have never let Brian as close to this tree. The frequent rain in the Hoh rainforest contributes to the lush canopy of both the coniferous and deciduous trees. Mosses and ferns also add to the enchantment of the Hoh Rainforest. The National Park protects what is the largest remaining old growth forest and temperant rain forest in the lower 48 states.

This mosaic is a mixture of photos from our visit to the Redwood National Park which has the tallest trees and Sequoia National has the big wide trees both parks are in California. The giant sequoia trees are among the largest trees on earth. The Giant Forest was saved from logging by the creation of the Sequoia National Park..

The General Grant tree in Sequoia NP was designated as the nations Christmas Tree in 1926. This tree was so tall I could not fit it all in my photo.

This was our rental car at the time, of course we had to take a picture of it going thru the tree.

 I have to thank the National Park system for protecting these old growth forest and these amazing huge trees. Hopefully these beautiful trees would never become a means for balancing the budget. Crazy things can happen, they might decide they need to build a road thru the forest. These trees are national treasures should be be treated as so and conserved. I would like to see logging come to end as far as logging these grand old trees and the old growth forest that we have left today.

Please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday to see some wonderful mosaics and Sally's Blue Monday to see everything blue. Thanks to both Mary and Sally for hosting these fun memes. And thank you for stopping by my blog to see my post. Have a wonderful week!

Rockport State Park

I am link up with Scenic Sunday  with some pic's of the Rockport State Park and its old growth forest.

Being married to a tree hugger visiting the Rockport State Park during our North Cascades trip last fall was a must do. The Rockport State Park is an old growth forest and is 670 acres located along the lower Skagit River. The park has over 600 acres of old growth timber and has an ecosystem that has never been disrupted. It is a natural forest with a canopy so dense that only minimal sunlight penetrates to the ground.

 I am not positive but it seems that only the western states have the old growth forest. If anyone knows where we can find some more old growth forest on the east coast, hubby and I would love to visit. Since being married I have visited the tall Redwoods National Park, Sequoia National Park, I believe there were some old growth trees located in Yosemite when we visited and this last visit to the North Cascades National Park.

Walking along the trail, we saw these beautiful ferns and the gorgeous trees. It was a quiet place with only sounds of birds and sometimes the sound of water could be heard.

 

I have found a website showing the loss of old growth forest over the years and found it to be very alarming and sad. Here is a link Old growth forest. Looking at the map my state of Maryland does not show any old growth forest. It is no surprise the Forestry managers of Md seem to like the idea of clear cutting. You can click on the link to find your own state to see if there any old growth forest.

My photo below does not really show the size of this downed tree, but walking along next to it I felt small. Even dead trees provide shelter for mammals, birds and insect species.

I found even this mossy tree to be a beautiful sight.

The roots of this downed tree even looked beautiful covered with moss and ferns.

I am one of the few who love these old forest and would hate to loose them all. I read that in the Pacific Northwest 80 percent of the forest are slated to be logged.  Old growth trees provide crucial resources that younger forest can not provide. From the canopy to the fallen decomposing trees old growth forest sustain a web of life from soil building organisms all the way up the food chain. What old growth forest are left in the USA need to be conserved.

I loved this early morning foggy Skagit River scene. The Pacific Northwest is beautiful area to visit.

The old growth forest are treasures that I feel should be saved and appreciated by all. I love to walk along the giant forest, how about you?  I hope you enjoyed my post and photos. Click on my link for Scenic Sunday to view more beautiful scenes from around the world.

Giant Panda at the National Zoo

For this weeks Camera Critter I am showing my favorite animal ..the Giant Panda bear seen at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There are two Giant Pandas at the national zoo, their names are Mei and Tian.

      I am not sure which is Mei and which one is Tian, but this one really enjoyed eating the bamboo.

They are just so cute, you want to hug them!

 We were told they might find out in the summertime  if baby pandas are on the way.

This one looks like it was rolling around in the dirt, maybe this one is the male.

Hubby and I became Fonz members, which is Friends of the National Zoo. We plan on many more zoo visits thru-out the year. Mean time if you want to see lots more critters visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters.  Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun critter meme and thanks for stopping by to see my critter post. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

SWF....Keep the skies clean over Bryce Canyon National Park

My Skywatch Friday  post are shots from my archives of my various trips in 2005 and 2008 to Bryce Canyon National Park. It is one of my favorite parks, the trails are amazing to walk among the hoodoos. The scenery and sky over the Bryce Canyon is just gorgeous. This is also my plea to help put a stop to the Alton coal mining just 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. Here is a link to send a letter to the governor of Utah protesting the Alton strip mine.

Various articles on the Alton coal mining  NRDC and Robert Redford  and OnEarth.org.  Alton is located 10 miles from  Bryce Canyon National Park and Bryce is just 50 miles from Zion National Park.  I read that just Bryce Canyon National Park attracts over 1 million tourist a year. I for one would not like to see coal mining trucks, dirty air pollution and the natural beauty of the beautiful red rocks destroyed on the way to the national parks that I love.

Please visit Skywatch Friday to see beautiful skies from around the world. Thanks to the hosting group of  Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy.  Thanks for stopping by to view my skies and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Coal Mining near my favorite park Bryce National Park

I have been to Bryce National park a few times in 2005 and 2008 and I loved it. I want to share some of my old photos to show what a beautiful park it is.  I am hoping some of my blog readers will also click on the link and send their own letter. The beauty of this park and Southwestern Utah should be protected and preserved.

I hate to see this gorgeous park ruined with dirty air, coal mining trucks and the natural scenery into and around this beautiful place.

 Thanks for stopping by my post.

National Zoo lions

For my Camera Critters post I have some shots of the lion family at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There were 5 cubs all playing with each other and their parents. It was not possible to get all five of the cubs in one shot. They were all over the place.  Naba is mommy to three of the cubs which were born in September and Shera is mommy to 4 cubs born in August. I read that one cub died so that should leave six but we only saw five playing outside.

I am pretty sure this was the first time for me seeing the lion cubs, they sure were so adorable It was really cute seeing the cubs interacting the larger male and female lions.

Cubs playing with daddy Luke.

This is one of my favorite shots, the daddy looks so proud and peaceful.

 I hope your enjoyed my Camera Critters this week and please visit Misty Dawn to see more wonderful critters.  Thanks to Misty for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend.

SWF at the National Zoo in DC

Happy Saint Patricks Day!!!!

For my skywatch I have a few shots I took while visiting the National Zoo in DC last weekend. It is one of my favorite zoo's to visit, the exhibits are just wonderful. 


                                   One of the budding trees at the zoo

This was the first time I caught the one of the orangutans using the O-line. The O-line is a transit system for the orangutans to use to travel from the Great Ape house to the Think Tank. It is wild to be there watching the orangutan climbing on these ropes that hang right above your heads. And that they can use these to go from building to building.

 We stopped to watch right under the O-line as the Orangutan climbed and hung on the ropes. This time the female used the O-line to go to the next tower and stopped to wait for the male to come along too.


                              Not the prettiest skies, but it was a nice day with warm temps.

But the male had other ideas and stayed in the yard outside the Great Ape house. We were told by a worker that the female will not go all the way to the Think Tank by herself .. so we watched as she made her way back along the rope to the tower in the yard.

She wasn't going anywhere without her man. LOL!

These are  for my Skywatch Friday  post and I hope you enjoy.  Click on my link to see more awesome shots from around the world. Thanks to the Skywatch host: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy

Also,  I appreciate your visit and comments. I hope everyone has a wonderful St Patricks Day and a great  weekend.