The Land Of The Mossy Trees

In spite of the weather forecast of 100% chance of preciptation today, Alice and I took off on a hike to the Stimpson Nature Reserve and followed the loop to Geneva Pond. I can't believe this was our first visit to this lovely forest - we will definitely be back for more hikes.

It's an old-growth forest, including "Douglas Firs over 400 years old, a wide diversity of tree species, snags and decaying logs, and a complex architecture of canopy, understory, shrub layer, and tapestry of the forest floor." Couldn't have said it better myself. We even came across some nifty "freshwater bogs." Big trees covered in moss were everywhere.
And lots of mud on the trail. A couple little watefalls. And... I couldn't resist taking photos of mushrooms. I love mushrooms! I definitely need to learn more about mushroom identification. They're quite fascinating. I don't think this qualifies as a mushroom? I'll stick with fungus. "There's a fungus among us!" And this? No idea. Some neon yellow weird thing. Fungus? Insect eggs? Alien life form? No idea. (UPDATE - My friend Holly identified this fungus for me as Witch's Butter - it's in the official category of "gooey fungi")Alice and Owen had fun finding letters in all the downed trees. We came upon the letter A. And a lower case o. More trees draped in moss. We were almost to the trailhead, when we came across frogs. Not just one or two, but four frogs. Three of them jumped away quickly but this little guy was trapped by three screaming females, one silent male, and a camera flash.