MOUNTAIN VEGETATION
A visit to Olympic is not complete without at least one trip into the high country. Aside from the numerous trails that lead up into the mountains, there are two high country areas that may be reached by car. These are Hurricane Ridge and Deer Park. Whether the trip is made on trail or on road, an understanding of the changing pattern of plantlife will make it more enjoyable.
The climate at the top of a mountain is unlike that at the base; accordingly, the plants are different. Plant scientists have found that these vegetation differences on a mountain are similar to the changes seen between the equator and the poles. Generally speaking, each 100-foot rise in elevation is equivalent to about a 20-mile distance north. Although the change may be gradual, there are distinguishable belts of vegetation on a mountain. These belts are called life zones and have names that indicate their correspondence to zones between the equator and the poles.
Altogether there are four life zones in the Olympic Mountains: Transition, Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic-Alpine. The vegetation of the last three is similar to that of regions to the north at lower elevations, as indicated by their names.
The Transition zone in the Olympics is the lowest. It is intermediate between southern and northern vegetation. The lowland forests, including the rain forest already described, are in this zone.
The next two zones also are forest, but somewhat different. The highest, or fourth, zone is treeless. The boundaries between the forest zones here are not sharp; it is difficult to know exactly where one ends and the next begins. This merging of forest zones in the Olympic Mountains may be due to the equable temperature extending well up the mountain slopes.
The Canadian zone should be apparent when an elevation of 2,000 feet is reached. The forest of this zone is somber compared with that of the Transition zone. Although it has many kinds of small shrubs and herbaceous plants, it lacks the striking greenness of the Transition forest. Western white pine and Pacific silver fir have entered it. Western redcedar is absent, while Douglas-fir and western hemlock remain. There are numerous saprophytes on the forest floor—most of them flowering plants such as pinedrops, Indian-pipe, and coralroot.
RED ALDER IS THE FIRST TREE TO GROW AT THE EDGE OF THE CHANGING COURSES OF THE RAIN FOREST RIVERS.
The Hudsonian zone is next, and is the highest one having forest vegetation. Around 3,500 feet elevation there is a mingling of Canadian and Hudsonian trees. Some trees of the Canadian zone are still found, but some different kinds are included in the forest composition. The characteristic Hudsonian zone trees are mountain hemlock, Pacific silver fir, alpine fir, and Alaska-cedar. The last-named has typical cedar foliage. Its branches and twigs droop as if they were wilted. Trees in this zone are much smaller than those at lower altitudes and become still smaller with every upward step. At the uppermost fringe of tree growth the winds hold them close to the ground as deformed growths. This is known as krummholz, a German word meaning “crooked wood.” The name is applied to stunted forest commonly found in alpine regions. Timberline in the Olympic Mountains is generally at about 5,000 feet, which coincides with the height of many of the ridgetops. The beginning of the Hudsonian zone is the beginning of the high country. The sky is bluer and in summer an alpine fragrance adds zest to the air. The forested slopes give way, in depressions, to meadows that are brilliant with wildflowers in summer. Basins carved by snow and ice hold numerous mountain lakes, with streams flowing into and out of them.