Larison Rock

Willamette River in Oakridge, Oregon

The hike to Larison Rock was difficult in the winter of 2011—rain in Oakridge at the start, snow after a 2000-foot climb.  I trudged in snow shoes then and never made it to the top (picture at left).

Yesterday, with perfect summer weather, the climb was pure pleasure.

Old growth Douglas fir, western red cedar, and mountain hemlock—all mix with the young folks, in what looks like good cross-generation conversation. 

healing wounds with sap

that finally clots

before trees invented bandages

A healthy-looking Douglas fir, quite active in her old age.  But on her side, the fruiting body of a fungus disease—a conk.  Her insides are filled with spongy rot, and though she can live long and full, she’s no good for lumber.  Even a logger would say, might as well let her stand for the beauty she has left.  Past her prime in the marketplace, she’s still got spunk.  

Fires are burning on all sides of Oakridge; they have been for the past week.  Yesterday, when I arrived, the air was too smoky to see for even a mile.  Today, the wind has changed, and it’s a perfect day for a hike to where, sometime in the past few years, this area, too, was in flames. 

She grew up with birth defects that

left her ugly to casual glances

she coped and grew tall

prosperous as her peers

perhaps now she gets a little admiration.

You pushed me down the hill

back then

limber young and only six feet tall

but I turned myself around

and now stand tall and straight

did you notice?  

“I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain”

 and I believed I’d see your face again.

(Left picture is from March 8, 2011)  

The trail

 (Left picture is from March 8, 2011)  

Wind blew

the weak lost their heads

it appears the tallest did

the most prosperous. 

A flower in the forest and tree foliage in the sunlight.  It’s hard to say which is more lovely.

Larison Rock, a 2,400-foot climb, seven miles from the start.

Night Ladder by Lois P Jones, on the tip of Larison Rock 

Alien fossil

Fish out of water

.. 

Great tree foleage

It’s a tree, my lord, growing out of rotten log, or is it a rabbit?