To stand in a forest is to stand in a moment in time. Feeling the moist air breathe through the trees, seeing mosses glinting with dew, hearing the soft song of a chickadee or the gentle chatter of a snowmelt stream. All these moments make up the life of every forest. Some forests are full of hundreds of years of these moments, each day a time capsule of butterflies and birdsong. Old growth forests are the most ancient. Groves of Sitka spruce, hemlock, Douglas fir, and red cedar…hundreds of years old. That timeless wisdom stretches along the Pacific Coast and holds inside it the greatest lessons in life…slow down, breathe, let your roots find their way down into the soil and stay a while. The time we have is rushing past in our attempt to direct life’s winding current. So stand in the forest, listen to the woods, and feel the years long past, beneath you and around you. Become the old growth and never forget to be a part of this world…
5/3/2025
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National Geographic Venture
Green Inlet
Our last lovely day in the Great Bear Rainforest was full of excitement, education, and awe. After dropping anchor in the idyllic glacier fjord of Green Inlet, we set out to explore the rocky shoreline and forested granitic fjord walls. The dense fog gradually turned into a wispy mist which exposed different peaks and corners of the forest as it moved through. We took turns kayaking through a delightful cove that was loaded with ochre sea stars, rockweed, and blue mussels so thick and dense the rock they were attached to was hardly visible between them. A river otter scurried along the shore and bald eagles soared above us. From the Zodiacs, we visited nearly a dozen thunderous waterfalls that were running hard and fast from the heavy overnight rains. We observed harbor seals observing us back, quietly periscoping their furry heads up and out of the water as we approached the rapids where harlequin ducks and surf scoters held court along the shoreline. After lunch we were greeted by a trio of transient killer whales that swam circles around National Geographic Venture . Later, Certified Photo Instructor Rich Reid was interrupted by humpback whales, which we rushed onto the bow to appreciate.
