Richard Olmer

There are two trails very close to Port Angeles that I revisit every so often. Neither is too challenging and both hide some wonderful large trees. One begins inside the Heart of the Hills Campground (the Lake Creek Trail); the other is just off Black Diamond Road (the bottom of the Little River Trail). The other night, I was thinking of trees ... trees thousands of years old.

I was born in Maryland. Except for a very small area at the western end of the state, there was no old-growth forest; the climax forest was oak and old large conifers were very rare finds.

At Mount Rainier, at the Grove of the Patriarchs, I was awed by the trees that were standing before history was written. It boggles my mind to see these giant trees that have witnessed more life than I can imagine. These trees were grown when Jesus walked the Earth, maybe much longer.

There are some very large trees along Little River, and I have a need to visit them. Being in the company of such ancient giants gives me both a perspective and hope. I find comfort from the fact that something alive and living can survive so long.

Sometimes, I'm afraid that the world around me is unlikely to survive as long as I will, the result of man's ignorance, ineptitude and simple lack of caring. It is nice to be reminded that nature often can upset our attempts to destroy any trace of anything natural.

All the above is probably why even when I don't "hike," I walk around.

Just yesterday, walking around the Dungeness Recreation Area, I stopped for a while and was fascinated at the sound of the wind pushing the unmowed grass and the reeds in the wetlands. It was like a concert orchestra playing a piece solely for my pleasure. The brass section was traded for the voices of so many different birds.

There almost always is some surprise when I walk in nature, some new perspective on old things, thoughts or ideas.

So, in this case, I wanted to check my memory. Are the trees along Little River trail big or really big? I'd still call them world-class "big." Maybe not prehistory big, but close to pre-Jesus big (but remember, I'm a writer, not a reporter, and when trees begin to measure 15 feet in diameter, they are big).

And a lot of you probably are rubbing your heads wondering why this fixation on trees? An old tree is still just wood.

Yes, but trees routinely may outlive humans, but not by much.

These trees that grab my attention have lived thousands of years. They've seen a lot of history. True, they can't talk. But I'm at heart a nature mystic. I actually believe that something this old can speak to me, not aloud in English, but quietly through spirit. I can learn something while listening to the surf pounding ancient rocks, the wind in brittle autumn leaves, the quiet in a snowstorm or the quiet of an ancient tree.

Little River Trail is easy to find from Hurricane Ridge and the trail up Hurricane Hill, but it's basically all downhill for about 8 miles.

It's quicker to follow U.S. Highway 101 into Port Angeles, turn left at Race Street, right on Eighth Street, cross the first bridge and then left on South Pine, which will become Black Diamond Road.

Follow Black Diamond and go left at Little River Road, follow the road for short distance and park next to the three-car garage on the left. A Little River Trail marker is across the road.



Richard Olmer can be reached at columnists@

sequimgazette.com.