Josh88
Shohin
I went collecting the other weekend in a spot I’ve been curious about for some time. There are a few lava flows in the Pacific Northwest that are relatively well known as great collecting spots, but I had found one on google earth that I had heard nothing about. A couple buddies joined me for a hike through the flow to see what tree collecting is all about. This area was incredibly difficult to navigate and making your way from place to place was unbelievably slow going and lots of bumps and bruises were well earned along the way. The terrain of this flow was much different than the others I have been on, as it was nothing but boulders everywhere you looked, and based on the climb in, they were piled about 100 feet deep. There was no solid ground for duff to collect on top of, so the root systems all went deep into the rock cracks, and very few trees were collectible for my experience level, so we just enjoyed the experience of being in such a wild place and seeing these incredible survivors. I collected one very small sub alpine fir with nice bark for such a little tree, but the large specimens were left to keep on keeping on. I would love to return with someone experienced in collecting really difficult root masses and get their opinion of the place and it’s inhabitants. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed this adventure on a gorgeous fall day. Cheers!