Day 121: Charles L. Pack Experimental Forest has few trails but one of my favorites leads to the summit of Hugo Peak. Only a mile or so up, the route passes through a clear-cut which affords a wonderful view of the Olympic Mountains to the west when there are no clouds in the way. It is also an excellent area for observing small birds such as Chickadees and Kinglets or watching Ravens sweep overhead. Views and birdwatching aside, I've recently discovered another source of amusement among the stumps, tangled brush and salal: lichens.
In a few hundred yards of trail, there are more types of lichen than I could count on both hands, from delicate, squamose Cladonia species to flat, floppy foliose structures such as this Frog Pelt (Peltigera neopolydactyla). Several varieties are currently in their fruiting phase, exhibiting distinct apothecia (the tan/cream fruiting bodies shown here), and each one looks as if it could have been transplanted here from an alien world.
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