Day 121: I must admit that bryology is not my field, so I am venturing out on a very long limb, saw in hand, to suggest that this might be Hylocomium splendens, a common "step moss" in the Pacific Northwest. It carpets the forest floor on the Park's Tahoma Woods property, and when I say "carpets," I mean thickly. Its reddish stems and chartreuse foliage give the woods a feeling of lushness you won't find even in the Olympic Rainforest. The pseudo-fractal pattern of its leaf blades rivals that of any fern, always appearing translucent and moist. A hiker's foot straying from the path would be engulfed by its depth (to the moss' detriment, I might add).
There is such beauty in the microcosm of the forest! Take time to observe the small things when you're out on your next hike.
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