Eric & I Go on a Tongass Rainforest Expedition from Ketchikan, AK

Eric and I went to the Excursion Rallying Point at Ward Cove for transportation to the Tongass National Rainforest.

Our group sets off in a

Tongass Rainforest

TREX Hiking

 Expedition Van.

It's late August, and preparations for today's hike include Insect Repellent. 

Sam, our Tour Guide,

arrived in Alaska in 

2017 & started hiking.

Now she is a Tour Guide in the Rainforest she loves.

A low spot in the Forest

with trees.

Sam shows us that this area

is spongy & gives easily

beneath her foot.

Muskeg is a type of bog.  There are documented cases of animals, humans, and road construction equipment becoming mired in Muskeg and being lost forever.  Beware the muskeg!

It's hot & sunny today,

The heat & lack of rain

are dying out the

Rainforest.

Spruce, Hemlock, and Cedar grow in this Rainforest.

The soil is thin here.  Tree roots grow out from each tree.  As the forest loses moisture, the soil separates from its rocky base.  The chances of trees falling increase.

What's this?

It's a large cavity

at the base of a tree.

It's a great space

for wildlife

to shelter.

It's big enough for

me to explore.

Sam shows us a Frog.

It is an invasive species.

A man from the Lower 48 moved to Ketchikan.  He missed the sounds of croaks and ribbits that Frogs make.  During a trip "down south," he collected some Frogs, returned, and set them free.

It looks like Hemlock 

& Spruce are growing 

from the same trunk.

A creek runs through this

section of the Rainforest.

Rushing waterfall

A shot of Eric & me on

an Observation Deck

The remains of a tree fall

is the source of new life

in the Forest.

Sam is a great Tour Guide.  Everyone in our group thanks her for our hike in Tongass National Rainforest.