GATHERING STORM

During the summer of 2009 when my son and I hiked into the Quinault Rain Forest to explore the Huckleberry Hollow area where Mrs. Trowbridge once lived, we witnessed firsthand the destruction that severe winter storms can bring to a rain forest. The storm had struck the area the previous winter, bringing with it savage hurricane force tornado-like winds. Thousands of old growth trees in the rain forest were blown down. It appeared that much of the area had been logged off.

Mrs. Trowbridge knew well the force of winter storms, for she spent her entire life in the Quinault Rain Forest, on Wild Rose Creek. This page in her journal speaks of the first winter storm to hit the area one winter long ago.

PORTRAIT OF LADY MARSHWILLOW

I have hiked into the Wild Rose Creek region of the Olympic Rain Forest a number of times over the years. This is a lush, mysterious area of the rain forest where Violet Trowbridge once lived. She kept a beautifully illustrated diary of everyday life among the small creatures in the rain forest village of Huckleberry Hollow. I happened upon this diary about eight years ago while hiking cross country up Wild Rose Creek. The diary was contained in a tiny, ornate gold box that I found on a mossy ledge alongside the creek. The precious box may have been unearthed after two centuries by a gopher. When I opened the box that night in my studio, I was amazed to find a little book inside with the title The Trowbridge Chronicles inscribed on the cover. The book was yellow-brownish in color, the cover appearing to have been fashioned from toad skin.

On my last trip into Wild Rose Creek I was caught by a forest ranger and scolded for hiking into an off-limits area. Wild Rose Creek had been closed off, due to severe storm damage. In my enthusiasm to visit Mrs. Trowbridge's realm I ignored the tape barrier. I was fortunate to not be given a citation by the ranger. This is my photo journal entry of that trip: http://trowbridgechronicles.blogspot.com/2008/07/return-to-huckleberry-hollow.html

For those of you who would like to pinpoint this destination on the map, Wild Rose Creek is located in the Quinault Rain Forest in Olympic National Park in Washington State. The creek plunges northeastward down the mountain, emptying into the North Fork of the Quinault River. The village appears to have been located about one quarter mile upstream from where
Wild Rose Creek joins the Quinault River. The river winds in a south-westerly direction, emptying into Lake Quinault, then it flows westward from Lake Quinault into the nearby Pacific Ocean. If you have been reading Mrs. Trowbridge's journal for some time you may recall some of her journal entries relating to their summer treks to the sea. Here is one of them that I remember well: http://trowbridgechronicles.blogspot.com/2006/01/to-sea.html

There are now 122 episodes of the Trowbridge Chronicles. Feel free to peruse through past episodes in the archives at your leisure.