August 1888, Excursion to Rainier and Notes of Puget Sound Image 11

Sculpture seen going on clearly on S side Rainier, but few spots glaciated polished however fresh some basaltic bluffs seemingly strong & firm. Even these have no trace of rounding or polish but rather of ordinary atmospheric weathering. These make much that is otherwise dim in the Great Basin clear. Tree 449 yrs old, part worn off (dead near Soda Springs. The forests from the Sound to the timberline are chiefly dense & dark the sunlight reaching the ground on few spots & splashes here & there or rather the lower vegetation for there are but few spots [left]. soil seen in all these woods save at the pits of upturned roots & there only for a short time are moss & grass & shrub covers thin. In the low ground or up to 2000 ft the sunlight that sifts thru the chinks of the leafy roof is caught upon the smaller maple with its beautiful floating pea green foliage & slender branches also green. The leaves of this maple are thin translucent float horizontally holding out hands to catch what light they can & are singularly effective in the lower deeps of the dark woods as they glow with the light.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/4431/thumbnail.jp