March 2005: Overnight at Packwood Lake

Packwood Lake is at the end of a long glacially-carved valley. Normally, lakes like these are created when the foot of the glacier pushes-up a pile of earth and rocks called a morraine. When the glacier melts, the morraine forms the lower lake shore. This is a rather common process in many mountains. However, in the case of Packwood Lake, it seems that the foot of the lake was created by a landslide.
In the distance in this photo, the glaciers of Mt. Rainier can be seen... slowly sculpting its lower slopes...

A creek meanders down the valley to the lake. Parts of the lower valley often flood, killing the more long-lived coniferous trees. In their places, fast growing stands of Alder take root.

The side of an old rotting log is a good habitat for a myriad of miniature fungal abstractions.

The forest above Packwood Lake harbors some wonderful old-growth forest. Western hemlock, Western redcedar, and Douglas-fir are the most common large varieties.

Here, a Western hemlock seedling takes root on an old fallen log, known as a nurse log. If all goes well for the seeding, some day it will grow tall as the old nurse log rots away.

The evening provided good light in which to admire nature's artwork along the shore of Packwood Lake.

We found a wonderful campsite along the lake's southern shore.

As night began, I took this 30-minute exposure over the lake. The dim light of the set sun is amplified in the sky, raked by starlight. The red light along the shore is the campfire of some other backpackers.

The next morning, we spotted this otter, taking a break on some logs on the lakeshore. I've spent a lot of time in such places, but have had few encounters like this one. It was a great way to cap a wonderful trip!