Rhododendrons bloom in late spring, bringing splashes of color to the forest along the Lower Big Quilcene Trail (Hike 80).
The conditions in this zone are less favorable to wildlife than in the other zones, thus animals are not abundant, but the chattering of chipmunks and Douglas squirrels may often be heard. Bird life is also less varied than in the other zones, but it does include the Canada jay, varied thrush, and several species of owls, including the spotted owl.
The climate is still cooler in the Subalpine Zone. This zone exhibits great variety—a mixture of subalpine trees, meadows, glacial lakes, swamps, and bogs. The forests in this zone’s lower levels blend gradually into the denser stands in the Montane Forest Zone below. In sharp contrast, in the upper levels open meadowland appears as the forest gives way to the treeless Alpine Zone.
The continuity of the Subalpine Zone forests is broken by the meadows. As in the Montane Forest Zone, the trees are chiefly conifers, but the dominant species are different—subalpine fir, mountain hemlock, and Alaska cedar. The trees are tenacious, having adapted themselves well to the harsh environment. Little groves are scattered over the grassy slopes and rises, and the ubiquitous low-growing juniper sprawls over the rocky ridges. Shrubs common to this zone include willow and slide alder on the stream banks, huckleberry and heather on the mountainsides.
Despite the difficult living conditions, a large variety of plants, animals, and birds are present in this zone. The meadows are snowbound for seven or eight months, but when the snow melts the low-growing plants bloom with a sudden rush. Although wildflowers are present in all zones, at all elevations, they reach their climax in these high meadowlands. The floral display attains its peak in late July or early August, flooding the mountainsides with color. Among the flowers are avalanche and glacier lilies in July, which bloom alongside receding snowbanks, and lupine, beargrass, and scarlet paintbrush in August.
Weather conditions in the Alpine Zone—the highest in the Olympics—are the harshest to be found on the peninsula. Lying above timberline, this is a region of tundralike meadows intermingled with snowfields, glaciers, and barren country. Much of the year this zone lies under deep snow. Plant growth is sparse because the soil is poor and the growing season abbreviated. Cold and constant wind are the rule, and night frosts sometimes occur during the summer. Because the climate is rigorous and the growing season brief, the plants have a tendency to be dwarfed, compact, and dense. Less plentiful in kind and number than the ones in the Subalpine Zone, they are all low-growing perennials, and include grasses, sedges, rushes, and a few shrubs and flowers. They blossom hurriedly, and their seeds are scattered by the autumn winds. Among them are phlox, goldenrod, bluebell, alpine lupine, and pleated gentian. Arctic willows hug the ground; anemones and Douglasia add touches of color to glacial moraines. At the extreme limits of plant growth are found grasses such as bent, timothy, and squirrel-tail, with mosses and lichens thriving in protected spots among the rocks.
Several endemic plants occur in the Alpine Zone, chiefly in areas that were not glaciated during the ice age. They include Henderson’s spiraea, Flett’s violet, and Piper’s harebell, all bearing the names of pioneer botanists who collected in the Olympics. Occurring nowhere else, these species have been adversely affected by the depredations of mountain goats, which are not native to the area.
THE OLYMPIC FORESTS
The Olympic Mountains are renowned for the stands of fir, hemlock, cedar, and spruce that clothe their flanks on all sides but attain their climax in the rain forests of the western valleys. The Olympic trees are part of the great conifer forest that parallels the Pacific coast of North America from southern Alaska to central California. Except for the high mountain district, the entire peninsula was once covered by unbroken stands of virgin forest, but most of the trees have been destroyed by logging operations since the coming of Europeans. The best of the remaining old growth is found on the river bottoms and the lower slopes within Olympic National Park.
Douglas-fir grows everywhere in the mountains, but it is most abundant on the northern, eastern, and southern sides up to about 3000 feet altitude. Fire creates conditions favorable to the reproduction of this species, which requires sunlight and mineral soil. Thus one finds Douglas-fir flourishing where fires have raged in the past. Conversely, western red cedar occurs principally on wet flatlands and valley bottoms, and Sitka spruce is confined almost exclusively to the west-side lowlands, which receive excessive rainfall and summer fogs. The fir, cedar, and spruce are the largest trees in the Olympics, frequently surpassing 250 feet in height and 10 feet in diameter. Western hemlock, a smaller tree, is probably the most abundant species because it thrives in dense shade. Of the true firs, Pacific silver fir is common throughout intermediate elevations, but grand fir is comparatively rare.
The high-altitude conifers—subalpine fir, mountain hemlock, and Alaska yellow cedar— display varied characteristics. The fir and hemlock are spire shaped, with stiff trunks that resist breakage caused by the heavy burden of snow. Alaska yellow cedar has a different pattern of growth. The foliage droops, and the limber trunk bends readily under the weight of snow without breaking. Pacific madrona, a broadleaf evergreen, grows at lower elevations throughout the Olympics, but it is most common on the drier northern and eastern slopes.
Deciduous trees include red alder, bigleaf and vine maples, and black cottonwood. They thrive on river bottoms, particularly alongside streams, but occasionally grow elsewhere. Red alder, which prepares new ground for conifers, is the most abundant broad-leaved tree. Bigleaf maple is a large tree with a sturdy trunk and huge leaves that turn yellow in the autumn, but vine maple is a small, sprawling tree that could almost be characterized as a large shrub. The largest deciduous tree is the black cottonwood, but it is not numerous. Almost invariably found along streams, it frequently attains a diameter of 4 to 6 feet and heights of 180 feet.
The Olympic forests contain several trees recognized by the American Forestry Association as the largest-known examples of their species. However, tree champions wear uneasy crowns— they have to face not only the prospect of destruction by nature (wind, fire, or flood) or by humans (fire, logging, or road building) but also the possibility that a larger specimen may be discovered elsewhere. Consequently, the champions change from time to time.
On occasion, in the past, as many as six or eight record-size trees in the Olympic Mountains have been recognized simultaneously by the association. Most of the champions have been conifers, located within the boundaries of the national park, but occasionally a deciduous tree has held the crown. Because the trees having championship status vary from one decade to another, even from year to year, no listing is given here of the current title holders inasmuch as such a list would, in all probability, become obsolete in the near future.
Snags and hollow trees are common in the virgin forest, in marked contrast to their absence in second-growth stands. Such trees were once considered useless, but they are now recognized as having great value because they provide both food and shelter for many woodland creatures. For example, woodpeckers carve holes in standing dead trees, either to make cavities for nesting purposes or to search for insects. After the holes have been abandoned, they provide homes for other birds and small woodland creatures.
THE RAIN FOREST
One of the few temperate-zone rain forests in the world, the Olympic rain forest (actually comprised of four separate rain forests) is confined to the windward slopes of the Olympic Mountains between sea level and approximately 2000 feet elevation. Rainfall exceeds 12 feet a year, occurring mostly during the winter months. Because this forest is located on the windward side of the mountains, where it is exposed to rain and fog and protected from cold east winds, the luxuriance of vegetation is comparable to that of equatorial rain forests.
The rain forest is a complex community of plants