We hiked the Mount Parke Trails on Mayne Island to the top of the mountain and along a series of trails to make a loop route.     The lower trails wound through a cedar, red alder, giant swordfern forest.

There were a number of polypores along the sides of the trail like this dyer’s mazegill (Phaeolus schweinitzii).

Some large arbutus trees were found in forest glades and up on open ridges.

Mosses covered rocks and logs everywhere.    These feather-mosses were spotted on a north-facing slope in deep forest.

Mosses and lichens seemed to cover all surfaces in the damp forest.

Vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylla) is easy to identify by its distinctive leaves.    It has small white flowers in the spring.  

We watch for the sun shining through witches hair and cat’s tail mosses on branches, providing an ethereal look to the forest.

A stand of red alder (probably spaced and pruned) caught our eye at the end of the trail.

We don’t get down to the Coastal forests very often so we enjoy it each time (as long as its not raining).