Trail through The forest

This is another look at the forest trail. The camera captures such a small area of this magnificent panorama. I would often pause and look up as the view above was always amazing. The trees tower above us spreading their branches at the very top of the tree. Most of the lower branches fall away as they die when they are shaded by higher branches and neighboring trees. Where sunlight penetrates to the forest floor, a lush understory develops. This will be winter feed for the large elk herd that resides here. During the summer the elk are at higher elevations in the interior of the park. When winter comes, the herd descends to lower elevations. Some towns have problems with elk browsing shrubbery in residential neighborhoods in winter. By spring the elk have cleared the forest floor of most of the smaller plants. Abundant rain will allow new growth to replace the heavily browsed forest floor before the elk return the next fall.