We’ve been stewarding the Herland Forest for more than thirty years, and it seems like no two winters are the same. We’ve had winters where the snow drifts were more than four feet deep, and other winters without any snow at all. Some springs the creek that drains our forest didn’t run at all, and other springs saw flooding so intense that a quarter of the road the runs along the Klickitat River was washed away.
This winter has been warm and wet, at least so far…winter’s got another six weeks to run so there’s plenty of time for snow to return. The ground is so wet that Kiri had to stop work on a grave she was digging because it keeps flooding.
We got a call from Brandy Lamb, a friend who rents out tents for events, wanting to do a photo shoot of one of his tents in a winter forest setting. We said, sure, so long as everything is carried in and back out since the ground is way too wet and soft to carry vehicular traffic.
Here’s the spot they chose, Herland Forest’s northwest corner. They found the oaks, dressed in their neon green lichen to be enchanting. There aren’t any graves in this particular spot, so we thought it would make a nice location for the pictures.
Brandy’s tents are very nice and go up quick and easy, so it wasn’t long before they had the shots they wanted for their upcoming promotion. I thought you might enjoy seeing how it looked.
While Herland Forest isn’t open to the general public for camping, the Guardians and Friends of the Forest are welcome to come camp and enjoy the peace, solitude and beauty. And people who have a loved one interred in the forest are welcome to make arrangements to come and camp at the grave site.
Leave a Reply