![]() ![]() In unavoidable reverence.īreathing in the tree’s exquisite fragrance, I scanned my surroundings. ![]() Whenever the boardwalk came close to a giant cedar, I had to stop and touch it. The boardwalk snaked past giant buttressed trees that towered several stories high and formed a feathered canopy way above me. I kept to the boardwalk-to help prevent unwanted trampling and soil compression. Referred to as “the cornerstone of northwest coastal Indian culture,” the Western Redcedar is known as the “tree of life” and “life giver.” Groves of ancient cedars were symbols of power, and gathering places for ceremonies, retreat, and contemplation. This ancient forest had been here at least a millennium long before the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Atlantic shores of North America. A kind of deep hush that whispered of sacred grandness. The smell has been variously described as “lingering”, “fresh”, “sweet”, “like pineapple when crushed”, or “almost like fresh water.” Even the breeze took on a different voice inside this living cathedral. The fragrance was intoxicating, a fresh pungency that woke something inside me. Lichen dripped off branches and clothed trees in crenulated patterns. Greens of all shades created a living mosaic of hue and texture. It had rained that morning and the forest dripped with living moisture. ![]() I was enthralled and humbled by these magnificent trees, silent giants that rose into the mist like sentinels, piercing the heavens. No other word comes close to describing what I experienced or felt. When I entered the ancient forest of magnificent giants with wide buttressed bases, a deep reverence came over me. One stand in Primordial Grove can be seen via a well-constructed boardwalk in a small park off Highway 16. “Antique Forest” is a term used for ancient cedar-hemlock stands that have endured for more than 1000 years. The Save-The-Cedar League also tells us that the Robson Rainforest is oroboreal: mountain-caused with boreal biome characteristics-unlike typical rainforests which are temperate-coastal or tropical. ![]()
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