Walking Tour

Welcome to the Dump No Material Whatever woods walking tour. They aren't part of a park, and they have no official name– their only label being the lone sign that marks an entrance on NE 90th St. and 40th Ave in Wedgwood. They're actually part of a massive protected watershed that empties into Thornton creek at the bottom of the hill, which flows out to Lake Washington at Matthews Beach Park. Technically, no one is supposed to enter the woods, but people in the community do it from time to time, and no harm is being done as long as you are careful. Because it's virtually untouched forest, it's impossible to go too deep without going hardcore with a machete. As it happens, I didn't, so the walking tour won't be much of a walk, but there's plenty to see anyways.




Station 1: Birds!

pileated woodpecker

Look to your right just as you walk past the sign marking the entrance and you'll see an enormous Red Alder tree that, for some reason, is incredibly attractive to woodpeckers. I've seen a Downy Wood pecker almost every time I've visited this place. The machine gun-like tapping is impossible to miss, they (or maybe it's just one very persistent bird?) usually perch near the top, and stay there for 10 or 20 minutes at a time, piercing through the bark with their sharp beaks trying to get at the delicious grubs that live in the tree. The bird is very distinctive, with a read head (hard to see in the photo), white speckles on it's black wings, and an unmissable large white splotch on their backs. Superficially, the Downy Woodpecker looks almost exactly the same as the related Hairy woodpecker, but they can be distinguished by looking at their beaks: the hairy woodpecker has a beak longer than it's head, while the downy woodpecker's beak is short and stubby, smaller than the head. The most impressive woodpecker I've seen on the same tree is the Pileated woodpecker– easy to spot because of it's size and elaborate red plumage on it's head. Other than the woodpeckers it is really difficult to spot birds in these woods for some reason..

Station 2: Animal Behavior

Raccoon hiding in a tree

If you're really lucky, like I was one day, you might spot a raccoon. Raccoons are omnivorous scavengers– they'll basically eat anything they can get their hands on which makes them well adapted to living in the environment that we humans have produced. If you're quiet, you'll be able to observe it's feeding behavior. Raccoons remind me of a cross between a house cat and a bear. They carefully step through the underbrush on all fours like a cat, but they can stand up on their hind legs and will use their dexterous front paws to pick up food and bring it to their mouths, much like squirrels or bears. These front paws also make the raccoon an excellent tree climber, and if you scare it, it might scamper up a tree to avoid you like this one to the right did when I took out my camera. Raccoons are highly intelligent, and good problem solvers. They'll get into all kinds of mischievous plots in order to get food. I remember one time I was growing up a group of raccoons broke into my house at night and found the cat food in a large cylindrical tin. When they were loud enough to wake up my dad, he found them rolling it on it's side, trying to bring the whole tin outside with them! Intelligence is perhaps the most important adaption that mammals have developed, and it is always exciting to see our close relatives using their imaginations just like we do.


Station 3: Land Use History

Stump of a Holy Bush

This patch of forest has probably been clear cut multiple times knowing Washington State's logging history, but it is, of course, relatively untouched compared to the rest of the city so the Red Alder and other deciduous trees are truly enormous. It's clear, though, that the forest is being influenced by humans in different, far more positive ways today. Stop at the flat spot just above the bottom of the ravine and you'll see that someone, either inhabitants of nearby homes or perhaps city officials, has been removing invasive species. What looks like dead Himalayan Blackberry is dried up and pilled in unnatural places on the ground, and English Holly stumps, with limbs sawed off, can be seen scattered around the forest (although this method of removal doesn't seem very effective– note the branches starting to grow back). Additionally,  note that the ground in this area is covered in mulch– no doubt an attempt to replace some of the nutrients that may have been lost due to erosion. (https://www.americanhistoryusa.com/early-washington-and-logging-timber-industry/)

Dead plant parts from removal of invasives

Station 4: Invertebrates

Hidden in the mulch I just described, you will find a whole metropolis of scurrying creepy crawlers. The most numerous and easy to find are the pill bugs and sow bugs. These ancient creatures are actually not bugs at all, but are part of a group of terrestrial crustaceans that include wood lice and others. They're fast and active when undisturbed, but if you touch one it will immediately roll into a tight ball and protect it's vulnerable body with it's hard armor.  You might also find millipedes, which employ a similar defense method– they will roll their long, black bodies into tight spirals if they feel threatened. Perhaps the most interesting invertebrate I have found here is a giant common black beetle. They don't look like much at first glance, but if caught in the right light their hard exoskeletons shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow like an oil spill in a parking lot. Other invertebrates include gastropods like snails and slugs, earthworms (though I didn't actually find any), and various kinds of spiders.

Station 5: Ecological Interaction

The canopy from down bellow

From where you're already standing, look up to see a quiet, ongoing competition. Trees are constantly battling each other for valuable nutrients and access to the sunlight they need to do photosynthesis. The taller the tree, the more light they attain, and the Red Alders in this picture are as tall as a 5 or 6 story building. It's common to see smaller trees growing up next to the larger ones, but without ample sunlight and with inferior root systems, they won't get the nutrients and energy they need to grow tall and they will die before they reach the canopy. This is second (or perhaps third or fourth) growth forest, so the canopy is relatively even and it is difficult for any new trees to grow very large, except for the more shade tolerant species like Western Hemlock. However, as the forest ages the canopy will grow more uneven as the biggest trees die and leave massive gaps for new life to flourish. But because the problem of sunlight will grow more and more dire as the forest ages, the more shade tolerant, not the larger, trees will become the most numerous and Western Hemlock will eventually dominate.


Station 6: Evidence of Ecological Disturbance

Head North from the flat spot on the hill and you will find ample evidence of a dastardly human disturbance that you are now a part of (Sorry...) Human footprints are visibly eroding parts of the rather steep hill that plunges into the ravine. Erosion is a natural process that occurs as rain water rushes down the hill, pulling sediments with it. However, disturbance from human traffic can expedite the process, eliminating crucial, nutrient rich top soil and making it more difficult for plants to grow. This causes a vicious cycle, because the lack of ample vegetation leaves the soil even more vulnerable to erosion. I suspect that this, along with the issue of pollution, is the primary reason for restricting these woods from public access, but as long as you choose your paths up and down the hill with care it's possible to visit these woods without damaging the ecosystem.





Station 7: Geomorphology

Weird hills in the ravine

Look down into the ravine from the hill by the erosion and you will find fascinating structures. Strange, small rounded hills inexplicably rise out of the muck of the ravine and are as high as 4 feet tall. My best guess about their formation is that larger trees and shrubs had taken root in certain parts of the ravine and as the stream began to erode the basin, the areas held together by large root systems would remain in tact while the other sediments were washed away, leaving unnatural-looking piles of soil high and dry. However my hypothesis is crucially flawed by the fact that there are not notably more shrubs or trees coming out of these mounds as compared to the surrounding ravine. Perhaps they are more like the Mima mounds of the Olympic Peninsula, or the odd looking hills we found in the Yakima valley. Geologists don't know what caused these structures to form, and they remain a scientific mystery.

Station 8: Plants

delicious salmonberry

Once you've followed the pseudo-path down to the bottom of the ravine, look to your left and you'll notice a patch of shrubs with serrated leaves in groups of three and vibrant golden-orange berries. They're called salmon berries, and are edible and delicious. They are closely related to raspberries, and they taste similar. Later in the season they will turn a deep red and become far sweeter. Frankly I prefer them tart. Other edible fruits in the vicinity include the Indian Plum, with little yellow fruits and long, entire leaves. The Duwamish would eat these fruits raw or dried, but they are unpopular today because of their tendency to be bitter. (http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_oece.pdf)







Station 9: Fungus

artist's conk

Someone else did this it definitely wasn't me

Just South of the Salmon berry patch, you will find two kinds of mushrooms. The first are light orange, wispy chanterelles among the undergrowth. Chanterelles are supposedly delicious but I'm not nearly adventurous enough to give them a try– by all means go for it. On a rotten log just above the chanterelles you'll find a particularly elegant looking patch of Artist's Conk. The Conk is a wood-decaying fungus, feasting on the fibers within the dead tree. It's hard to miss, with it's light brown exterior and soft, white underbelly. The Conk is particularly famous for its potential as a canvas– the white fibers of it's gills are easily broken, and darken to a shade of brown when they are scratched with a stick. (http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/Fungus/Artist's%20Conk/ganodart.jpg)

Station 10: The stream

Mini-waterfall

Mouth of Thornton creek at Matthew's Beach

This final station is only for the most adventurous. If you're not afraid of getting dirty, hop over the log with the conk and follow the sound of flowing water into the shrubs. You'll have to duck and maneuver around thorns and spines, but when you find the stream it will be worth it. A tiny waterfall spills over a rocky outcrop that the stream has yet to erode, and plunges into a river bed, surrounded by a roof of shrubs. It's a magical place, almost like a little room in the woods that I could picture some ancient Greek forest spirit taking up residence in. As I've said before, this stream is part of a huge network of tributaries that make up the Thornton creek watershed, and sprawl across North East Seattle. Thornton creek has had it rough these last hundred years or so. Many parts of it have been paved over, and natural marshes like the one that used to cover the Nathan Hale High School campus have been filled in and terraformed so the stream runs in linear paths sometimes surrounded by concrete to prevent flooding. The stream has been a victim of pollution from sewage and rain runoff, and the once thriving salmon run is now virtually fishless. However, us naive humans are starting catch on, and certain parts of the Watershed, most notably the "Thornton Place" condominiums by Northgate mall, have been uncovered and restored to a more or less natural state. It's extremely important for natural areas like the Dump No Material Whatever woods to exist, because they are the only real defense our fragile water systems have from the pollutants that we empty into them. The more time the water spends over natural soils marshes, the more pollutants are absorbed and neutralized by the awesome power of mother nature. (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Thornton_Creek_Meadowbrook_Seattle2.JPG/250px-Thornton_Creek_Meadowbrook_Seattle2.JPG)