This grove of old growth forest is named for Horace Albright, the second director of the NPS. He was also legal assistant to the first director, Stephen Mather. He further padded his résumé by being superintendent of Yellowstone and Yosemite. As a personal friend and philanthropic advisor to John D Rockefeller Jr., he was instrumental in obtaining the land for Grand Teton NP and Great Smoky Mountain NP.
Once again Keith is leading our small band of hikers. The forecast was for a bit of rain and that is just what we got. Once it quit, we decided to eat lunch before it started up again.
After a quick lunch we crossed the bridge over Indian Camp Creek. From that point it is just a short uphill to the beginning of the Albright Loop. We have already been walking in old growth forest but it is about to get more obvious. The grove used to have many giant Hemlocks which gave it a magical feel. Today, most of those Hemlocks are dead, some standing and others on the ground. The maples, oaks, silverbells and tuliptrees are massive.
A big silverbell
The loop had a lot of snow and ice and some steep spots. We took our time walking the loop. It is much as I remembered it. Always a great visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment