Day 143 > The Forest Primeval

This is the forest prim eval. The murmur ing pines and the hem locks, bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,

Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,

Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Ridges Sanctuary in northern Door County is a unique place in the state of Wisconsin. Because of it's position on the peninsula it is kept unusually cool in summer by nearby Lake Michigan creating a micro-environment which supports a plant community more commonly found in the extreme northern reaches of the US and Canada. The coniferous forest is dominated by spruce, pine and balsam fir trees and it's understory is home to many rare and endangered plants and wildflowers including several species of Lady's Slipper orchids.
I included the lines from the Longfellow poem Evangeline because those words always come to mind when I walk this sanctuary's trails.