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Jug Handle Trail: Location 11

Here (top) is a typical second-terrace conifer forest of bishop pine, grand fir, Sitka spruce, and western hemlock. The flat terrace drains poorly, so the trees must be able to tolerate water standing around their roots during the rainy season.

On the way to the next stop we can see the gray soil (bottom). Called podsol,1 Russian for "ash soil," this was originally dark and rich like the soil of the first terrace, but over the centuries its nutrients were consumed by the conifer forest and leached out by rain water. The highly soluble alkaline nutrients were more easily leached than the acids, so this soil now has a high acid content.

1 podzol (päd´zà): a type of light-colored, relatively infertile soil, poor in lime and iron, found typically in coniferous forests in cool, humid regions.

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