1680 feet elevation, coastal rain forest suffused by misty veils, a hidden treasure: what more could you want for the perfect day? Neahkahnie Mountain – also known as Place of the Gods in the Tillamook language – rises above the Pacific Coast a little bit north of Manzanita, OR.

Rumors of a hidden gold treasure, buried on or at the foot the mountain by Spanish sailors in the lat 16th century, won’t die. As the (gruesome) story goes, they put the gold in the ground, carefully watched by native tribe members of the area, and then killed one of their own black slaves on site, putting his corpse inside the hole with the treasure, knowing full well that the tribes were forbidden to disturb a man’s grave. Hundreds of treasure hunters have looked for the trove across the centuries, some of them dying when their excavations collapsed above them. Digging for treasure is now forbidden by law in this area.

The rumors were fed by the appearance of numerous artifacts of Spanish origin, including a cross with carvings embedded in slabs of beeswax. “Spanish archives list 33 ships as lost during the period of the Manila galleon. Five possible galleons from this list have been suggested as possible shipwrecks: the San Juanillo, lost in 1578; the San Juan, lost in 1586; the San Antonio, last heard from in 1603; the San Francisco Xavier, which sailed in 1705 and is known to carry beeswax; and the San Jose, which sailed from San Blas 16 June 1769.” This from the local historians. 

Where’s the treasure?

For me, the real treasure was right in front of my eyes: an incredible diversity of trees, mosses, lichen and fungi nourished by the up to 170 annual inches of rainfall (4.47 meters year!) at this point where a mountain and the sea meet (the definition of coastal temperate rain forest). Sitka Spruce, western red cedar, western hemlock and a variety of firs abound, all evergreen as is the Madrona tree.

 

 

 

 

Deciduous maples and alders are also in the mix, bringing some light and fall color into the dark forest.

 

Lots of Oregon grape and salal on the ground, as are ferns,

and epiphytes abound: you wonder how all that stuff growing on trees, particularly lungwort and cat tail moss, doesn’t suck the life out of them. But of course they are all part of a perfectly symbiotic system.

The quiet, when it is dry, is remarkable – when the rains come in the noise can be cacophonous. Yesterday, though, all we heard was a few single bird chirps, our own labored breathing at the steep uphill climb, the dull roar of the ocean somewhere in the background. The moisture in the air felt like someone was caressing your skin, and when the first sun rays broke through the mist, the fairy slides made this sentimental soul almost cry with joy.

And just when you thought you had gotten away with a happy blog for the day, here are some words of warning: this is what happens when you don’t manage these precious lands appropriately: habitat destruction, pollution, exotic species invasion and climate change lead to imperiled species:

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/publications/papers/TillamookReport.pdf

On a happier note: we have a wise dog who abandoned digging for gold for the pleasure of romping with sticks….

 

Lift off!