North Fork Quinault - Ancient Forested Island

Got to take a little diversion up to the North Fork Fork today which was a great little trip. The North Fork is a steep tributary to the Upper Quinault that conveys a high side load. Unlike the Upper Quinault the floodplain forest was never logged and is heavily influencing the geomorphology of the river. This is a picture of a patchwork floodplain forest that has established itself behind a stable natural logjam. Conifer trees on the island are 6- to 10-ft in diameter and have grown through the natural logjam to create a complex matrix of living and downed trees resistant to erosion from the channel and splitting the main flow of the river. Forests influencing channel patterns, who would have thought?