Sitka spruce cloak the Pacific Northwest’s maritime headlands. Here, where the sounds of the surf are never silent, Sitka can be dominant. Arguably Oregon’s most iconic Sitka is the Octopus Tree. Rather than a central trunk, it’s limbs are arranged radially. At 105 feet tall, with a a vase-like shape, and a circumference of 47 feet, it’s a remarkable tree and a photographic challenge.
In February, when I took this photo, I could hear, above the crash of the surf, the roar of Steller’s sea lions from their haul out on an offshore sea stack.