A hand goes up at the front of the line. Fingers count down from five. Breathless, buzzing, the four of us trailing the lead scatter off the trail, crouching, slinking into the trees. Mere feet away an enormous upturned tree has left a ten foot deep pit in the ground where its roots used to be. I sink into the depression, poking my head above the rim cautiously. 

Photo taken by Laura at Nehalem Bay.