Tacoma Silent Trees: Red Alder Breaking Silence
“My happiest days were when the kids ran around studying my leaves,” says the red alder just north of the former Science and Math Institute (SAMI) along Five Mile Drive at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. The kids were sprier than the old dudes who ran the Camp 6 Logging Museum in the exact location for 21 years. Those guys just wanted to jabber over their Dolbeer Donkey Engines and the massive Lidgerwood Tower Skidders. The students, on the other hand, were eager to explore. They conducted field studies in the park’s diverse ecosystems, including forests, beaches, and the shoreline of the Puget Sound. Activities involved observing local wildlife, sketching natural elements, and studying environmental systems firsthand. It was super cool.”
Peaks & Pints first partnered with Tacoma Tree Foundation, or TTF, in the fall of 2019, pairing our then-house beer, Kulshan Brewing Tree-dimensional IPA, with TTF-selected trees around Tacoma. For the 2024-25 season, we brewed our eighth house IPA at Loowit Brewing in downtown Vancouver. Since the brewery is named after Mount St. Helens and its eruption silenced many trees, we have named the beer Silent Trees IPA and partnered with the Tacoma Tree Foundation once again to tell the stories of their favorite trees. The TFF sent us to Point Defiance Park, again, to chat with the red alder just north of the old SAMI complex.
Red Alder Breaks Silence on Five Mile Drive
Established in 1964 by Western Forest Industries Museum, Inc., the Camp 6 Logging Museum was designed by logging engineers to replicate a steam-era logging camp authentically. Spanning 14 acres, it featured a functioning narrow-gauge railroad, bunkhouses, and over 500 tons of historic equipment, much of which was steam-powered. From 1989 until its closure in December 2010, the Tacoma Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society managed the museum. “Financial challenges and the cessation of public and private funding led to its shutdown, adds the red alder. “I was sad when the construction workers moved the old bunkhouses and bunk cars to the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad‘s Mineral Lake Shop Complex in Mineral, Washington. They had to remove all the train stuff because it had too many loco-motives for the students.”
Metro Parks Tacoma officially regained control of the Camp 6 Logging Museum site in September 2012, following the museum’s closure and an extensive cleanup. It temporarily housed SAMI, an innovative high school emphasizing science and math education, during the 2015–2016 academic year. As of 2023, SAMI operates from a building near the former Camp 6 location, adjacent to the zoo, known as the Environmental Learning Center.
Red Alder | Alnus Rubra
“The red alder is one of the most silent trees: Often mistaken for other trees such as the birch, it quietly grows in our forests and on our streets,” states Julia Wolf, communications coordinator for the Tacoma Tree Foundation. “Its small serrated (like a saw) leaves dance on soft breezes and cast dappled shadows onto the ground. Although their fruit looks like cones, red alders are angiosperms, which means they produce flowers for pollination, not cones. A single alder produces both pollen catkins and semi-woody fruit (monoecious). Alongside their small, brown, cone-like fruit, which holds 50-100 seeds, red alders grow green-yellow flowers that resemble a cluster of tassels. Red alder leaves turn golden yellow in the autumn, creating a beautiful halo around their light grey bark. They are a narrow tree with trunks that grow 50-100 feet tall and oval canopies. This tree has a long residency on the North American West Coast, thriving from southern Alaska to northern California.”
Red alders get their name from the reddening of their inner bark, which happens when bruised. They have long been used in many cultures for color dying baskets, hides, moccasins, quills, and hair. Other uses include medicinal remedies, a mixture to seal canoes, basketry, and as a thickening agent in soups. These trees also infuse the soil with nitrogen, creating excellent habitats and food sources for animals. They provide astounding sustenance for humans and wildlife alike.
Loowit Brewing Silent Trees IPA
Check out the red alder just north of the former Camp 6/Sami complex on the Five Mile Drive at Point Defiance Park, and then head to the Proctor District for a pint or Campfire Crowler of Loowit Silent Trees IPA (6.6%) at Peaks & Pints. Loowit Brewing in Vancouver, Washington, collaborated with the Tacoma craft beer lodge on their house beer. Paying homage to trees and outdoor enthusiasts who join Peaks daily in Tacoma’s Proctor District, Silent Trees IPA is the perfect beer to toast passing trees on powder, currents, or trails and reveal the sprains. Silent Trees IPA continues Peaks & Pints’ love affair with old-school piney IPAs, this time brewed with Simcoe, Columbus, and Chinook hops for a blend of pine and citrus notes.
It’s safe to say you can enjoy the red alder on the Five Mile Drive without fear of being run over by a train or enthusiastic SAMI high schooler.
LINK: Loowit Silent Trees IPA inspires Tacoma Tree stories
LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Pacific madrone in Point Defiance Park
LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: 1910 Bigleaf Maple in North Tacoma
LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence near the Rhododendron Garden
LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence at Swan Creek Park
LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence Near People’s Park
LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence at Oak Tree Park
LINK: Kulshan brews Peaks and Pints Tree-dimensional IPA
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
