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The Point at the End of the Trail

What a vista at the end of the trail! There used to be a weathered, gnarled spruce tree on The Point. The sea-facing half of the tree was brown, it's needles giving way to the sea spray from high tides and constant wind. Most of the dead branches on this side of the tree were chopped off to burn in the small fire ring that lay between the rocks at the point. A couple of years ago we again walked to The Point. We first took in the wind and view then noticed that the tree was gone. Only a stump was left, the rest I believed was burned for atmosphere and warmth. I was briefly reminded of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, in which the tree loved a boy and gave everything to him. I wonder if the person who took this determined tree had a prior connection to The Point? I think not.

Human Impact on this Place

The stones and broken shells shown above represent a very special place to me and my boys. The little cove where this photo was taken is known to us as Dinosuar Egg Beach. The wave rounded rocks are plentiful and back up to the higher tide lines to bleached broken shells, beach chickweed, lupine, chocolate lily and wild geranium. These beauties, in turn, front bushes and young spruce and hemlock which lead to a mature spruce forest above the trail. Ten years ago when I first hiked through, there was little sign of human activity other than the trail I walked on and an occasional 2X4 or frayed rope that had washed up on the beach. A few years ago, fire rings started showing up and signs of camping were evident. Just this weekend, this is what I found: Shown are a large fire ring and bright orange paintball splatters on a spruce trunk. There were many trees and rocks splattered in the same manner. The image below explains itself!

Past and Present

At left is a historical photo of the Princess Kathleen as it sat on the rocks at Lena Point in 1952. At right is a photo taken this spring as the bunker fuel was pumped out after a sheen was spotted in early spring. You can read about this fuel recovery effort in this Juneau Empire story.
This local "small" oil vs. environment story shows how one's ( a student's?) connection to place has the potential to lead to investigations about, concern for, and connections to other parts of our planet both near (Valdez) and far (Gulf of Mexico).
Photo credits: Princess Kathleen(Alaska's Digital Archives), Oil recovery(NOAA)

Everyday, Every Year: Fauna

The point is a good place to view a few animals also. Marine mammals including sea lions, humpback whales and seals are frequent passers by. Birds such as bald eagles, ravens, crow, seabirds and LBB (little brown birds, as my father says) can be observed year around. Fish, especially dog salmon, jump below the point in summer.
Red squirrels (and their sign) are abundant, but not as plentiful as the afternoon's biting insects! I often used to see black bear sign on the trail to The Point, but in recent years there is very little bear activity. My guess is that the two new subdivisions in the neighborhood have had an impact on the bears.

Photo/illustration credits: Stellar Sea Lion(NOAA), Eagle/crow(Ciar@Creative Commons), Red Squirrel by Kathy Hocker,(AKDF&G)

Everyday, Every Year: Flora

Depending on the season, constants of The Point include: lots of skunk cabbage, ferns, beautiful spring wildflowers, devil's club, small berry patches here and there, Sitka spruce, hemlock, mountain hemlock, alder, grasses, mosses, dogwood, and many other plants common to Southeast AK. I marvel at the abundance of the color green in all its variations. Smells, both refreshing and not so (skunk cabbage and chocolate lily) are abundant, each highlighted at different times throughout the growing season.

Chocolate Lily(AKDF&G), Beach Pea(Cier) and Coastal Paintbrush(Mary Hopson) retrieved from Creative Commons. All other photos by author.

Connection to Place

The Point is a place that I've explored, by frequent walks, for about ten years. I've seen changes caused both by humans and nature, and observed the constants of each season.
Students could make connections to places near their schools. Every Juneau school has a natural "getaway" nearby. All that would be necessary is a chunk of time and some gear for the weather.