Activities for the day included kayaking around Pond Island and hiking across the island. We landed on the rocky shore and either headed to sea by kayak or began a slow wander through stands of enormous conifer trees, characteristic of old-growth forests in Southeast Alaska. Many of us began our hike by lying in a bed of moss and gazing up into the canopy of yellow cedar, Sitka spruce and western hemlock. Back on our feet we broke through the woods into a small meadow and then began a short walk up a shallow creek towards a beaver pond.
We stopped many times; gazing at the standing snags interspersed with varied species of extremely large trees! Mixed with this visual feast there was a symphony of different bird sounds greeting us at every turn. On the forest floor we saw wildflowers, tracks and scat of several animals and even spotted a small wood mouse! After climbing over fallen logs, and slogging through the infamous Alaskan mud we found ourselves at the base of a beaver pond with a startling array of symmetrically perfect reflections in mirror-still water.
Old-growth forests are characterized by diversity. As large trees are toppled by wind or weakened by insect decay, large openings in the canopy allow for new growth at the forest floor level. When we visit young communities of trees, or forests that have been logged in years past, their lack of diversity is immediately apparent. Young even-age stands of trees provide fuel and building supplies. Ancient forests are nature's saving accounts, where productivity is complex and carefully nurtured. The real resource of old growth is found in the bonds between species, in the intricate way all the diverse pieces fit together, in the tremendous age standing before us and the many, many lessons we have yet to learn.
