Lake Harvey & Beecher Pass State Marine Park
A southern passage through the Wrangell Narrows is a rare event on the Sea Lion. Only once a year, as we travel the entirety of the Inside Passage, do we navigate this narrow channel between Mitkof and Kupreanof Islands. The forest along this waterway looks the same as other forests we’ve visited in Southeast Alaska, dark needled boughs are freckled with pale old man’s beard and the quintessential coastal mists settle upon the distant trees, fading them into ghosts.
But we’re getting to know the forest here, sharpening our senses to the subtle adjustments it makes as we head south. We’re learning from the trees. Plants are often divided geographically in a temperate rainforest. At its extreme this temperate rainforest—stretching from Southeast Alaska all the way to Northern California—boasts the sequoia or redwood to the south; to the north we see more Alaska yellow cedar and an abundance of Sitka spruce. Today, en route to Lake Harvey on Woewodski Island we found ourselves in a transition zone, where both yellow cedar and western red cedar grow. This area marks the northern extreme of the western red cedar. It’s these transition zones that also mark variations in the inclement weather patterns, for the range of a western red cedar is a distinction of particular climate.
As humans we probably couldn’t sense the minute difference in climate just south of the Wrangell Narrows versus that of, say, Chichagof Island. For this we can look to the trees, they have far more experience and patience than we do. Western red cedar is sensitive to snow accumulation and resultant broken branches. Its range stops abruptly near Petersburg, Alaska at the north end of the Wrangell Narrows and it is wholly absent above 1000 feet of elevation. So the kernel of wisdom we gained from our first encounter with western red cedar: a warmer climate awaits you.
It fits that it was a cedar sharing its wisdom of this environment, for cedar has long been termed the tree of life. The Northwest Coast people believe cedar to be a gift of the Creator. From cedar came canoes, shelter and tools, clothing from the bark, tea from the needles, almost everything around the home was derived from the tree of life.
Serendipity lay ahead of us when we explored the shoreline at Beecher Pass State Marine Park. The clouds thinned and the air warmed as we glided over the reflections cast on flat calm waters, under this ever-so-slightly warmer climate.
A southern passage through the Wrangell Narrows is a rare event on the Sea Lion. Only once a year, as we travel the entirety of the Inside Passage, do we navigate this narrow channel between Mitkof and Kupreanof Islands. The forest along this waterway looks the same as other forests we’ve visited in Southeast Alaska, dark needled boughs are freckled with pale old man’s beard and the quintessential coastal mists settle upon the distant trees, fading them into ghosts.
But we’re getting to know the forest here, sharpening our senses to the subtle adjustments it makes as we head south. We’re learning from the trees. Plants are often divided geographically in a temperate rainforest. At its extreme this temperate rainforest—stretching from Southeast Alaska all the way to Northern California—boasts the sequoia or redwood to the south; to the north we see more Alaska yellow cedar and an abundance of Sitka spruce. Today, en route to Lake Harvey on Woewodski Island we found ourselves in a transition zone, where both yellow cedar and western red cedar grow. This area marks the northern extreme of the western red cedar. It’s these transition zones that also mark variations in the inclement weather patterns, for the range of a western red cedar is a distinction of particular climate.
As humans we probably couldn’t sense the minute difference in climate just south of the Wrangell Narrows versus that of, say, Chichagof Island. For this we can look to the trees, they have far more experience and patience than we do. Western red cedar is sensitive to snow accumulation and resultant broken branches. Its range stops abruptly near Petersburg, Alaska at the north end of the Wrangell Narrows and it is wholly absent above 1000 feet of elevation. So the kernel of wisdom we gained from our first encounter with western red cedar: a warmer climate awaits you.
It fits that it was a cedar sharing its wisdom of this environment, for cedar has long been termed the tree of life. The Northwest Coast people believe cedar to be a gift of the Creator. From cedar came canoes, shelter and tools, clothing from the bark, tea from the needles, almost everything around the home was derived from the tree of life.
Serendipity lay ahead of us when we explored the shoreline at Beecher Pass State Marine Park. The clouds thinned and the air warmed as we glided over the reflections cast on flat calm waters, under this ever-so-slightly warmer climate.
