This campsite impressed me greatly on my first trip to Alaska. But it was always raining here. The rain wasn't as bad elsewhere. This valley heads back around toward Prince William Sound, which is quite wet. But at least one great-divide skims moisture from the air before clouds get here.
A lot of spruce trees died here when spruce-bark-beetles bored in to eat the cambium (outermost layer where water migrates upward). This area got hit-hard in the last ten years. On my first visit here, I took refuge from the rain under a nice green spruce tree. Droplets of sap repelled me, leaving me quizical. That tree is gone now. Once green, many of the dead trees still stand, looking odd--a ghostly redish-brown. Wind blew most of them down in Ninilchik. It actually looks orderly because they all fell in the same direction.
Some folks say fire prevention put Alaska in harm's way. Once patchy, the forest became continuous in all directions. The beetles could suddenly reach every tree by just munching right along. Regardless of why, the bugs ate every tree at once. Thankfully, a few of the strongest were spared. |
