A Walk to the Point.

We took a walk to the "point" from downtown Haines on a forest trail and learned about the local vegetation.  Many of plants served useful medical functions and were well known by the native inhabitants.  A more recent discovery is the fermentation of new spruce tip shoots which are used to brew "spruce tip ale" which is an excellent source of vitamin C.  One can get plastered and OD on vitamin C all at the same time! 

The "point" was a defense station used by the military to deal with intruder forces sailing up the Lynn Canal toward Haines.  Further up this fjord is another small town, Skagway.  Skagway was considered to be the portal to the gold fields during the gold rush era.  Skagway is only accessible from Haines by ferry ride.

The red flowering plants in this photo are fire weed which is another source of vitamin C.  The stem can also be stripped and applied to cuts as an "Indian band-aid" and has also been used over infected wounds to prevent scabbing-over in order to permit drainage.