A walk along the Bubbling Springs Trail

The trail around the Bubbling Springs on the north shore of Prince Edward Island is an interesting one. While I have already written about the springs, the trail itself deserves some attention.

Near the start of the trail is an old pioneer cemetery where many of the headstones disappeared long ago. The cemetery is behind a long pile of stones which nature is doing her best to overtake. This cemetery is the resting place of some of the victims of the Yankee Gale of 1851, a storm which lasted over two days, destroying 74 vessels of a New England fishing fleet and killing 150 crew.

The crew members were buried along the coast of the island, far from their American homes. However they are not forgotten by islanders. We weren’t on the island long before we knew of the Yankee Gale and saw several cemeteries where crew were buried. 

As we continued along the trail, we came to a shady forest of White Spruce which filled in the farmland of this area. The shallow roots of the spruce trees cause the trees to blow down easily, exposing the root system. This starfish found its way from the beach somehow.

A number of trees had woodpecker holes but this one was unusual. The markings in the wood resemble teeth marks. What animal could have caused such marks? 

The only deciduous trees with leaves in this area were the oak trees. Many oaks keep the colourful leaves all winter. 

Orange-red berries were plentiful. One tree had enough food for many birds this winter.

In one section of the trail, many of the trees have burrs, a reaction to a stressor during their growth. This huge one at the base of a tree looks like it has closed eyes and a nose. What could have caused this growth?

A lookout over Long Pond was a nice addition to the trail 

as was the wharf and hut further along the way. 

An observation deck from the road through the park is visible across the pond. The beach is on the opposite side of the road which makes Long Pond a barachois, a lagoon cut off from the ocean by a sand bar.

We enjoyed this trail which had something to see around every bend. 

Burrs

There aren’t any branches or leaves. All that remains is a knotted mass of burrs on what is left of a tree. It has long since shed its youthful beauty. Unlike any other gnarled tree we have ever seen in our treks on Prince Edward Island, this one is covered in burrs. Usually there are one or two burrs. 

This tree tests imagination.

One can only imagine the stress this tree endured. Was it from fungi, bacteria, viruses, insect activity, animal activity, weather, human damage or a combination of any of these factors? Even the twigs are affected.

This tree makes me wonder how stress affects our bodies.

What are our burrs? Are they loss of sleep, lines on the face, gray hair, weight gain or loss? Are they even more insidious such as damage to blood vessels and heart from high blood pressure due to stress hormones? We each handle stress in our own way but there is potential for body damage. Unlike the burrs on this tree, most of us don’t show the stress as readily. 

Or do we?