Trees of Alaska

 Alaska is known for its unique characters(an characters).  The trees of Alaska are no different.  I guess these trees have had some growing pains.  Long, cold, dark winters with moose nibbling their bark, and bears using them as scratching posts...balanced out with long hours of daylight to help with growth spurts.  But still, there are some weird looking trees up here.  Check out the pattern on the bark if this one -- it had a gorgeous geometrical pattern!

 



 

This next tree looks like it had a rough life.  The roots are barely underground, it has probably wintered several generations of critters small and disturbingly large, and it might have also been hit by lightning at some point.  Poor tree.

 

 

Not many steps later I came across "interpretive dance tree."  Lithe roots, graceful backward arch and twist, with hands....er branches...raised to the sky to catch the sun.

 

 

Then there was daybed tree...the days of growing leaves and providing shade have passed this tree by...but it was thoughful enough to turn itself into a soft, mossy daybed should an errant bear need a nap.

 

 

And of course I love my fungi and had to snap a photo of these little mushrooms....

 



 

...and this little one that looked like a lost seashell...or maybe I have just spent too much time in Bermuda.

 

So these are the trees and this is the little valley they call home, nestled away at the end of the road and the beginning of the wilderness just outside of my new mountainy small town home.