East Trail

During our honeymoon 25 years ago my wife and I spent many hours at the Point working to reestablish the East Trail. It was hard but joyous work. Wearing a ring was so new to me then I never thought to take it off until I noticed flakes of gold left behind on the rocks I was moving. Recalling this time when I see those scratches makes the band look that much more beautiful to me now.

Keeping the trail open has required continual upkeep, cutting brush, clearing fallen trees, hauling out trash blown in from the ocean, and building boardwalks across the soggy areas. Putting in the effort never felt onerous to me; it felt more like renewing our vows. 

Since that time 25 years ago we have witnessed many signs the ocean might someday reclaim the trail. Loads of plastic debris blown in from offshore. Breaches in the seawall strewing rocks across sections of the path. Blowdowns of increasing size. Boardwalks washed away. 

These things happen little by little, then finally all at once.

We were never blind to the realities of the forces stacked against us, but we also knew that struggle can bring moments of joy and beauty, and the East Trail had plenty of both. Still, what we saw today was difficult to take in. Seeing the destruction of the trail, and realizing that rebuilding it this time is most likely futile is a deeply sad thing. 

Still, I am able to laugh at myself when recalling all the effort I put in to reworking one particular boardwalk section on the trail two summers ago (see extra). I remember my thinking process as I made a real effort to build something that would be harder to destroy, and easier to rebuild once it was. Silly me! Even I hadn’t considered that an entire stretch of the shoreline would be stripped to the bedrock and washed off back into the woods. 

Of course the most important thing about that honeymoon was never the East Trail or a scratched up ring. 

There are still plenty of implacable forces to keep us busy!