I’ve driven past Whitney Pond countless times, glancing at the map and wondering if there really could be a pond tucked away in that small stretch of land between Southwest Road and the Bering Sea. It seemed unlikely, yet the curiosity kept tugging at me. On a bright and beautiful day, I finally set out on foot to find it.

Parking across from Ridgewall, I took the trail to the cliff edge and began walking eastward toward Antone Lake. Between the two landmarks was the small blue dot on the map: Whitney Pond.

But first, Ridgewall stopped me in my tracks.

The view was breathtaking. The sea stretched out in brilliant blues, so clear I could see the rocks beneath the surface. Seals porpoised by, playful and curious, while murres, kittiwakes, and horned puffins darted back and forth from the cliffs. I sat for a long while, simply watching. Ridgewall is a place that is alive, pulsing with the rhythms of both sea and sky.

When the grass grew too thick to follow the cliffside path, I veered inland across the mossy tundra. Along the way, I stopped at the Praying Lady, or Praying Man as most call her (I prefer lady), a tephra formation I admired from afar. Today, I climb up to her, pausing to offer thanks for her steady presence on this wild island. Small berries were beginning to appear in the moss around her base, a reminder of the harvest to come in just a few weeks.

Though the walk felt longer than the map suggested, the day was too beautiful to turn back. Then, cresting a ridge, I spotted Whitney Pond. Small and muddy, it didn’t look like much at first glance. Yet its banks held something unlike anywhere else on the island: purple wild geraniums and coastal fleabane.

The wild geraniums were easy to identify with their distinct leaves and violet blooms. I moved carefully from plant to plant, collecting a few of the best blossoms to press. On the southwestern slope of the pond, I found a patch of coastal fleabane, delicate purple daisies with golden centers, growing only in this one place on the island. I gathered just a few specimens, leaving the rest to thrive.

Whitney Pond may be small, but it holds a surprising diversity of life, unlike any other corner of St. Paul. On this day, with the sun shining, puffins watching from the cliffs, and seals at play in the sea below, it felt like discovering a secret.

And, here is a short video I took of my stop on Ridgewall.