Bob: There have been several severe thunderstorms in northwestern MA in the last few summers, so I am not surprised that the spruce has fallen. The tree will continue to contribute to the forest for a couple more centuries through its coarse woody debris, and release of nutrients as it decomposes, and as a seedbed and substrate for many species of trees, mosses and fungi. In terms of its influence on the forest, the tree is only at the half-way point.
I remember some of the places you show from our hike in 1994. Lee [email protected] wrote: > ENTS, > > Yesterday, Monica, Tanya Blaich (a new musical colleague of Monica's), > and yours truly went to the Hopper on Mount Greylock's western slopes. > My specific mission was to remeasure the champion red spruce growing > in a ravine below a scenic little waterfall. Both the state champion > red spruce (on points) and the height champion grow on Mt. Greylock. > The point champ is accessible to hikers from the Roaring Brook Trail, > but the height champ is off the trail network in the recesses of the > Hopper. > The weather cooperated and we made it to the spruce location without > rain - but once there, no spruce. Our champion is champion no longer. > I think the tree went down at least 3 years ago and apparently broke > up in its fall into the stream. There are moss-covered chunks in the > stream bed, but otherwise no evidence that a flagship specimen of > /Picea rubens/ ever proudly stood as the tallest accurately measured > red spruce in all New England. This fine tree was known to Lee Frelich > and Will Blozan. Although I didn't mention it to Monica, I had vaguely > sensed not all was right with the champion and was prepared to be > philosophical about it. We Ents live with the awareness that on any > trip to visit a favored champion, we may find our champion prostrate, > the victim of disease, insect infestation, or a capricious act of > nature. So, the demise of the red spruce champ, a somber discovery, > did not completely extinguish my desire to share the treasurers of the > western slopes of Greylock with my fellow and lady Ents. So, I > concentrated on the magic of the Hopper. > At 3,487 feet above mean sea level, Mount Greylock is Massachusetts's > highest summit and one of only three peaks in Massachusetts to exceed > 3,000 feet. The abrupt rise of Mount Greylock stands in contrast to > the plateau-like terrain of most of the Berkshires uplands to the > east. Greylock is a real mountain, rising prominently above both its > eastern and western bases. The steep western slopes of Mount Greylock, > where we were headed, rise close to 2,400 feet above drainage of > Hopper Brook as it flows out of the Hopper and toward its union with > the Green River. > The Hopper has been called an old glacial cirque, but not all > geologists agree with the interpretation, including darn good amateur > geologist Joe Zorzin. I am inclined to agree with the nay-sayers based > on the appearance of hundreds of cirque remnants that I have looked > seen and thought about. > Greylock is a popular destination for hikers, but the Hopper and Money > Brook trails aren't yet over-used. The trailhead lies at at altitude > of 1,100 feet in an attractive, open meadow and then proceeds > eastward. Along the way, the hiker can choose any of four > destinations, but our path was to be off trail. Our destination lies > between 2,000 and 2,100 feet altitude in an unnamed ravine, along an > unnamed stream, at the base of an unnamed waterfall. Is there a > pattern here? Gains and losses in elevation along the course gave us > an overall elevation gain of about 1,050 feet. Most of the way, the > route is easy to moderate in steepness, but the last part is much > steeper than to Monica's liking. The loose footing from all the rain > didn't help matters in either the easy or difficult parts. > Image #1: The path into the Hopper from the trailhead starts by > following an old tree-lined road. Sugar maples and American basswoods > are plentiful. Yellow and black birch and black cherry also announce > their presence. Meadows/fields lie on both sides of the path. Even > though the forest corridor hold no trees of special interest, the > gestalt is aesthetic. Image #1 shows the path. The direction of view > is back toward the trailhead. Some of the larger corridor trees > exhibit half forest-grown, half-field grown forms. The younger trees, > growing up in the shade of their elders exhibit a more classic > forest-grown form. > Image #2: There are openings along the path that allow one to view the > surrounding peaks and be reminded that a lot of climbing lies ahead. > Image #2 is an example. It looks northeastward toward Mt. Prospect, a > 2,691-foot pleasingly contoured ridge with a trail to the summit - a > worthy goal in its own right. A word or two about Prospect. > Image #3: From experience I can attest to a couple of excellent views > from Prospect. However, the forest on Prospect is undistinguished > second-growth, partly fire successional. Red and and chestnut oaks are > the rule near the summit. I've not found any intact old growth on > Prospect, but areas that are rapidly approaching old-growth status exist. > Turning the camera around, I snapped Image #3 in an attempt to capture > an exquisite view of a foreground field set against the main body of > the Taconics. On the horizon, the New York-Massachusetts border > follows the crest of the Taconics, a mountain range that runs along > the border of Connecticut and New York, continues on the border of > Massachusetts and New York with 2,798-foot Berlin Mountain being the > high point of the Connecticut-Massachusetts-New York section. The > Taconics continue into Vermont where they reach their greatest > elevations west of Manchester. The hulking form of 3,864-foot Mount > Equinox is the highest point of the range. The Taconics peter out > south of Rutland, Vermont. > The Greylock massif, which we were on, is geologically part of the > Taconics, although most people, visitors and locals alike, probably > think of Greylock as in the Berkshires. The term Berkshire is more > political than geological. U.S. Route 7 crosses the joining point of > Greylock to the main body of the Taconics between Williamstown and > Pittsfield. > Image #4: Most of the Hopper's terrain is steep, often very steep. > But there are a few places where one encounters a relatively flat spot > and for short stretches can catch the breath. In those idyllic spots, > one may linger and enjoy the deep woods feeling that the Hopper > offers. Image #4 is just such a spot. The hemlocks are mature, but not > old growth. There are plenty of stately trees on Greylock, but few > record breakers. When in places like that shown in image #4, I have > begun to turn off my measuring gene and just enjoy the woodlands for > what they have to offer. > Image #5: At the site of the once dominate red spruce, I turned my > attention to the surrounding woodland-mountain beauty. Image #5 looks > westward through a peephole onto part of the Stony Ledge ridge. In the > late autumn, views in this region are spectacular. One gets a big > mountain feel when in the Hopper. > Image #6: Monica and I noticed that Tanya is able to appreciate > woodland aesthetics in the spirit of ENTS. So, invoking my ENTS > powers, I did the proper thing and named a tree for her. Tanya's tree > is a large white ash that I have measured about a dozen times. It is > one of the many trees that I track. The large ash now measures 10.5 > feet in girth. The highest twig I could find, peering through the > dense canopy, reaches to 117.5 feet above the wide base. Based on my > many measurements of /Fraxinus americana in Massachusetts/, Tanya's > tree is one of the patriarchs of its species and the patriarch of that > location. It has outlived the once champion basswood a few yards > distant. The basswood gave up the ghost about 10 years ago and now > stands as a snag. Image #6 shows Tanya and her tree. > By appearance, I judge Tanya's tree to be between 225 and 275 years > old. Don Bertolette and I once dated a large white ash of similar > dimensions and appearance on a side stream to Dunbar Brook in Monroe > State Forest. Don's age at coring height was 230 years. Tanya's tree > is very similar in appearance, maybe even older by half a century. > Image #7: The last photo is of yours truly standing by a large > northern red oak growing on the slope close to the unnamed stream. The > girth of this beautiful person (not me) is 11.7 feet as measured at > breast height. The tree's full height can't be measured this time of > year because of the dense canopy, but as I recall, it was about 107 > feet a half dozen years ago. It's pretty flat-crowned, but may now be > over 110. > Well, that's it folks for the brief tour of Mount Greylock's Hopper. > Oh yes, I did measure striped maples to girths of 26-inches on a catch > as catch can basis. I wasn't specifically searching for them. But > Greylock nourishes substantially larger ones, the goal of a future > trip to re-connect with that delightful understory tree. My record on > Greylock and Massachusetts for striped maple is 40.7 inches in girth. > > Bob > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
