Bob- Nice depth to photos!
Re immense boulder...is there a rim up higher that a boulder could have dislodged from, or wood this particular boulder more likely be a glacial erratic that was dropped with the passing of the last glacier? -Don Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:26:51 +0000 From: [email protected] To: [email protected] CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [ENTS] Mahican-Mohawk Recreational Trail ENTS, Today Monica and I shared part of the Mahican-Mohawk Recreational Trail (MMRT) in Mohawk Trail State Forest (MTSF) with two dear friends, Dr. Doug Seal and his wife Emarie Pope. I realize that I report a lot on MTSF, but I believe most who visit that magical place would agree that there is good reason. I will now share some scenes from along the trail. Image#1-MMRT.jpg: The MMRT winds its way up the north side of Todd Mountain through an old growth area dominated by hemlock, black birch, and northern red oak with a scattering of white birch, American beech, and other species. Image#2-Hemlocks3.jpg: The hemlock zone through which the trail passes appears fairly uniform in age, suggesting a cohort form a past disturbance. I think the hemlocks in this area are between 150 and 225 years old. A few look older, but not a lot older, maybe between 250 and 280 years. Image#3-SPAndBoulder.jpg: An immense lichen-covered boulder rests on an old terrace. This boulder catches the attention of many hikers who past near it, if they are the least bit observant. The huge rock once had a white birch growing on its back side with roots extending down to solid earth. The birch died about 15 years ago and almost all signs of it are now gone. Image#4-BordonMtn2.jpg: This view looks across the Cold River Gorge to 2,505-foot Bordon Mtn, seen on the horizon. Image#5-PhilosopherAndFranksTree.jpg: Doug rests against the Frank Decontie pine. While Doug sat contemplatively, he was blessed with the sight of two pileated woodpeckers. Doug is a philosopher. He visited Wisconsin this summer and the cabin of Aldo Leopold. He also met Leopold's daughter, who is in her 90s and spry as ever according to Doug. While in the Algonquin Grove, I stopped to measure a slender, but tall red maple. Its girth is only 5.8 feet, but I measured it to 116.9 feet in height. I doubt I hit the top. I'll remeasure it later when the canopy is more open. However, its height speaks to the extraordinary growing potential of the forest on Todd and Clark Mountains. The red maple is the 8th tallest I've measured in Mohawk. Farther along the trail, I remeasured a favorite red maple that is 8.2 feet around and now 110.6 feet tall. It was a good day. Oh yes, while in the upper meadow, we chose an old growth white pine high on Todd Mountain to name the Aldo Leopold Pine. Doug is going to contact Leopold's daughter and inform her of the dedication. Bob _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. http://windowslive.com/Campaign/SocialNetworking?ocid=PID23285::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:SI_SB_online:082009 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
