Maine Nature News
special report

Nature report from backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire, June 26-30 and July 25-August 1, 1998

by Frank Wihbey, Editor
E-mail : menature@maine.maine.edu

Quick jumps: | Introduction | Some highlights | Alpine zone | Forces of Nature | Natural variations due to altitude | Some special things | Itemization of observations | Reading resource list | This week's Maine Nature News current report | Return to Maine Nature News home page |

Introduction
I hiked the 96 mile Appalachian Trail section from Hanover, New Hampshire (the Vermont border) to Crawford Notch (Route 302) in two stints. The earlier portion coincided with the unusually persistent June rains. The Trail was often full of standing or running water, and streams were high and difficult to cross. Upon my return to finish in late July the weather was more consistently warm and dry. The contrast between the two allowed me to compare two quite different conditions in the forest.

Some June highlights; some July highlights
In June I hiked the 44 mile section from Hanover to Glencliff, N.H. which consists of uplands and mountains ranging from 1000 to 3240 feet in altitude. The forest floor was wet, often muddy. Mushrooms abounded, lichen were robust and vital, slugs appeared everywhere. I saw more redback salamanders in that 5 day trip than I had in my life. Eastern chipmunks were very much in evidence, often feeding on the mushrooms.
In July I traveled the 52 mile section consisting of Mt. Moosilauke, the Mt. Wolf/Kinsman Mountain range and the mountains of Franconia Ridge, culminating in Mt. Lafayette, 5249 feet. The highlight of this 8-day venture was the crossing of Franconia Ridge, which gave me the opportunity to remain above 3500 feet altitude for several days and spend long amounts of time in the subalpine (spruce-fir, scrub forest/krummholz), and alpine habitats -- areas that I am usually only able to visit for a couple of hours when climbing a single mountain. I saw many plants, birds and insects thriving there, including some that I normally associate with lower altitudes.
Moose were conspicuous by their absence. There were very few toads and snakes seen this year in any part of the trip.

Alpine zone
Mount Moosilauke's summit zone (approximately 4500-4800 feet) displayed many of the alpine plants I had seen in the alpine zone of the Presidential Range last year. Mountain sandwort, a July-August bloomer was in flower, as was wild strawberry. Diapensia formed rich carpets of tiny dark green leaves, but except for a stray flower or two, had ceased to bloom by this late in the year. Some birds seemed to frequent the high places exclusively, such as ravens, gray jays, and boreal chickadees. But I saw cedar waxwings, slate-colored juncoes and white throated sparrows all the way up to the summit of Mt. Lafayette (5249') on the lee side of the mountain.
I observed first hand that this zone undergoes a "cloud forest" effect. On a day when there was no rain, but clouds were moving slowly across Franconia Ridge, the spruces could be seen to strain water directly from the clouds by means of condensation on their needle leaves. This moisture in turn dropped onto the soil below them. (I had read of this effect in Marchand's book cited below.)

Forces of Nature
Evidence of the raw forces of Nature were everywhere. Fresh long downhill scars in the forest cover, especially on the Southwest face of Mt. Guyot, showed where snow avalanches had cascaded, dragging trees, soil and stones with them. In one place there was a fall of great boulders right across the Trail, but probably an occurrence of several years past. The Trail itself was badly eroded in places by the action of rushing water; and I heard that high, well-constructed footbridges in nearby areas were washed away in the June torrents. Although the AT had been cleared of fallen trees by the valiant efforts of trail maintenance crews, trunks broken by the January ice storm could be seen in the woods at some elevation zones. Half-fallen birches exhibited a striking "crazy growth" of leaves, probably to compensate for the loss of branches in their crowns.

Natural variations due to altitude
The change in natural conditions with altitude fascinates me. I packed a small barometer on the climb of Mt. Moosilauke and noted a pressure of 28.17" at the trailhead in Kinsman Notch (alt. 1860') but 26.47" at the summit (alt. 4802') on a fair, clear day of steady sea-level barometric pressure.
Blue bead lilies had the eponymous dark blue berries at this time up to about 2000 feet elevation. By 2800' they were all still green, a mere 800 feet higher. Blueberries were late to fruit and were small in higher places, compared to those in the valleys.
I was again surprised at the abruptness of the transition between the birch-beech-fir zone and the spruce-fir zone in some mountain habitats. Walking up the Trail I would suddenly realize that the mix of trees around me was profoundly different than it was just a few yards back.

Some special things seen or heard
An unusual and somewhat uncommom mushroom, the stinkhorn, was seen in the forest floor mould at 3000 feet on Smart's Mountain in June. ... White admiral butterflies added a welcome bit of life and color whenever I was near their food sources: birch and poplar. ... In the July trip I noticed a lot of Indian pipes, a non-chlorophyll plant that I rarely see. Although the weather was dry, perhaps the moisture remaining deep in the forest floor encouraged the growth of this saprophytic plant which feeds on humus. ... "Humming wasps" would hover just about at eye level, over the tips of spruce branches. I never did figure out if they were feeding on something in the branches, nor why they hovered, emitting their tiny, steady hum. ... High on the North slope of North Kinsman Mountain, two large birds flew back and forth in the branches of the low spruce trees, beating their wings. The Trail was too narrow to afford me a clear view of what they were. From the recesses of the trees they could be heard crooning, sometimes making almost metallic calls like a barking squirrel. ... One day the fair weather cumulus clouds marched out for miles, their bottoms at the exact same altitude, missing Mt. Moosilauke, from which I observed, but hitting Mt. Washington (6288') and occasionally Mt. Lafayette (5249'). All this was a dramatic sight!

Observation List
Amphibians, reptiles seen: American toad, Eastern garter snake, redback salamander
Birds identified by sight or sound (high altitudes): black-capped chickadee, cedar waxwing, gray jay, hermit thrush, phoebe, pine grosbeak(?), raven, white-throated sparrow
Birds identified by sight or sound (low altitudes): American robin, barred owl, blue jay, bobolink, boreal chickadee, crow, downy woodpecker, ovenbird, ruffed grouse, scarlet tanager, wood thrush
Insects seen (all altitudes): ants, beetles, black flies, bumblebees, butterflies, deerflies, dragonflies, mosquitoes, moths, wasps
Mammals seen: red squirrel, Eastern chipmunk.
Mammals identified by scat: moose, weasel.
Wildflowers seen (high altitudes): diapensia, Indian pipe, mountain sandwort, wild strawberry, wood sorrel
Wildflowers seen (low altitudes): Bunchberry (at berry stage), Canada mayflower (at berry stage), starflower, turtlehead

The following books were helpful:
    At Timberline: a Nature Guide to the Mountains of the Northeast, Frederic L. Steele (Boston, Appalachian Mountain Club, 1982)
    The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, John Bull and John Farrand, Jr. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977)
    The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region, William A. Niering and Nancy C. Olmstead (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979)
    The Field Guide to the New England Alpine Summits, Nancy G. Slack and Allison W. Bell (Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1995)
    National Audubon Society Field Guide to New England, Peter Alden et al. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998)
    North Woods: an Inside Look at the Nature of Forests in the Northeast, Peter J. Marchand (Boston: Appalachian Mountain Club, 1987)
     Spring Wildflowers of New England, Marilyn Dwelley (Camden, ME: Down East, 1973)