special report
Nature report from backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont, May 31 - June 10, 2000
by Frank Wihbey, Editor
E-mail : menature@maine.maine.edu
Quick jumps: | Introduction | Some highlights | The cycles of Nature | Some special things seen or heard | Intimacy with the moods of Nature | Observation list | Reading resource list | This week's Maine Nature News current report | Return to Maine Nature News home page | 1998 New Hampshire AT trip | 1997 New Hampshire AT trip |
Introduction
My son John and I hiked the 96 mile Appalachian
Trail section from Hanover, New Hampshire to Manchester
Center, Vermont (Route 4). The elevation ranged from 400 feet at the Connecticut
River (the border between New Hampshire and Vermont) to 4000 feet at Killington
Peak. Treeline is a bit higher in Vermont mountains than in Maine, due to the lower
latitude. So, though we occasionally entered subalpine zones, we never reached
krummholz
(dwarf tree zone) nor true alpine vegetation.
The weather during the
10-day trip varied in temperature (lowest 30º F.
, highest about 80º F.) and sky conditions (several days of rain or thunderstorms, with the majority fair or just overcast.) We had a few
buggy days, but the winds kept the black flies and mosquitoes
away some days; the cold suppressed them for all or part of others. We met some other hikers,
but not in the large numbers typical of July and August. The people of
Vermont were friendly and helpful, providing rides, advice and warm greetings
when we went into town.
Some highlights
We saw
an enormous number of red efts (juvenile terrestrial stage of red-spotted
newts),
especially on wet days. Curiously, they were almost always crawling
uphill!
Wildflowers were an engaging and pleasant part of our daily
scene and we saw many species in all stages of growth and blossoming. The Appalachian
Trail traversed Vermont countryside with pastures and farms on quite hilly
terrain. But it also crossed rugged, relatively uninhabited mountains. The uplands and mountains ranged from 1000 to 4000 feet in altitude.
We saw many plants, birds and insects thriving there, including
some that I normally associate with lower altitudes.
The forest floor was wet where shaded, occasionally muddy,
but not wet enough to encourage mushrooms on the ground or lichen on
trees. Here and there we saw impressively large clusters of lady's slipper and
jack-in-the-pulpit, flowers which are ordinarily rare and sparse. Eastern chipmunks were very much in evidence, contrasting
with the lack of squirrels. Moose were conspicuous by their absence, with tracks
and scat appearing on only a few mountain ridges.
The cycles
of Nature
Although
our journey was a short time in terms of daily and seasonal cycles, evidence of
repeated natural sequences was unmistakable. Ascending from low to high
latitude we reversed the progress of spring. High on the mountains, the
ferns were in fiddleheads; below they were in lush profusion with big
leaves. Blue bead lily blooms heralded spring in the lower altitudes but
were delayed on high summits.
The first day we noticed that 9 out of 10 small watercourses
were dry. After a day of soaking rain most, but not all, streambeds were
running full. Nature evidently provides stream courses for even more
extreme or longer rains, or for seasonal snowmelt, another evidence of cycles.
Fallen
tree trunks lay slowly "melting" into the forest floor, as their
substance fed other plants. Every open space in the woods, for example
where trees have fallen, encouraged new herb or fern growth or new tree
seedlings. Among the fungi, mushrooms were not in evidence, a sign of lack of deep forest
floor moisture. But artist's fungus and other wood fungi were seen on
decaying trees. In contrast, the red efts of the red-spotted newts responded quickly to a
single day's rain, moving out in the open as soon as the forest floor was
wet. Birds and other animals moved by day, and owls and other creatures by night.
Even human habitation showed its cycle. The high hills
of Central Vermont have working farms at all altitudes. However old stone walls showed what
were once pastures, as recently as 70 or 80 years ago. Nature had
reclaimed these fields, returning them to the climax vegetation of New
England: forest.
Some special
things seen or heard
Some
hikers consider early June less desirable than other times because of the cold, the black flies,
and the possible high level of streams (affecting fordability). On the
other hand, this time is characterized by wildflower blooms, the emergence of
amphibians, and the birth of mammalian young. We saw egg masses of frogs and
toads, the red efts mentioned above, and heard the cries of young bobcat
kittens. High on Pico Peak, at about 3600' I heard a couple of soft,
tentative barks coming from the woods near the summit cone. I wondered
about this, because it seemed unlikely to be a dog, given the sparseness of
hikers, and the fact that the sound came from a rocky area in the woods.
Soon I came upon coyote scat in the Trail. A few minutes later I caught up
with my son, at which point we both heard what sounded like the yelps and whines
of little pups. This all seemed to indicate we had passed a coyote den, in
an area I would never have suspected for this canine.
We saw two especially remarkable groves of old, venerable
hemlocks in apparently good health with no hemlock borer damage. The
abundance of striped maples was notable, with the large size of some reminding
me of those in Virginia. One measured 3.7 inches in diameter, fairly large
for this modest tree. Glorious
waterfalls were seen that were not mentioned in maps or trail guides, and thus
it was our singular privilege to celebrate them. Early one morning, on Peru Peak a sudden sunshower gave rise to a
beautiful rainbow. Its
colors were rich, with additional bands on the inner part of the arc.
It was especially long, due to the low sun angle. There was a sense
of closeness because it was suspended in the air high above the valleys, but
almost horizontally out from us, as seen from the mountain ridge.
Intimacy
with the moods of Nature
When one backpacks as a Nature
observation mode, the distance between the observer and the observed is reduced
almost to nothing. When it is rainy and cold, despite preparation and good
gear, one gets wet and cold. But the rain fills the streams and becomes
our immediate water source. When bugs appear one will not only observe
them, but will literally become their food source. The wind blows weather in and
bugs away with equal elegance and strength.
On a mountain ridge we stopped
by a large puddle where we noted the roots of a tree going up and down with the
wind, causing the water to pulsate, giving an illusion that the tree was
moving. This was also the beginning of the end of its grip on the Earth,
the lot of all taller trees on a peak -- the fatal leveling effect of mountain
gusts -- a cause of both fascination and caution about the hazard.
From the flatlands one sees thunderstorms high on the
mountains as something picturesque. On the mountains of the Appalachian Trail
they are an ominous part of the immediate environment. Similarly an overcast
becomes a fog at hand (and sometimes an "undercast" below you.)
When the weather is dry and streams evaporate, one seeks water sources as
thirstily as the animals. But at least deadwood is more available than on
wet days. One appreciates the cycle of life and death of trees from the
primitive comfort of a campfire.
In its garden Nature does not distinguish among plants by
their utility to humans. In a forest floor arrangement yellow violets and
poison ivy are treated with the same hospitality. As we climbed Pico Peak one
afternoon I was delighted to see some tall plants with large shiny heart shaped
leaves gracing the Trail with their abundance. They were almost at the
point of flowering. Only later did I find out that these are false
hellebore (Indian poke) all of whose parts are poisonous!
Observation List
Amphibians and reptiles seen:
American toad; Eastern garter snake;
green frog; spring peeper; red-spotted newt; wood frog.
Birds identified by sight or sound: American robin; barred owl; black-capped chickadee; blue heron; blue jay; bobolink; Canada goose; common crow; common raven; downy woodpecker; Eastern wood peewee; hermit thrush; mallard duck; mourning dove; ovenbird; pileated woodpecker; purple finch; red-winged blackbird; ruffed grouse; rufous-sided towhee; scarlet tanager; slate-colored junco; white-crowned (?) sparrow; white-throated sparrow.
Insects and arachnids seen: ants; black flies; bumblebees; butterflies (including white admiral and yellow swallowtail); house flies; mosquitoes; moths (including common wood nymph); web-weaving spiders; wolf spiders.
Mammals identified by sight or sign: bobcat; Eastern coyote; Eastern
chipmunk; moose; mouse; pine marten; red squirrel; varying (snowshoe) hare; white-tailed deer; woodchuck.
Wildflowers seen: blue bead lily; blue-eyed grass; blueberry; bunchberry; buttercup; Canada mayflower; dandelion; false hellebore; golden alexander; goldthread; jack-in-the-pulpit; painted trillium; pink lady's slipper; purple violet; red trillium; spring beauty; starflower; sweet white violet; wild strawberry; wood sorrel; yellow violet.
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)
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)
Some stone steps and a crossing stream along the Appalachian
Trail, on the West face of Pico Peak, Vermont.
This and other photographs were taken with a Samsung 140S,
lightweight 35 mm camera. Based on a colleague's advice I have formatted
all images on this page in "jpg", instead of the usual
"gif" format of other images in the Maine Nature News.
Your comments on the format change, on the text and photos would be appreciated.
Happy trails!
Frank