About the journeyMaine Nature News special report
by Frank Wihbey, Editor
Quick jumps: | About the journey | Some highlights | Special things seen or heard | Observation list | Resource list | Maine Nature News home page | 2001 Gaspé trip | 2000 Vermont AT trip | 1998 New Hampshire AT trip | 1997 New Hampshire AT trip |
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Since 1993 I have been hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail (the "AT") in multiday backpacking trips, working my way south from Mt. Katahdin in Maine. This month my son John and I hiked the 58 mile section from Manchester Center, Vermont (Routes 11/30) to Williamstown, just across the Massachusetts border. The elevation ranged from 3936 feet at Stratton Mountain, to 700 feet at Williamstown (Route 2, above the banks of the Hoosic River). This is a remote section, crossed in just one place by a paved highway.
Treeline is noticeably higher
in
the southern Vermont mountains
than in Maine, due to the lower geographic latitude. The
mountains are forested from bottom to top. So, though we often
entered high spruce-fir zones, we never reached true alpine
vegetation.
Hikers sometimes speak of the AT as a "long green tunnel." In Vermont this effect could be readily felt, as travel in sunlit stretches was rare, and long distance views were few. Thus the hiker focuses naturally on the wonders near at hand. This was a typically rough stretch of New England trail, with roots and stones, and occasional rock masses to scramble over. But some sections were garden-like, with a humus-strewn footpath and a border of sorrel, ferns and lichen, inviting an easy dreamy stroll.
At Stratton Mountain we burst out of the "green tunnel" into a mountaintop clearing and, from a still-intact fire tower, were able to enjoy a view of three states, including Mount Greylock, many miles away in Massachusetts .
The weather during the 5-day trip varied in temperature (lowest about 45º F. , highest about 80º F.) and sky conditions (two days of light rain or overcast, gratefully with no thunderstorms, with the rest fair or with just a morning fog.) We had a few buggy hours. The wind was welcome to keep us cool and kept away the few flies and mosquitoes. We met dozens of other hikers, which is typical of August, when the wave of thruhikers -- who left Springer Mountain, Georgia in March, April or May -- hits southern New England. Also, short-term hikers, backpackers and day hikers consider August ideal because of the moderate warmth, lack of black flies and other insects, and the low level of streams (which eases fording).
We noticed that most small watercourses were dry. A few of the larger streams were running, but at a low volume. So finding sufficient drinking water was always a background concern.
The Eastern newt gave us
interesting sightings and also a puzzle. In the shallows of a lake we
observed a 4 or 5 inch long aquatic creature that at first appeared to
be a
fish, until we noticed the presence of small front and hind legs and
small
red spots ringed with black. We realized that is the aquatic adult
stage of
this salamander. We also saw a small number of red efts (juvenile
terrestrial stage of the Eastern newt) on wet days, though in much
fewer
number than our June trip in Vermont last year. Wildflowers were a
pleasant part of our daily scene with
quite a few species, in all stages of growth, blossoming and fruiting.
Despite the lack of frequent rain this summer, the forest floor was moist where shaded, wet enough to encourage mushrooms on the ground and lichen on trees; and artist's fungus and other wood fungi were seen on decaying trees. Here and there we saw impressive clusters of Indian pipes, chlorophyll-lacking plants which are fairly rare and sparse.
Red squirrels were very much in evidence, warning us out of a territory that seemed to extend at least 100 feet around their tree. Moose scat was seen occasionally and one hiker reported seeing a moose browsing on shoreside plants. He expressed surprise at seeing one so far south, but we told him that southern Vermont is still within their current range.
Paradoxically, though
the hike was almost all above 2000 feet, the Trail included long
stretches
through bogs. In these moist areas, among the late summer flowers were
the
bottle gentian and the turtlehead. In the wet area
adjacent to Stratton Pond I noticed a sundew just about to flower. It
was
somehow odd to see this insectivorous plant flowering just like any
other!
I always wondered
whether lawns are "natural" and continue to look for niches where
Nature
makes a "lawn." Perpetually moist areas in the woodlands seem to
qualify,
as they favor grasses and sedges. These were some of the few breaks in
the
"long green tunnel" where we would walk into the open sunlight. In the
very wet
areas, trail maintainers had placed bog bridges, parallel planks on
supporting logs, for hikers to cross without damaging the
terrain. Besides offering a relief to hikers' feet, they provided
a
convenient means of observing bog plants and animals.
Here and there beavers had taken advantage of the waterflow and terrain. One oddity was noticed next to a a bog bridge through particularly deep standing water. The beavers had carefully constructed their dam upstream from this lengthy human artifact, and though it might have been helpful or efficient to do so, did not incorporate any of the human construction into theirs.
Though encounters with poisonous
serpents would be rare in our region, people still have varied feelings
about snakes. If I walk at length in a New England wood I count myself
as
having missed something if I do not encounter one of our colorful
recumbent
reptiles. My son is a keener observer of creatures than I. He told me
that
he observed Eastern garter snakes at trailside about one per hour, i.e.
about 40 snakes total during our walk! I only saw the three he pointed
out
to me, though I heard a few other slitherings in the dry leaves that I
thought might be a toad or a snake. Also, I was surprised at how fast
they were
able to move! My conclusions from this were: there
are more snakes out there than people might believe; the snakes
generally
flee from us before we become aware of them; the first person to walk
through an area may see them, but those who follow anytime soon after
may not.
The terrain changed quickly after we crossed into
Massachusetts. The marble and the dark gray granite rocks
of Vermont gave
way to what appeared to be limestone and pale granite. The forest
understory in Vermont had
striped maple, hobblebush, shadbush, and alder. But the
trail in Massachusetts was graced
almost exclusively by
mountain laurel.
After clambering over a cliff edge we climbed down a very large and precipitous rockfall consisting of jagged white and gray boulders. Then we began a long descent into the valley of the Hoosic River. For the last couple of miles we followed the banks of Sherman Brook, a lovely clear mountain stream that runs right into town. The skyline of Williamstown is framed by the Berkshire Mountains, a branch of the Appalachians. Mt. Greylock which, at 3491 feet is Massachusetts' tallest peak, dominated the scene. The AT continues up it, and perhaps one could imagine the mountain beckoning us back for next year!
Amphibians
and reptiles seen or heard: American
toad; Eastern garter snake; Eastern newt; tree frog.
Birds identified by sight or sound: American robin; barred owl; black-capped chickadee; blue jay; cedar waxwing; common crow; common raven; dark-eyed junco; downy woodpecker; Eastern wood peewee; hermit thrush; ovenbird; pileated woodpecker; red-tailed hawk?; ruffed grouse; rufous-sided towhee; white-throated sparrow.
Insects and arachnids seen: ants; black flies; bumblebees; butterflies (including red admiral); crickets; damselflies, deer flies; dragonflies; grasshoppers; house flies; mosquitoes; moths (including common wood nymph); wasps and hornets; web-weaving spiders; wolf spiders.
Mammals identified by sight or sign: beaver; Eastern chipmunk; moose; field mouse; red squirrel; weasel; white-tailed deer.
Wildflowers seen: blue-eyed grass; bottle gentian (closed gentian), bunchberry; buttercup; dandelion; goldenrod; Indian pipe; round-leaved sundew; turtlehead; wood sorrel.
Berry-bearing plants: blue bead lily; blueberry; cranberry; raspberry; sumac; trillium
The following books were helpful:
The photographs were taken with a Samsung 140S, lightweight 35 mm camera with 38-140 mm zoom (f 4.2-12.5), on Fuji ASA 200 color print film. All images on this page were formatted in ".jpg". Your comments on the text and photos would be appreciated.
E-mail : menature@maine.maine.edu