Day hike report 2/6/09  Jeff LaCoy 
  Feb 06, 2009
I started my day off early today and headed up to DAR state forest in
Goshen, MA. This was an area severely damaged in the recent ice storms
and wasnt sure what to expect up there. I made a 2 hour loop of the
north end of the forest, making a stop at the fire tower and admiring
the view. Admittedly, the laser and clinometer never even left my
backpack. None of the trees were remarkably large out here, either due
to site conditions, storm damage, exposure, whichever. I simply hiked
along enjoying the very cool and very calm morning. Started out
cloudy, but about halfway through the sun started poking out and I was
really enjoying myself. The area is heavily dominated in the under and
mid story by Beech, and depending on what area you were in the upper
canopy was a varying mix of Red Maples, Red Oak, Black Cherry, Yellow
Birch, White Birch, Norway Spruce, White Pine. The trees in this area
have certainly seen the likes of multiple storms over the years. Many
of the trees had no prominent central leaders, and you could see where
they had repeatedly had the tops snapped off and regrew off of that.
Many of the trees had some VERY unique structure to say the least out
here.

I did however spot a fairly large Striped Maple (one of my favorites,
acer pennsylvanicum) that had apparently been downed from the ice and
was subsequently diced into multiple pieces with a chainsaw and thrown
to the side of the service road it fell across. Based on what I could
see of it, it was easily 6+" in diameter and easily had 30-35' of
height to it. Such a shame. I love the bark on these trees. I've seen
some that were nearly neon green in appearance, but the ones out here
had some very strong white showing through, very nice.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/DARstriper.jpg

From here I made my way back east, stopping in Conway to get a rough
measurement on a Norway Spruce I'll certainly be returning to measure
once the snows gone, as the trunk was mildly buried from the roadside
snowbanks. From what I could see of the tree it was measured at just
over 120', and being in a private yard, didnt stop to get too precise
but I'd say the trunk is easily pushing 10'+ CBH.

Stopped home for a quick lunch, and being inspired by Barry Caselli
and his numerous postings and pictures of the NJ Pine Barrens, I made
my way up to the Montague Plains wildlife management area in Montague,
MA to wander the mini "barrens" up this way. I stopped roadside and
took a few pictures before finding a place to park. I'd say overall
the area is a few square miles, being mostly wall to wall Pitch Pines.
This is the view looking either direction from where I stopped.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Pinebarrensroad.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Pinebarrensroad2.jpg

I set off from the parking area which is set in the middle of a
"field" if you will, that had clearly been cleared out in the recent
past. Alot of scrubby red and pin oak varying from knee high to 15'+,
scattered among the taller Pitches.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Pinebarrensfield.jpg

The few that stood out to me were photographed and measured. The first
of which being this very full tree right next to the driveway into the
parking area. Trunk measured nearly and even 7' CBH, with a height of
63.1'.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/69Pitchpinefull.jpg

And this here was the tallest I was able to spot. Most of the trees in
the "field" were likely in the 45-55' range. This particular tree
measured 6.2' in circumference and 77.6' in height.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/62Pitchpinefull.jpg

When you come to the edge of the "field", crossing under some high
voltage transmission lines, the "management" stops, and its a very
dense forest of all Pitch Pines, with the understory being some small
stunted oaks and birches.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Pinebarrenswall.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Pinebarrenswall2.jpg

Finished trudging through the sometimes ankle, and sometimes knee deep
snow in this untouched field, I drove a bit further down the road to
measure the one large trunk that caught my eye earlier this week.
Trunk was 7.3' CBH and measured out to only 63.1' in height. Still a
nice looking tree though, aside from the sign nailed to it....... :-(

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/73Pitchpinetrunk.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/73Pitchpinefull.jpg

After the "Pine Barrens" I returned back to Northfield, MA near the
Connecticut River to see if I could find some cones from the
"Tamaracks" I measured previously. They are indeed European Larches.
The cones were probably nearly 1-1/2" long, and the short stalks along
the twigs was a good tell as well after referring to my field guide.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Larchbark.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Larchcones.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Larchcones2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Larchtwig.jpg

Wandered around a bit more here, measured a few trees and took some
pics for a hopeful ID, for which I will save for another topic. Made
my way home willy nilly, stopping to take a few pictures just for the
sake of taking pictures.....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Sunsetatriver.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/GCCRedoak.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/jlacoy82/Sunsetatfalls.jpg

Had a great day, the weather was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed
myself. Like I thought to myself initially when spending the money on
the laser and clinometer, "if nothing else, its a good reason to get
outside.........."

Jeff

 

Continued at:
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/1609a7e3b12b3378?hl=en