ENTS,
Today Monica and I hiked the Totem Trail to a lookout in
Mohawk Trail State Forest. The end of the trail overlooks
the secluded Trout Brook cove. Monica and I were on our way
to a lecture being presented in the Western Gateway Heritage
State Park in North Adams by Robert Campanile, formerly with
the American Museum of Natural History. You will hear more
about Robert Campanile in future emails. He is an
extraordinarily gifted person. If you google him, I think
you will be duly impressed with his accomplishments. Robert
now works for DCR and will be involved with Mohawk Trail
State Forest in the future.
The Totem Trail is only about a mile long. It winds
through a maturing second growth forest with some
individually attractive trees, but no champions. Near the
end of the trail, a small area of old growth is reached, but
it is predominately beech, most of which have succumbed to
the beech disease. There is a scattering of old hemlocks and
black birch, but again, no blue ribbons. However, a handsome
sugar maple forest grows farther down the ridge - well off
trail. We didn't have time today to visit it today, but
Monica wants to see it, so a visit grows on the tree
itinerary.
But back to the Totem Trail. I will now present 4 images.
Image#1-ForestAlongTrail.jpg: Boulders and trees create
local ambiences that help to compensate for the lack of
truly impressive sights along the Totem Trail.
Image#2-NiceOak.jpg: I encountered this large oak on the
way up, but bypassed it without photographing it. However,
on the way down, a limb from that big oak just reached down
and tapped me on the shoulder. Ooh, I instantly knew it
wanted its picture taken and that I'd better comply. So,
what could I do? Can't disappoint a pretty tree like that.
Image#3-ViewFromTop.jpg: This view from the trail's end
looks across a shoulder of Hawks Mountain and the Deerfield
River Valley and to the ridges beyond. Big Bertha once grew
near the bottom of the side of Hawks Mountain shown in the
image. She once stood tall and proud as the largest white
pine in Mohawk. Her dimensions were an astonishing 14.6 feet
in girth and 148.0 feet in height. I could spot her large
crown from near the location of the photo. But alas, Big
Bertha croaked. Her loss still hurt.
Image#4-HawksMth: This images shows more of Hawks Mtn.
The conifer spires along the crest are white pine and
hemlock. A few red spruce grow farther out the ridge, but
the top of Hawks isn't high enough for balsam fir. The climb
up from Route #2 to the summit of Hawks requires a gain of
1,250 feet of altitude.
On the way back, I emeasured the Totem Trail Pine, which
grows along the the side of Route 2 at the start of the
Totem Trail. The pine has grown a lot since it started
measuring it about 8 years ago. It is now 11.2 feet in girth
and 143.0 feet tall. Despite being forced to breathe
automobile fumes, the big tree continues to pack on the
wood.
I also measured two other 140-footers growing in the
picnic area, between Route 2 and the Cold River. The trees
have grown about 10 feet in height in 8 or 9 years that I've
been tracking their growth.
Bob
