Mohawk Trail State Forest, Massachusetts

 

         

  MA - Mohawk Trail State Forest

 

 

On March 14, 2010 the Eastern Native Tree Society and Western Native Tree Society switched from discussion lists on Google Groups to a new discussion list in a Bulletin Board format at: http://www.ents-bbs.org/index.php  Posts made since the inception of the BBS on March 14, 2010 will be sorted and archived on the BBS. Click on the link to go to the equivalent section on the new BBS. This website will continue to serve as a front end for the ENTS and WNTS groups. It will continue to serve as a repository of older posts, and will serve as the host site for special projects and features that are not well suited for a BBS format. Please visit the BBS for the latest information and trip reports.

Field Trips  2010 

  • Return to Cabin #6 ENTS, Yesterday I returned to Cabin #6 in MTSF to check on the status of the pines around the cabin. The heavy wet snow had broken branches that cluttered the ground. However, I found the Cabin pine intact. The following image shows the crown of this handsome tree. Of 4 prominent tops, one on the left, one on the right, and two in the center. The highest is the one on the left. It is between 154 and 155 feet. My last measurement yielded 154.8 feet. The center two tops are around 153, and the right top is slightly over 151.... more »  Mar 12, 2010.
  • Cabin #6-Chapter 2 This is part 2, which I originally sent on Feb 26th. Mar 6, 2010.
  • Tim's Update and Winnie's new tree Tim, Monica and I slugged through snow today in Mohawk (lots of it). I wanted to continue the labor intensive project of confirming the 150s in Mohawk. We went to the Pocumtuck grove. I was successful in confirming another 150. The image Latest150.jpg shows the pine. It is not far from the big leach field. It is 7.1 feet in girth and 150.4 feet tall. A squeaker. I think I'm half way through Pocumtuck's 150s.... more »  Mar 5, 2010.
  • Back to Lee on the ENTS Grove Lee, By order of the Veep, let it be so. You are the first to name a tree in your sub-grove. So far, in the Lee Frelich sub-grove, I have measured the following pines: Name Height-ft Girth-ft Lee Frelich pine 161.0 8.6 Linnaeus pine 157.8 8.4 Unnamed 151.0 6.4 Unnamed 147.5 7.8 Unnamed 144.7... more » Feb 26, 2010.
  • Cabin #6 -- Chapter #1-another image ENTS, I forgot to attach this image. It is another shot from Thumper Mountain. Bob  Feb 25, 2010.
  • Cabin #6 -- Chapter #1 ENTS, This is the first of a three part series on Monica's and my experience of the last three days in MTSF. Part #2 will be presented tomorrow, and Part #3, the conclusion will follow on Saturday. The three parts will eventually be stitched together into a single Word document. However, I want to get something out now. I have also included part #1 as an attached Word document in case any one has problems with the email formatting.... more »  Feb 25, 2010.
  • Back to Tim on images Tim, Thanks very much for the fascinating artistic interpretation. I think I get it, although I would be disingenuous if I said that I am conscious of the points you make at the time I am taking an image. I believe I have an unconscious feel for balance and proportion, but that is about it. Anyway, thanks for the interpretation. It spurs me on to want to learn more about composition. Tomorrow when Monica and I are in Mohawk, and the snow is falling, creating a winter wonderland, I hope I'll be able to do justice to the just a few of the enchanting scenes that create the magic of Mohawk.... more »  Feb 22, 2010.
  • Heck of a day in the ENTS Grove Tim, Today was a most successful outing spent in the Encampment area of MTSF, which includes the ENTS grove. I confirmed 3 more 150s. I certainly wasn't expecting that. The new 150s are included in the attached update spreadsheet. One of the three new 150s is in the Encampment area above where the road runs out going past the dump. I went to that area to visit a big pine that I hadn't seen for years. It was around 144 feet the last time I measured it. The attached image entitled EncampmentPine.jpg shows the tree. It now measures 150.5 feet in height and is an impressive 11.5 feet in girth. It is very dominant - a very powerful tree.... more »  Feb 20, 2010.
  • Ed's tree Ed, Thought you might like a look at your pine from a distance. It is the tree in the center of the first two images. It looks slender, but it is 11.1 feet in girth. From where I stood, I couldn't get the entire tree in one shot, so I took two. You can stitch them together if you like. I had to use my iPhone camera. I lost the battery out of my Nikon digital camera.... more »  Feb 17, 2010.
  • ENTS Grove Identification ENTS, At Ed's suggestion, I've decided to call in Google Earth and identify the ENTS Grove for everyone. The outlines shown on the two maps are crude and don't exactly match, but will suffice for the time. The ENTS Grove covers between 6.5 and 7.5 acres. It could be stretched to 8.5 or even 9. Basically, I'm delineating the area of 140-footers. The ENTS Grove is included in a larger area that we call the Encampment Area, because of the old Native American encampment.... more » Feb 15, 2010.
  • Sorting out the ENTS Grove ENTS, Today, I spent a productive day in the ENTS Grove, confirming 9 more 150s. The total now stands at 20. I think I can squeeze out one and possible two more. There is one 160 in the ENTS Grove. In 2 or 3 years, we could have three. In 5 years, we could have 6. The future of the ENTS Grove is bright. How will we manage it? Oh the responsibility of it all.... more »  Feb 14, 2010.
  • Black Bart strikes again ENTS, Yesterday was a heck of a day in the annals of ENTS. Bart Bouricius, Tim Zelazo, and I went to the Elders Grove in MTSF where Bart Bouricius climbed Tecumseh, a great white pine that we frequently reported on. I felt that we needed to climb and tape drop measure Tecumseh. The October climb of Thoreau in Monroe State Forest and a recent comparison of values returned by my Nikon Prostaff 440 as compared to my Bushnell 800, Nikon Forestry 550, and Laser Tech TruPulse 200 and 360 had shaken my confidence in the accuracy of the 440. I had come to the conclusion that the Nikon 440 was probably shooting long by half a yard and decided to subtract off half a yard from distance measurements to both crown and base as a standard correction. It was with this plan in mind that I would measure Tecumseh before the climb and report the range of probable results to Tim and Bart. Then Bart would climb and get a tape drop height for comparison. I would also get measurements of Tecumseh using other equipment, principally the TruPulse 360 and Forestry 550.... more »  Feb 13, 2010.
  • The Tecumseh Climb 2-12-2010 Mohawk Trail S.F  Bob: I'm finished with my part of the story. I look forward to reading your report. Tim
  • Bart Bouricius climbing Tecumseh in the Mohawk Trail State Forest 2-12-2010 It was a great day in the Elders Grove with Bart & Bob. Tim  Feb 12, 2010.
  • Larry Tucei and James Parton Pines ENTS, Today, I continued working in the ENTS grove. In the re-measurement project, I'm up to eleven 150-ft pines in the grove. There are probably between 6 and 8 more to go. Some are packed in very tight and will take time to confirm. However, after adding five 150s today, I'd had enough and started thinking about the meaning of the grove. I decided to dedicate two of the new 150s to a couple of deserving Ents. So, everybody say hello to the Larry Tucei Jr pine and the Jessie James Parton Pine. James, your pine is a two for one deal. It is a single tree, but has two stems. The statistics for the two pines are as follows.... more » Feb 11, 2010.
  • Hidden corners of MTSF - Part I Tim, ENTS, Today Monica and I took advantage of a calmer, warmer day and went to Mohawk. When Monica is with me, I have to keep moving. She has limited patience, standing and waiting on me to measure trees. So, instead of concentrating on the update, I looked for photo opportunities. I did measure 4 trees. They are included in the new attached Excel update MTSFByHgt.xls and are listed below. Two more 150s were confirmed in the ENTS grove. The following table lists today's measurements.... more » Feb 8, 2010.
  • Mohawk update Tim, I spent several hours in Mohawk today freezing my fingers and toes half off. The temperature didn't get above 17 or 18 degrees where I was and there was wind. The chill factor was around 5 or 6 or lower. Brrrr! I did manage to confirm two more 150s in the Pocumtuck Grove. One is the famous Cabin Pine. It is just below the Cabin. I also remeasured some 140s near the campground road going up the hill from the headquarters. I have attached an updated Excel spreadsheet with the trees that have been remeasured since the start of this measuring blitz plus some trees that represent our tallest for Rucker Index calculations. The spreadsheet is entitled TimsMTSFUpdate.xls. I'll periodically update this spreadsheet. When the weather gets a little warmer, I'll try to get GPS coordinates on many of the trees. Maybe I can talk my buddy Gary into helping me so that we ultimately have these trees precisely positioned other than just in my head.... more » Feb 8, 2010.
  • Reflections on the day ENTS, This morning I arose early, showered, made coffee, packed my gear, gave my sleepy wife a hug and kiss, and like so many mornings before, headed straight for my forest Mecca, Mohawk Trail State Forest. The day was overcast and it looked like snow might greet me at some point, but the forecast was only for flurries, no accumulation. I felt no apprehension. Besides, I didn't really care. I needed to rendezvous with the the great whites along the old Mohawk Trail. They were calling me and I always heed their call. I knew that once in their presence, I would be warmly greeted. From countless visits, I knew that I could be feeling tired, out of sorts, uninspired, or even sick, but within moments of being in their presence, the process of renewal would begin. An energy transfer would take place. I can't prove it, or even have an idea as to the mechanism, but I believe it happens.... more »  Bob Leverett, Feb 6, 2010.
  • Report from MTSF for Tim Zelazo Tim, Sorry we couldn't connect for an outing. It was a spur of the moment thought. Today was HQ, HQ Hill, Pocumtuck, and Indian Springs Pines day in MTSF. The day's catch will be told in both images and numbers. The attached spreadsheet HQHQHPIS.xls lists the trees I measured today, including three 150s in the Pocumtuck Pines. I didn't measure more 150s because the piness in the area of the 150s are very time consuming to measure. They are packed in like sardines, as you know. So, after struggling with a cluster of them, I wander off for easier pickings. The attached images are described below.... more »  Feb 6, 2010.
  • Last of the Elders Tim, Thought you might enjoy this image from the Elders Grove taken on Feb 1st. For me, it shows why the great whites are the true elders of the Mohawk forest. Bob Feb 5, 2010.
  • Elders Grove update for Tim Zelazo Tim, Bart and I made it to the Elders Grove today and we finished updating the 150s there. I forgot my D-tape so we didn't get updated girths on all the trees. I had 5 measured from prior visits this year. The following table lists all the 150s and all but one or two 140s. I'll finish them on the next trip.... more »  Feb 1, 2010.
  • White pine update and singing Will's praises What is exciting is that we have a growing number of pines poised to enter the 160 Club, joining the 9 that have already made it. The pines I've recently re-measured that are between 156.0 and 159.9 feet are listed below: Tree Height Girth Comments Joseph Brant 158.8 11.1 Shunpike Pines, formerly carried as a 160... more »  Jan 20, 2010.
  • Will Blozan in Massachusett My friend Will Blozan and family has been visiting Monica and me over the past several days. I thought I'd put together a brief photo chronology of his visit. On Monday Will and I headed for MTSF. I wanted to make use of Will's eagle eye. He quickly sees what takes me time to sort out. The first assignment was to eyeball some of the Pocumtuck Pines for missed opportunities. The Pocumtucks are a crowded grove. The first image, Image WillInPocumtuckPine.jpg, shows brother Will next to a 149.1-foot tall, 8.9-foot girth white pine. This handsome beauty will likely join the ranks of the 150s at the end of this year's growing season. I took this image while standing in a leech field. We decided to name the tree the Poopy Pine.... more »  Jan 19, 2010.
  • Gary Beluzo in the Elders Grove ENTS, Today, Gary Beluzo and I headed to MTSF for a walk in the Elders Grove. I wanted to check on the condition of the pines in the grove, and yes, re-measure a key tree or two while there. The temperature stayed around 16 or 17 degrees. I sank up in the snow in places when I crossed a drift. I didn't use snow shoes. There was no wind, so I kept warm enough, except for me feet. Gary stayed warm enough.... more »
    By dbhg...@comcast.net  - Jan 13, 201
  • Ed Perle Tree in MTSF ENTS, Today Monica and I attended a fundraiser for the Charlemont Inn, Charlemont, MA. But first we took a walk in MTSF among its magnificent pines. After my recent Virginia visit, I was curious as to how Mohawk would look to me. Well, the white pines haven't lost a thing. They are as impressive as ever, after the Montpelier huge tulips, Mohawk's hardwoods looked as if they've shrunk a bit. Oh well....
    By dbhg...@comcast.net  - Jan 9 , 2010

 

Field Trips  2009 

 

2008

 

2007

2006 2005