| PA sites:
Ostuno |
Ernie
Ostuno |
| Sep
20, 2005 14:40 PDT |
Ed,
This is a good idea, but I have a problem describing those
places that
really stand out in my mind. It is hard to put into words
exactly what
makes one place special...what makes it stand out from the
others. There
is a "feel" or feeling that is evoked and it depends
not only on the
place but a variety of other factors, including things like the
weather,
the time of day, and the state of mind I was in at the time I
visited
the site. But mostly it's the lay of the land, features such as
streams
and waterfalls, the ground cover and of course the trees
themselves. Not
to mention the species of flora and fauna I noted at the time of
the
visit and even the different sounds and smells of the forest
environment. I am most partial to hemlocks and white pine since
the
forms they take after hundreds of years of growing are the most
striking
to me.
The reddish bark and gnarled limbs of ancient hemlocks and the
plated,
deeply furrowed bark and towering, limbless, straight trunks of
the
oldest white pines make them awe-inspiring as individual trees,
but
their real power is in them being reminder of the
pre-disturbance forest
and what can occur if the land is left to its own evolution. The
most
special places to me are those that appear the most undisturbed
by
people. Those places are extremely rare of course, but that just
adds to
the mystique.
I think that sections of Rickett's Glen State Park and Johnson
Run
Natural Area in Pennsylvania are two of my favorites, since
there are
sections of both places that I imagine would look very similar
to the
pre-settlement forest.
Hearts Content Scenic Area in PA is also a favorite of mine,
even though
the understory has been heavily impacted by deer. Walking
through the
stand of 300-400 year old white pines there is a nothing less
than a
religious experience for those into Pinus Strobus. It inspired
me to
write in my hiking notebook: "Old growth forests are among
nature's most
eloquent testimony to the passage of time." But that's as
poetic as I
can get...there really is no way to truly express the feelings
generated
by those primordial forest places.
Ernie
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