Vermont vacation - Day 2

The rain has stopped, at least for now. There is even some sun peaking through the clouds now and then. After a nice cup of tea and more reading I decide to check out the campsite and the rest of the campground.

The site is a good size, plenty of room to park and put up tents without crowding the table and fire pit. There are some interesting twisted trees near the lean-to but the weird part is the nicely planted rows of pine trees filling in between the campsite and the upper road. Not exactly pristine forest but it will do.

Half Moon Pond State Park campground has 52 regular sites, 11 lean-to sites, 5 cabins which are very cute and one full size cottage. They also have beaver huts like the one below although I don’t think they rent these out to humans.

This is a view of Half Moon Pond from the boat launch area. It is a nice little pond and a nice clean, quiet campground. It should be as it is in the middle of nowhere.

Back at the campground I settled in for more reading. This is probably my last few hours of alone time so I plan on taking advantage. Three-quarters of the way through my book I decide I should finish setting up the campsite. I really only needed to set up a canopy over the table. I like my campsite relatively simple. The whole point is to get away from the chaos.

Just as I was finishing up with the tarp Dave arrived. He showed off his boy scout skills by starting the fire. The tinder was still wet from the rain so it took more than one match but he succeeded and we had a nice fire for awhile.

We decided to go find something to eat just before sunset. As we drove by this pond I had to stop to take pictures. The ponds surface was like glass. The trees and sky were reflected in it like a mirror.

We stopped at the Lakehouse Pub & Grill for a nice meal outside on the dock. The sun was setting behind the mountains and the boats were bobbing on the water. It was very picturesque, and me without my camera. There was also a local band playing and fireworks going off across the pond but the band wasn't that good and the fireworks were hidden by the trees. Still it was an enjoyable evening.

Vermont vacation - Day 1

Rain, rain, rain!

After a long delay in leaving it started to rain as soon as I crossed the Vermont border. Then it turned into a torrential downpour. On the bright side, it can’t get much worse.

Besides the rain the drive was nice. I arrived at the campground at dusk. It was still raining, although lightly. Luckily I reserved a campsite with a lean-to named Ginkgo. My small tent fit inside the lean-to perfectly. Rain problem solved!

I crawled into the tent with a new book to enjoy the rest of the evening. It was quite nice to be snuggled in the sleeping bag, reading a good book, listening to the rain hitting the leaves before falling to the ground…

until I realized my butt was hitting the floor. Great, the air mattress has a slow leak! Oh well, two out of three ain’t bad.

Oriental Bittersweet Primer

Seeing as a large portion of the traffic to my blog has been through this picture of a large Oriental Bittersweet vine that I posted a few months ago, I decided to go back and take a few more pictures of it.

This time I parked in the Mill Lane parking area for the Norwottuck Rail Trail as it is a short walk to the vine from there. Of course 20 feet from the Jeep I had to stop and take a picture of the sky through the leaves.

Not far from there I noticed this face, or rather half of a face on a post, on the side of the trail. I’m not exactly sure what it is or why it is there but it was at the very least, interesting.

I veered off onto the Emily Dickinson Trail and saw this fantastic American Hornbeam tree or as it is sometimes called, “Ironwood”. I call it a muscle tree because if you put your hand on the tree it almost feels like muscles running up through the tree. It is very unique and I love the feel of them. This is one of the bigger ones I have seen.

Finally I get to the Oriental Bittersweet vine. It has leafed out since I was last there so I couldn’t get a good shot of the same view as the first picture. But I was able to get some pictures of where the vine had wrapped itself around this tree and taken it down.

I would say this part of the vine is a good 14 inches around and it is quite a distance from the base. Of course I didn’t think to take a tape measure.

As I was leaving I noticed this young Bittersweet Vine growing up this small little tree. After I took the picture I removed the vine from the tree and broke it off at the base. Too bad it will grow back with no problem at all. The poor tree hasn’t got a chance.

Some facts about Oriental Bittersweet:

Oriental Bittersweet was introduced to this country in the 1860s as an ornamental plant. It has been used extensively as a decoration in the winter, especially to make wreaths, floral arrangements and baskets.

It is usually found along the edge of forests, roadsides, meadows, hedgerows, coastal areas, salt marches, railroad tracks and just about anywhere there has been some kind of soil disturbance.

Oriental Bittersweet can grow up to 60 feet and 4 inches in diameter. It is a climbing woody vine that grows vigorously and smoothers vegetation. The excess weight of the vine growing in the crown of trees can cause them to uproot and blow down during storms. They can also bend a tree until it snaps.

As with most invasives getting rid of Oriental Bittersweet is not always easy. When they are very young they can be pulled out but you have to make sure you get all of the roots. If there is fruit on the plant put the whole thing in a plastic bag and dispose of it. Do not put it in your compost pile, it will only spread to places it wasn't before.

For larger infestations cutting the vine near the ground and being vigilant with recurring growth is a start. Often a small amount of pesticide applied directly to the cut is helpful too. While I do not advocate using herbicides for weed control I recognize that some things can really only be permanently removed with a controlled application of a herbicide.

Sadly I also recognize that we will never be rid of these invasives. There are just too many and they are ultimately stronger than we are. The best we can do is to continue to beat back Mother Nature to make our own individual idyllic space on this planet until the human race has passed and Mother Nature will reclaim all that is hers.

Joseph Allen Skinner State Park

I usually bring a whole folder of adventures to go on after work with me each day. The last couple of weeks I haven’t really been inspired to go visit any of them. Today after work I let my truck go where it wanted and it wanted to go down Bray Road at Atkins Farm toward Rt. 47.

This is a beautiful farm area much like the farm I have photographed behind the malls on Rt. 9. As I was driving I actually saw a sign for the malls on Rt. 9 so I guess I wasn’t far off the mark. I headed down Rt. 47, generally aware that I was near the Skinner State Park area. I saw a trailhead parking area and decided to explore that.

The first thing I thought when I walked into the woods was how much I LOVE the smell of the woods. There is no other smell that makes me as happy as the smell of a forest. Second on my list of smells would be the ocean but I get there far less than I do the woods.

Anyway, I didn’t go too far as it was late afternoon and I had nothing with me except my camera. I did manage to take a few pictures on my short walk.

One of the first things I saw were these beautiful Beech trees, scarred from people carving their initials in the bark. I know some people think it is romantic or that they are immortalized but to me it is a lack of respect for another living thing.

Anyway, a little further on I heard the sound of trickling water. It was coming from a tree where a very small stream was running through the roots. While the front of the tree looked solid the back of the tree was hollow.

I snapped a picture of the trail I was on and a stream I crossed.

There were some interesting trees along the way. One had quite a bit of moss growing rather high up on the tree. The other picture is showing a tree that is leaning on another much smaller tree, using it like a crutch. I wonder what those two trees will look like in 20 years.

And of course the "orange mushroom".

I enjoyed these woods and I think I will take this detour more often. Afterall there is a whole big mountain here to explore .

UMass Fireworks