OK, I confess that I'm trying to find something interesting to talk about. But, this is what I did today, and it brought me a lot of satisfaction, but it's not too picturesque. Ellen and I hiked about 7-8 miles total (we had to go both directions). We had planned to get together, and after the mess I encountered yesterday, I thought I should hike some more of the section I maintain.
We didn't find anything as bad as that maple tree you saw yesterday. This was the messiest. You can see my car behind it. We drove into the trail crossing, about one mile from a seasonal dirt road, on a two-track. It's very narrow, but I know it pretty well, and it gets me to the center of my section.
This picture doesn't look like much, but it has an interesting story. This used to be the kind of thick, mature oak and pine woods that you see so much of in my trail pictures. But in 2006 there was another one of those bad wind storms. That one had several events that are called microbursts. They are small downdrafts of air that are moving about 150 mph, and they will lay down small areas of trees, flat... just like pick-up sticks. The Forest Service authorized some salvage harvesting, so the big trunks were taken out and sold. It looked pretty awful until last year. Now it's starting to look less raw. It actually makes an interesting opening in the usually dense forest.
The temperatures have dropped into the low 50s, but that makes it quite comfortable to do trail work. It sprinkled off and on, but at one time, I looked up, and there was beautiful blue sky!
This was a great way for me to spend Halloween. If you want to know why I'm not a big fan of this holiday, you can read Evolving Feelings Concerning the Celebration of Halloween
8 comments:
Nothing makes me sadder than to take a ride out into the woods to places we have loved over the years only to find them clear cut by the loggers. I understand and support select logging, but when I see bare areas like that it really saddens me.
Another good days work, Areas that have been cleared do look terrible but in time gain from it, we may not see the mature trees but hopefully our grandchildren will :)
Hmmm....I can smell the pressure on you to look for interest things...
I remember one time going up to the Adirondacks shortly after a microburst came through. You could see a trail of flattened trees running in a line off into the distance. It was pretty amazing. I stole the effect later for one of my books.
Love that blue sky shot. It all sounds like a pretty good day to me though.
What happens to the tree lol
Joan- perhaps I didn't explain well enough. The damage was the result of a wind storm. The loggers just salvaged trees that were already down. I'm pleased with the result. It was an awful mess.
Carol- So much of the Manistee National Forest is mature, or nearly so, it's really a good thing to have sections cleared occasionally. As painful as it seems, if nothing is done it might all "crash" in just a few short years, since it's so much the same age.
rainfield- did you like my extra "B?"
Dennis- that's it exactly. You know just what I'm talking about. I didn't see this one (I was away when it happened), but I did see the one at the state park in 1998. But I was too dumb to take pictures. I sure wish I had. It was really amazing.
Ann- It was a WONDERFUL day. Ellen and I hadn't gotten together for months, and you would have thought we were a couple of real gabbers... we had a lot to catch up on! And we got to do it outside.
Hi winter gurl- well, the ones we cut out of the way just get dragged into the woods. The ones the loggers pick up and carry out get used for lumber, or paper.
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