6-27-09 Revisiting Lakes of the Clouds

Last Saturday I made an effort to get on the trail very early so I could spend the better part of the day identifying flowers around Lakes of the Clouds and Monroe Flats again. I had breakfast at dawn with a young moose that hung around grazing on a variety of greens just below the wide porch, or deck, that wraps around the cabin while I ate my grapenuts. The weekend before Liz and I came upon a huge moose, a bull, down near the road who was stunning in his regal bearing and healthy-looking, jet black, glossy coat. They're such amazing animals! As I started up the Ammoonsuc Ravine Trail this past Saturday morning I got close to another yearling male that, after a taking a few seconds to check me out, quietly disappeared in the lush woods.

Speaking of moose I recently read an entry titled "The Moose Are Back!" in the June 1968 Appalachia written by Howie Goff, now deceased, who was a renowned woodsman, an ex-hutman, and long-time veteran of the AMC Trail Crew. In May of 1968 Howie came upon two moose while clearning the Hall's Ledge Trail and later observed that he couldn't believe his eyes. Hall's Ledge Trail lays east-west across a height of land that seperates Route 16 in Pinkham Notch with the Carter Notch Road that's nearly on the Maine-New Hampshire state line. "I was so fascinated and excited that I found it difficult to keep still," he wrote. "To yell for someone else to come and take a look would have ben an outlet for my emotions, but I was alone." That's a good description of how I feel when I see a moose or a bear. Howie turned and reached for his camera but the motion startled the moose and they were gone in flalsh. The main point is that moose had been absent from the White Mountains up until 1968 for 30 years, or more. Even after 1968 it took another decade for the moose population to become significant.

One of my goals for returning to Lakes was to get a picture of the Dwarf Cinquefoil (Potentilla robbinsianna) in bloom. The tiny plants have a kind of a fire works display of fine yellow blossoms that arch up from the plant in a lovely cluster that immediately catches your eye. Without the flowers the plants are hard to see. In the photo above there's a dwarf cinquefoil just to the right of center and if you click on the photo to make if full screen you can see how small it is. It's about an inch in diameter, a bit larger than a quarter of a dollar in US currency.

There were small buds on this cinqefoil on June 6th and it finally bloomed around June 22nd. Betsy Cook, the naturalist at Lakes of the Clouds, saw flower heads on this plant on Friday, June 25th, but they were gone 24 hours later. So I missed them! Probably the thunderstorms Friday afternoon and evening, with their high winds and pounding rain, tore away the flower petals. If you look closely at this plant you can just make out the flower stems and buds of three seperate flowers. The important data to remember is they budded between June 6-10 and blossomed between June 22-25. These dates may not be precise but are certainly in the ball park. Miriam Underhill wrote that it's "probably the rarest plant to be found on the Presidential Range. It is a very small and inconspicuous plant whose yellow flowers are gone by the first of July."

To my great pleasure, though, after the disappointment of missing the Cinquefoil flowering , I ran into these lovely alpine bluets (Houstonia caerulea var. Faxonorum) on the broad lawns that stretch east between the lakes and Mt. Monroe adjacent to Monroe Flats.

There was a profusion of them. They're one of my favorite alpine flowers and they appear to be common as dandelions but in reality this variety with the white petals and the yellow center are rare and almost unique to the White Mountains. They are in the Madder family, which is a typically tropical plant family that includes coffee and the plant that is the source of quinine. Bluets in the French Alps are blue.

This is the same feld-field I've been photographing weekly now and full of water and looking all the more like a tarn that you would find in the arctic or on the moors of Scotland.

And this is the view I've photographed every week this month and all three photos you can check out the differences of weather, colors and the general feeling of the "place" around the Lakes. The above photo was taken on June 6th.

This one was taken on June 13th when there was still a bit of snow left but the tundra was still brown.

I took this one last Saturday, the 27th, as a fast moving thunderstorm swept up the southern Presidentials and surprised us as it came down over Mt. Monroe and, simultaneously, swept up Ammonoosuc Ravine. It was really loud with a lot of lightening, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I want to go back to the ascent up the Ammy because there were plants blooming that are worth noting.

The river was still brimming with icy cold water and roaring down the ravine like a freight train.

Long beech ferns (Phegopteris connectilis) (thanx Elizabeth) which are tiny and grow in a cascade of green on the river banks and under the protective lee of rocks beside and in the middle of the trail. They're delicate and lovely. (I had notated Long Beech fern as Dryopteris phegopteris which should have been Thelypteris phegoptris and got a nice message updating it's latin name. At some point I should explain why I include the latin names and how much fun they can be!))

Mountain Avens (Geum pecki) This plant has a bright yellow flower which was just begining to bud last weekend (6-27-090). It's common throughout the White Mountains and usually found on wet ground particularly along streams.

The Ammy (Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail) tops out at Lakes of the Cloud hut after a rigorous ascent of the steep headwall of Ammonoosuc Ravine. This is a typical view of the footing as the headwall is gained and the gradient tapers off a bit. This photo shows the lower edge of the "timberline" zone that was discussed in a recent blog entry.

There was a strong wind coming up through the ravine from the northwest and it was making the flowers dance on their stems so it was hard to photograph them in closeup mode. I haven't keyed this violet out but am going to say it is the American Dog Violent (Viola adunca var. minor) which is more common at lower elevations but often found at treeline.

Above the headwall of the ravine the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail ascends a rock rib paralleling the Ammonoosuc River and in some places it's ledge as in two photos back and in some places steps have been fashioned by repositioning existing slabs of rocks.

Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) growing in spagnum moss. The flower is similar to Potentilla tridentata but the leaves give it away as they are larger and leathery. The flower gets its name from the roots which are a bright gold color and in herbal medicine are used in tinctures. It's a member of the buttercup family.

Sheeps laurel (Kalmia angustafolia).

This photo and the next one were both taken at timberline on the top of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail and in the photo above of a slab of the Littleton Schist that is the bed rock of the Presidential Range (no, it's not granite) you can see the sculpting force of the last continental glacier (Wisconsinan) that motored through her from 11,000 to 20,000+ years ago. I talked ad nauseum about the glacer earlier in the blog but it's impossible to set all of that aside as you hike up to the ridge because there are so many reminders. Despite all the reading I've done about the local and the larger continental glaciers the whole subject still fascinates me and the details are daunting. At least when you see a clear remnant like this smoothed stone and put your hand on it the glacier comes a live again.

In this photo the glacier is symbolized by the profile of Mt. Monroe (in the background) and the rock formation in the foreground that is locally referred to as "sheep dog". Both Monroe and sheep dog have the same angle of incline facing the direction that the continental glacier(s) approached and then rode up on and over the highly resistant Littleton Schist as the glacier moved southeastward towards what's now Cape Cod.

From Sheep Dog you look up at Lakes of the Clouds hut and a broad area of krummholz that marks the zig-zag zone of timberline on this flank of Mt. Washington. Since writng about timberline a few weeks ago in the blog I read a paper claiming that there is some balsam-black spruce krummholz at 5700 feet in elevation on the east side of Mt. Washington's summit cone which is 400 feet higher than timberline in the Mount Washinton-Mt. Monroe col to the south and west of the summit cone.

Black Spruce (Picea mariana), as has been noted, is often found in clumps of krummholz as this one was near Lakes of the Clouds. I've occasionally gotten confused telling the difference between black spruce and red spruce just by the needles. For instance the flower and tree guide books often say the red spruce needles are more prickly to grasp but if you haven't touched either a Black Spruce or Red Spruce branch before you're going to be confused. It's easier to see differences between them in the cones or the profile of the tree or where it is growing. The cones are quite a bit smaller on Black Spruce and stay on the tree longer than the Red Spruce (Picea rubens). Black spruce is found at timberline. In the forest below timberline the black spruce is only found as a large tree occasionally in bogs. Red spruce is found below timberline in the fir-spruce forest where it is often a large tree.

This is bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) at timberline in late June. It's two or three weeks behind the bunchberry seen at 2500 feet in the valley.

Pale laurel (Kalmia polifolia).

Fir Clubmoss (Lycopdium selago)

There's a small white moth in this photo. Can you see it?

Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum) beginning to bud.

Deer Hair (Scirpus cespitosus var callosus).

Mountain Cranberry (Vaccinium idaeus-vitis) makes a good sauce!

A fast moving "thumper", or thunderstorm, came up the Southern Presidential ridge and caught a lot of us by surprise around noon on Saturday. It cleared quickly but was one of many small showers that came in waves during the mid to late afternoon and a season White Mountain hiker would probably say that weather pattern is fairly commom for the season.

As the storm crashed into the mountain we got a glimpse of why the two ponds on Mt. Washington are called Lakes of the Clouds.

It took less than 30 seconds for the clouds to descend around us and completely obliterate the landscape.

Unless you were on a well marked trail or knew the mountain intimately the clouds would probably cause the average hiker to become a bit disoriented because of the rapidity of the change in weather.

The rain sent hikers diving into the big common and dining room at Lakes of the Clouds hut to wait it out.

Since it was Saturday and a full house was expected Saturday night the cook, Phil Crosby, on the right, and bull cook, Carly Jesset, in the middle, were busy most of the day preparing a meal of turkey with stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, salad and fresh bread. That's been the standard Saturday night meal in the huts for 40-50 years. That's Betsy Cook on the left. So there was the cook, the bull cook and Betsy Cook.

It poured during my entire descent until I was close to the trail head and I took these photos of these Clintonia borealis that were glistening from the rain.

And this Bunchberry was irresistibile

6-20-09 A day trip into Zealand Falls

Aren't they lovely? They're Bunchberries (Cornus canadensis), a member of the dogwood family and a very common plant in the White Mountains. The showy, white, petal-like bracts around the flower are not really petals. The fruit, which emerges in mid-summer, is a bright red berry that is edible but has little flavor. The plant's range extends from northern Greenland all the way down to New Mexico. There are several varieties most likely the result of geographic isolation. These varieties exhibit only minor differences. In Newfoundland I have been served a wonderful pudding made from a variety there with much sweeter and tastier berries than the canadensis variety we have here.

Last Saturday morning (6-20-09) my daughter Liz and I drove to the base of the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail set for another hike up to Lakes and Monroe Flats but the weather was awful up above and we both felt abyssimally lazy so we concocted some handy excuses and spent part of the morning exploring the woods along the Ammonoosuc River just below Upper Falls and a ways off Base Station Road.

This is yellow hawkweed (Hierancium caespitosum) that looks like a composite but is actually in the aster family. It's a bright, cheery plant found along roads and in sunny woods. We found it in an opening close to the river.

A dozen feet into the woods from where we parked the car we came out on the old Base Station Road, abandoned 40 years ago, replaced with the present wider and straighter road that rarely follows the river. The old road had a definitive personality and was an adventure in itself with hair raising curves as it followed along side the river. I think it's comforting to see nature reclaiming an asphalt-paved road in a fairly short period of time.

Next to the old road was this large patch of bracken fern (Pteridium aquillenum) which has the amazing ability (due to the aquillenum) to efficiently angle its fronds perpendicular to sunlight and maximize the solar energy it can get for photosynthesis.

We reached the Ammonoosuc River after walking for a ways through these woods which were "gnomey" with a lot of moss and lichens hanging from tree limbs and open but with a lot of windfalls scattered on the forest floor.

I'd never exploreded this part of the river so it was a wonderful surprise to come upon this view of the Ammonoosuc with this long stretch of quiet water. The paths through the woods were old but well worn showing that this section of the river was once well used by bathers and probably fly fisherman.

Walking upstream to the next bend we discovered more surprises. This pool is 15 feet deep in places and a perfect swimming hole.

This was the view upstream at the next bend. The river ran swiftly through the narrow channel even though it was quite deep. It offers an exciting inner tube ride.

This was a typical pool in the upper section and deep enough for a high dive from the ledges. The water was a lovely emerald green in the early morning light.

We finally made a decision to head into Zealand Falls and Zealand Hut via the Zealand Trail for the day and to try and find a colony of Sundew plants (Drosera rotundifolia) that I had recorded 40 years ago growing on the west shore of Zealand Pond. If you remember Sundews catch and "eat" insects like the Pitcher plants and Venus Flytraps. The trail was adorned with myriad varieties of ferns including the Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnemomea) (above).

Hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula) is delicate and lacey and a favorite fern of mine. It's usually found in sunny locations on open, sloping ground in pastures or next to trails or roads where it get's a lot of sun. It's distinguishable by its sweet aromatic, hay-like smell when it's been cut and is drying or even on hot sunny days. another distinguishing feature is the "black boots" at the base of the stem which is a dark brown-black color while the upper part of the stem is green.

This is a whorl of Spinulose woodfern (Drypteris spinulosa) var. intermida.

The Zealand Trail, after the first half mile in which it takes you up and down through a rocky stretch, levels out on an old logging rail road bed (above) and stays on the bed down Zealand Valley and through Zealand Notch. Two trails branch off the trail just before the notch. The A-Z Trail goes off to the left and leads over the Willey Range to Crawford Notch and the Twinway Trail branches right and climbs steeply a few hundred yards to the Zealand Falls Hut that is operated by the AMC.

6-20-09 Zealand and Bunchberries continued.

Bunchberry was out in force. This little woods opening was nearl carpeted by the white flowered plants.

Then we began seeing Lady Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) everywhere in shades of pink and white and became enthralled not only by the variations in colors but the large numbers of them. They were everywhere, or so it seemed, and each one was a slight variation; a little darker pink, a pale blush of pink, or an opalescent white. There was no end to them!




The white Lady Slippers were my favorite particularly this one in which the white was like a pearl, or opal, and looked like a jewel.

This is more of chalk white compared to the one above. The white flowers were difficult to photograph. The auto focus mechanism on my camera (a Canon G10) would not give a clear picture without numerous attempts. It had nearly always off with white subjects so it may have had something to do with the white balance. At any rate, I had to lay on my belly to get these pictures and startled a few hikers that passed close by. They may have thought I'd died.

Spinulouse Woodfern (Dryopteris spinulose). There are two other local varieties of woodferns: Evergreen Woodfern and Mountain Woodfern. The photo above is most likely the variety Mountain Woodfern because of it's location, the heighth of the fronds and the angle of the leaves to the stem which is perpendicular to the stem. Sometimes the leaves are "ascending" meaning they slant upwards a few degrees.

This is one of my favorite things in the whole world, blueberries, the low bush kind you find all over the White Mountains. The Zealand trail is rich in blueberries, rasberries and blackberries.

As noted above the first trail junction on the Zealand Trail is the A-Z (as in A to Z) Trail which departs a half mile below the hut towards Route 302 and Crawford Notch. This trail sign is more typical of signage throughout the White Mountains. This one has been been placed by the AMC. The AMC is one of three entities that oversee trail maintenance that includes the US Forest Service and the Randolph Mountain Club (RMC).

6-20-09 New Zealand Trail Sign!

And this is your tax dollars at work, a spandy new trail sign placed by the US Forest Service also at the junction of the A-Z Trail. The trail jurisdictions are sometimes confusing. The Zealand Trail is US Forest Service but, like most trails branching from, is maintained by the AMC.

Hiking along the Zealand Trail and just past the A-Z Trail junction there's a feeling that you are entering a sanctuary. The mountains begin to move in towards the trail creating a distinct valley there is a sense that you are in kind of a magic realm. The mountain in the photo is Zeacliff described earlier in the blog but a symbol of this valley in many ways and everytime you enter the "notch". It means you are close to the hut but also close to the pond and, to my own senses, it means I am on the very edge of the Pemigewasset Wilderness which, definitely, is a magical realm.

The lower part of Zealand Falls has been throbbing with rain water and sending up quite a roar that can be heard a mile away this spring. It is actually the bottom of the falls which begin more than a half mile up river as Whitewall Brook descends a long series of ledges and drops each one having a luxury of pot holes and pools to sit in, wade in, or swim in.

This is the interior of Zealand Falls Hut on a quiet afternoon.

This is the hut's ample, professional kitchen.

Third bridge (as one hikes into the notch) with it's slight arch as it crosses over a pond made by yet another beaver dam. I have seen moose use this bridge on several occasions.

Zig-sag, or second, bridge also crosses a back water caused by a beaver dam.

On the way out Liz and I encountered this group of Boston Red Sox/Celtic fans who were on their way in to spend a night at the hut.

First bridge which I always count at the half way point between the parking lot and the hut.