May Woodlands

I hope tonight will be our last frost. The endless job of covering our new garden plants will soon be over. The forest is still open with the beginning of leaves on the trees. Kate and I took our son Sean to hike into the Ferris wild forest [ about 200 square miles ] on the 10th. The wild flowers slowed us down as we made our way to Good Luck Mt. This small mountain has class-12 cliffs, good for climbing and great for witnessing the stone of the earth. The cliffs are over 100 feet tall with a boulder field at the base. Where a boulder field exists, the environment for unusual plants is very good. Goldthread [ Coptis groenlandica ], both Painted Trillium and Purple Trillium, Dutchman's Breeches and Dwarf Ginseng are plentiful and in full bloom. Giant glacial boulders have small gardens of prickly gooseberry and Polypody ferns. The landscape has a feeling that giants created a woodland rock garden. The Yellow Birch trees dominate the forest with Mountain Ash, Mountain Maple, Striped Maple and White Spruce. A pair of Ravens live on the cliff face and gave us warning to give their nesting site plenty of room. The walk in this rare space gave all of us a feeling of discovery and peace both inside our own being and as a group that has walked these woods together for many years. The more time we can spend in the wild forest quietly seeking the large and the small wonders of nature, the greater our appreciation of life. Go out and enjoy.
From the Adirondacks Don

Partnership

April, a time for new partnership . Birds are finding nesting sites, bears are moving about, foxes with their kits are learning hunting skills. The snow is still over a foot deep on the north slopes. The forest is filled with clear spring light tinged pink and violet as the sunlight passes through the spring buds on the trees. The forest floor is warming and the spring ephemerals are starting to spring up, reaching towards light. The amount of energy gently waking the land as the earth slowly turns to the south creates a bloom wave, waking the buds on the trees . This is my favorite time of the year for wandering in our wilderness landscapes. The secrets of the landscape are revealed to the trained eye. Forest types, glacial features, water courses, and the general topography are open to see clearly. This is a great time to learn about the tree and forest floor flowers. Trout lily, spring beauty, wood violet, and dwarf ginseng are some of the first to bloom. Quaking aspen, red maple, and the alders are some of the trees and shrubs to flower first. To identify these early blossoms is to create a base for our relationship with all the seasons and the evolution of the coming greening. Spending time in the forest at the beginning of the seasons is a great start . Enjoy.

Spring Time

Today, March 30th, it snowed and the wind blew hard with 32 degrees at best. Lucy the dog and I went out for a walk along the old back road we live on. The sky moved over us and dipped down sometimes to rush around and make us look up squinting into small snow and ice. The trees bending and talking to the creek in flood stage with the snow melt. Geese way up there somewhere but not to be seen, just heard. Small birds going with the wind hopefully to the destination they set out to. In all of the wild and unpredictable spring wind and snow there is a solid feeling I get of the earth under my feet and the sky breathing in the changing season. I cherish the time I have in the natural world and look forward to the spring flowers on the forest floor as well as the tree blossoms to come. More spring walks soon. Don