I don’t know why, but for the last two or three months I’ve had the urge to go places I’ve never been and see things I’ve never seen. Recently I walked into a forest in Winchester, New Hampshire, which lies south of Keene on the way to Northfield, Massachusetts to see a waterfall called Pulpit Falls.
The directions weren’t the best; follow an old logging road until you hear running water, and then bushwack your way upstream until you see a waterfall. In other words, once I left the logging road there was no trail-just me and the woods.
Being so late in the year there was little actual bushwacking to do. What few shrubs grew near the stream were easily skirted. Since there was no trail the meandering stream became the trail.
Mountain Laurels (Kalmia latifolia) grew here and there. These native shrubs often grow in large impenetrable thickets that are always best to walk around rather than through. This place must be beautiful in the summer when the laurels are covered with pink and white blossoms. Native Americans used to make their spoons out of the wood, which is why it is also called spoon wood. This plant was first recorded in this country by the Swedish / Finnish botanist Peter Kalm in 1624.
We’ve had such a dry summer that the falls themselves weren’t much to write home about, if indeed this was them. But, easily seen was evidence that this small stream could become a raging torrent several yards across. I’ve seen pictures of the falls when the stream is running like that and it would be worth the hike to see it. I’ll come back during the spring rains, if we have them.
Upstream from the falls, the stream appears from under these huge pieces of stone. The biggest of them was as big as a delivery truck. I didn’t see anything that looked like a pulpit, so I’m not sure where the name Pulpit Falls came from. Uphill above these boulders was nothing but forest-no stream or any sign of a stream, so it must go underground somewhere uphill and then reappear here. What bothers me is that this area doesn’t look like the pictures I’ve seen. The rocks are much flatter than round in those pictures.
A thin shaft of sunlight fell through the trees and lit up this fern as if it were on a Broadway stage. It was growing on a boulder at the side of the stream and I think it was a polypody fern, also known as rock cap fern. These ferns are evergreen.
The clubmosses here were covered with fruiting “clubs” where spores are produced. I think this is common ground pine (Lycopodium dendroideum) which is native and which the U.S.D.A. lists as rare. The people at the U.S.D.A. have obviously never hiked through the woods of New Hampshire, because this plant is everywhere now. It was once endangered after being over collected for use as Christmas greenery. The dried spores of this plant were also once used in photography as flash powder before flashbulbs were invented.
I found a tree branch on the ground that was covered with lichens, so I put it on this mossy boulder and took a picture. I think the larger hairy examples are bristly beard lichens (Usnea hirta.) The others are foliose lichens that I don’t recognize.
On my way home from the falls I stopped to get a few pictures of a local hill that has had its heart torn out by a construction company, which crushes the rock and sells it. To give you an idea of how massive this really is-the “shrubs” on top of the hill in the upper left hand corner are actually white pine trees (Pinus strobus.) White pines can grow to around 160-190 feet tall are the tallest trees in eastern North America, but the youngsters in the photo were probably closer to 100 feet.
You know it’s cold when stone doesn’t absorb enough heat from the sun to melt the ice that clings to it. But at least we saw some sunshine!
If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere ~Frank A. Clark
Thanks for stopping by.
very excellent, good motivation to get out and see for myself, need the exercise,walking is very good at my age……..
Thank you Mark. Walking is good at any age. I hope you will be able to get out and see some of these things for yourself. It’s just amazingly beautiful out there!
Nice little excursion, Allen…will look forward to seeing those falls in the spring….
Me too Scott!
🙂
You’re braver than I am. I have no sense of direction and a fear of getting lost. It’s obvious in your pictures that you had a great time. I did too. THanks
You’re welcome. Sometimes “bravery” is foolhardiness, but this time following the stream was fairly safe. I knew if I just went back down stream to the logging road I’d be okay. After being lost in the woods for real once, I also have a fear of it happening again.
Sorry about the somewhat double comment, for some reeason the first one didn’t show up when I posted it, feel free to delete one or both as you see fit.
No problem Jerry-that happens to me all the time on certain blogs.
That was a wonderful walk! As far as wondering if you were in the right spot or not, may I suggest a handheld GPS unit, especially when you’re bushwacking. I’m fairly certain that with a little research, you could find the coordinates of the falls, punch them in your GPS unit, and be sure of where you are at all times. My DeLorme has been somewhat troublesome, mostly as far as battery life, but I never leave home without it any more.
That’s a great idea, because I got lost in the woods once and I never want that to happen again! Years ago when I used to do mineral hunting I had one of the first units that came out, but back then I was finding the mineral deposits and mapping the coordinates so other people could find them. In other words-i was doing a lot of bushwhacking. My cell phone has a built in GPS but I’ve never tried it. I’ll have to check into it before I get lost again. it’s amazingly easy to do and it happens fast.
I’ve been wanting to collect some ground pine spores, dry them, and try that out. I imagine it must be very impressive. In the few feeble attempts I have made, I just tossed the heads into a fire. Nothing happened. I wonder what time of the year the heads should be collected, how to get the spores out, and how long they should dry.
I’ve heard that they should be harvested as soon as they appear if you are going to plant the spores. I’ve also read that you dry them on newspaper and when dry the spores just fall out with a little shake. I assume you would know they were dry by just shaking a handful every few days. If the spores drop onto the paper, they’re ready. I’ve done this with other plants when collecting seeds. Drying flowers to preserve them usually takes about 2 weeks before they’re good and dry, so I would think clubmosses would take at least that long. I’d just snip off a few “clubs” and experiment.
Loved the vicarious hike, especially since you don’t seem to snow covering everything. I thought NH was a snowy place in the winter.
New Hampshire has always been a snowy place until the last couple of years Sue. Last year we had one real snowstorm and so far this year we’ve had 2 dustings that melted right off. I don’t know if it’s climate change, but something odd is going on.
You seem to be in a really adventurous mood. I don’t think I ever go to places where the word “bushwack” would enter into my vocabulary. At a time when most of us are complaining about the absence of color in nature, you continue to treat us to beautiful photos and wonderful observations about the world around you during your hikes. Thanks again.
You’re welcome Mike! I don’t bushwack much either-it’s really best to stay on trails so you don’t get lost but in this instance it was easy enough to follow the stream. There certainly is less color to be seen at this time of year but it is out there. You just have to look harder to find it.
Wow! What a wonderful walk, good pictures and interesting narrative. I really enjoyed this post and I would love to be able to follow in your footsteps on this one.
PS I must get myself books to identify ferns, mosses and lichens, you include them often in your posts and a bit of knowledge would enhance my own walks no end.
Thanks James! I agree that a few nature guides would enhance your walks. Some of the best I have came from used bookstores and didn’t cost hardly anything.