Last Saturday was relatively warm and sunny so I decided to go for a climb. I chose Pitcher Mountain in Stoddard because it is one of the few places in the area where you can find a place to park before you climb. Many haven’t been plowed.
I wasn’t sure if I’d make it without snowshoes but the trail looked to be good and packed down and even though the snow drifts were waist deep in places, I was able to get by with just gaiters and Yak Trax. It was slow going though and I had to stop frequently to catch my breath.
I noticed that deer and other animals had been using the snow packed trail too, and deer had been browsing the bushes and trees along the sides as this young maple shows. The buds of some maples look a lot like oak buds but oaks have alternate branching. Since this tree has opposite branching it must be a maple.
Rabbits were using the packed snow trail too even though they were light enough to hop on top of the snow without sinking in.
It looked like the rabbits had been eating the bark off all of the staghorn sumacs. I wonder if that means that they’re having trouble finding food.
The snow was deep enough in places to make walking close to impossible if I had stepped off the packed trail. I decided that I didn’t want to wade through that much snow, so I stayed on it. I saw places where deer had stepped off the trail and sank into the soft snow probably up to their bellies. I felt bad for them-they must be having a very hard winter this year. At least the snow isn’t crusty on top so it shouldn’t be cutting their legs all up.
When I reached what I call the meadow I saw why there were snow drifts along the trail; the wind had scoured parts of these pastures almost down to bare grass, blowing it all toward the trail. I keep hoping that I’ll see the Scottish highland cattle that wander these pastures, but I never have. They probably don’t want to wade through the deep snow either.
In the book Country Editor’s Boy Hal Borland speaks of the high plains of Colorado, and how when he was a boy there was an unbroken view to the horizon in any direction. There wasn’t a tree or hill or building to add any interest, he said, and I wondered as I stopped and saw this view if this is what it was like. For someone like me who lives in a forest, seeing a view like this is like seeing the surface of another planet. I’m not sure how long I could stand it.
The fire tower hasn’t blown off the mountain yet. Since I learned that this tower was built as a replacement for the original 1915 wooden tower that burned down in April of 1940 in the most destructive forest fire that this area has ever seen, I see it as a kind of monument to irony.
You could see that plenty of wind had blown through here but on this day there was only a slight breeze, so it wasn’t too bad. It could have been much worse.
After all the snow we’ve had this year I thought the fire warden’s cabin would be either flattened or buried but it looked as if someone had shoveled it out and had been shoveling the roof as well. Now that’s a job that I wouldn’t want, no matter what it paid.
For a change it wasn’t hazy at all and the views were good. Mount Monadnock was clearly visible over the meadow to the right.
I don’t know the name of this hill but I wish I did because it’s a beauty. Someday I’m going to have to get a topographical map of this area and earn the names of all of these hills.
The sun and wind had done their work on the many rocks found on the summit so there were plenty of lichens to see. The yellow orange ones are common gold speck lichen (Candelariella vitellina) and the black and white ones are tile lichens tile lichens (Lecidea tessellate.)
The biggest surprise of the day was this scattered rock posy lichen (Rhizoplaca subdiscrepans.) For years I knew of one nickel sized example and then last year I found another and then another, and now I seem to be seeing them everywhere.
The going was much slipperier and tougher on the way down than it had been on the way up and I wished that I could just curl into a ball and roll down the mountain side. By the time I reached the bottom I knew that I wasn’t going to be good for much of anything else that day, and I was glad that I had nothing left to do.
Perhaps there’s no better act of simplification than climbing a mountain. For an afternoon, a day, or a week, it’s a way of reducing a complicated life into a simple goal. All you have to do is take one step at a time, place one foot in front of the other, and refuse to turn back until you’ve given everything you have. ~Ken Ilgunas
Thanks for stopping in. Don’t forget to turn the clocks one hour ahead tonight!
I’m not sure I’d like the flat meadow with no views either but it looks like you had a lovely walk.
I think living in such a wide open place would push me over the edge in a short amount of time. I wasn’t meant for prairie living!
Lovely post as always – thank you. Good for you for climbing that mountain even when there aren’t the usual blueberries at the top to reward you! It has been a tough winter for New Hampshire 4-footed wildlife, hasn’t it? I’ll bet they can’t wait for spring to arrive.
You’re welcome, and thank you. The payback for no blueberries is the better view, I think. Those bushes are quite tall in places.
Yes, I think it has been a hard winter for wildlife. I saw a doe wandering along the verge of a highway last week looking for food, and it looked like she was having quite a time with the snow.
I think we’re all ready for some warmer weather!
As always, I enjoy reading your posts. Especially is great to learn about the lichens, mosses, and liverworts that you find, as that is an area I am weak in. The tracks you identified as rabbit are almost certainly snowshoe hare (not technically a rabbit, but closely related). Around here snowshoe hares seem to be mostly in higher elevations, while the eastern cottontail (rabbit) is more often in the valleys.
Thank you Al. I think we’re all a little weak when it comes to lichens, mosses and liverworts but I’m learning bits and pieces here and there, especially since I’ve been paying a little closer attention lately. Sometimes the differences can be very subtle but important.
Thanks for the hare identification. I didn’t even know we had snowshoe hares here! The fact that they like higher elevations makes sense-I saw these tracks very near the summit.
What a perfect day for photos! The blue, cloudless sky, and the clear view of Mt. Monadnock are stunning! and you even managed to sneak in a lichen or two!!
Thanks Martha. It was a perfect day for it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sky so clear up there-no haze at all. I couldn’t leave without getting shots of the lichens!
Looks like you still have a lot of snow! It’s tuff hiking in the snow, especially when there is more than a few inches. Love all your pictures, always nice seeing the mountain views 🙂 Enjoy your Sunday!
Thanks Michael. Yes, it was tougher than it is in summer, that’s for sure! It was a perfect day for it though, with no haze to ruin the views. I hope you’ll have a great week!
Thank you so much for taking us on your tremendous climb up and down that mountain. I am sorry it was such hard work and hope you didn’t do yourself a mischief. I love the snow rippled by the wind.
Thank you Susan. It was hard work but the feeling of having accomplished what you set out to do always makes it worth it. Thank you for your concern. I poked my way along pretty carefully, so I made it down tired but unscathed.
Great scenery! That was a good day’s work!
Thanks! Yes, it was a workout!
Thanks for making me feel like a wimp for going to a museum rather than slugging my way through waist-deep snow again this year. 😉
At least you have some motivation to get out there, great views from the mountain tops, and beautiful lichens for some color.
Things are looking up, our temperatures are supposed to be near average all of next week, that pots us at around 40 degrees. I hope that you see the same warming trend there, it will get the flowers blooming in no time!
I don’t blame you for not wanting to drag yourself through the snow, Jerry. It does get old after a while! What really got me out there was the rare warm day we had. It was quite warm so it wasn’t bad temperature wise, but it was slippery.
We’re supposed to be seeing 40s all week this week. I saw some daffodils coming up yesterday, so spring is happening!
At the close of one of our (UK) mildest winters for ages, it’s nice to look at so much snow. But I imagine that living with it for so long has been a serious chore for you.
Yes, February was a month to remember but we got through it as we always do. I’d like winter a lot more if there wasn’t so much shoveling to do. It gets a little tougher each year.
I’m very thankful that my back didn’t go out with all that snow, too!
It’s always amazing to see the lichen seemingly unfazed by the weather.
They say that lichens are virtually immortal, which is a hard thing to wrap your mind around. They were taken into space once and survived two weeks in that vacuum. Once they returned to earth they grew on as if nothing had happened.
I love the quote – a real recipe for life in general I would say. I find myself saying something very similar to my daughter when she gets so anxious she can’t move. I expect the high plains of Colorado would take some getting used to if you came from hilly country or the forest like you. There is an area called the Fens fairly near where I live where it is so flat that many people who move there start to suffer from agoraphobia. Beautiful shots again, Allen.
Thank you Clare. I hadn’t thought about it but you’re right about the quote. Putting one foot in front of the other is the way we accomplish just about anything.
I wouldn’t wonder that people who lived in such flat places would suffer from something if they weren’t used to it. There are many stories here of pioneers who moved to the prairies and lost their minds completely. A large part of it was simple loneliness, I’ve heard.
You did well to get to the summit. Walking in snow is always very hard work.
Thank you. Yes it is, and it seems to get harder every year.
I am definitely energized from your hike!
Thanks! I was when I started it.
As I’ve said before, you are a hardy soul. You’re making me yearn for mountains, something we don’t have around here.
Thanks! It doesn’t seem like you’d have to travel too far from Chicago to find some. The Rockies would be great to see!
We have been to the Rockies a number of times, Judy’s grandparents lived in SE Wyoming.
Great! They’d be a little harder to climb than what we have here, I’m sure.
We stick to the easy trails, never fear.
Looks like you had a great hike! Do you know about hiking sleds? Here is a video of the NH Over 50 Hiking Group. Scroll to minute 4 to watch how they sled down the trails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hfn0Hkvg6s#t=237. It looks like a lot of fun, but I could never do it because the last time I was on a sled I broke my tailbone, which was, and still is, not much fun.
Here is a quote by Ansel Adams I saw today, that I love and want to share: “I frankly profess a somewhat mystical concept of nature; I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful – an endless prospect of magic and wonder.”
Keep on hiking!
Thanks Paula. I’ve never heard of those sleds but what a great idea! I sure could have used one last weekend. I don’t know why coming down is harder than going up sometimes but that’s how it was.
Breaking your tailbone on a sled certainly doesn’t sound like much fun but I can see how it could easily happen. Many of these trails are very rocky.
That’s a great quote by Ansel Adams, and I couldn’t agree more!
A belated thank you for getting me outside this winter. I love your blog.
You’re welcome, and thank you Robin. I’m glad that you were able to spend some time outside!