Time for a Climb
February 26, 2020 by New Hampshire Garden Solutions
I couldn’t remember the last time I had climbed a hill or mountain so last Sunday I decided it was time. I chose Hewe’s Hill in Swanzey, for no particular reason other than that’s where the 40 ton glacial erratic called Tippin Rock lives. I set off across the meadow in wall to wall sunshine and a 46 degree temperature. This was no thaw, this was spring, and I was glad that I had worn a short sleeve shirt and a light jacket.
There is at least one basswood tree here and someday I’m going to find it. They aren’t common in this area in my experience.
The trail starts off level enough but it isn’t long before you’re climbing.
Someone lost a glove and someone else hung it on a tree.
There are lots of black birch here. I keep running into black birches (Betula lenta) with what appears to be a deformity in their buds. I wouldn’t call it witches broom but the buds grow in a tightly packed cluster which isn’t normal, judging by the other buds on the trees. I haven’t been able to find out anything about it from any source, so if you happen to know I’d love to hear from you.
Oak leaves have been falling, and that’s a good sign of spring. The trees will make new leaves as they shed the old.
This trail is well blazed. Blazes are important because they keep people from getting lost out here. A trail is easy to follow at this time of year because you just follow the footprints in the snow, but in the fall when the trail is under a fresh coating of leaves it can disappear quickly for those who don’t know how to read the woods. The meaning of various blazes and how to read them is easily found online. This one means there is a right turn ahead. On a single out and back trail like this one blaze color has no real meaning.
The old way, a hatchet blaze, simply tells you that you’re on a trail.
I saw lots of freshly fallen trees out here; more than I’ve seen anywhere else. There must have been quite a wind storm come through here.
But there are plenty of hemlock seedlings waiting to fill in the gaps. Life is a circle.
There were icicles on the ledges. They weren’t that impressive at about three feet long but it shows how cold it has been up here.
I think the outcrop the ice was on was more impressive. It’s quite long.
I had reached the steepest part of the trail without any breathing issues, for which I was very grateful. I was also grateful that there was no ice on the trail. I did stop here to catch my breath and thought about how nice it was to be climbing through the winter woods again. Climbing is easy to get addicted to. The more you climb the more you want to climb and when you can’t you miss it. It calls to you, and it won’t stop calling until you climb again.
I noticed that captain obvious had put up new signs.
I call this mysterious person captain obvious because the sign in the previous photo is only a few feet from the behemoth called Tippin Rock. You couldn’t miss it if you were blind, so the sign is kind of useless. But how amazing that such a thing was dropped by a glacier onto this hilltop. Even more amazing is how it will rock slowly back and forth like a baby cradle when pushed in the right spot. Even after seeing it myself it’s hard to believe.
Some of the oldest striped maple trees (Acer pensylvanicum) I’ve seen grow up here. This one was probably 6-8 inches through, which seems big for them if I’m to go by the ones I’ve seen.
I learned a long time ago that if you climb solely for the view you’ll be disappointed most of the time. On this day it was hazy but not too bad. I like a good view as much as the next person but I never count on there being one because it doesn’t take much haze or humidity in the air to spoil them.
This view shows the haze in the distance. There was actually a warm breeze blowing and the snow had melted from the leaf covering in several spots so I sat, warm and dry, and looked out over the endless forest.
You can’t help but wonder, after seeing miles of unbroken forest from above, how the early settlers ever did what they did. I always wonder if I could have gone on after seeing this, or would I have turned back? There was nothing familiar out there, after all. No stores, no roads, no houses, nothing. It would have almost been as if they had landed on another planet. Personally I would have loved the emptiness and the solitude but you have to eat and you need shelter, so I’d guess that staying alive would have taken up almost all their time.
It’s a long way down from here so you want to watch your step. I always check to see how near the edge I am before I bring the camera to my eye. Once I’m looking through the viewfinder, I don’t move a step. Heights and I don’t get along well but up here you don’t know how high you are until you look down. Then you get the heebie jeebies.
Of course I couldn’t come all the way up here without checking on my little friends the toadskin lichens (Lasallia papulose.) This one seemed to whisper “Hey, look at me,” so I did and I saw how very different it was. It’s the first one I’ve ever seen that was brown. Usually they’re pea green when moist or ash gray when dry. You can see a hint of that gray in this one’s center. You can also see the point where it has attached itself to the rock in its center. It’s like a belly button and that’s what makes them umbilicate lichens. The many “warts” are what give it its common name.
When dry the toadskin lichens usually turn from their normal pea green color to the ashy gray seen here. They also become very brittle, like a potato chip. All those black dots are this lichen’s fruiting bodies, where it’s spores are produced. I’ve noticed that they often seem to form where the lichen stays wettest longer after a rain.
The head of a pin is .06 inches (1.5 mm) in diameter and one of the toadskin lichen’s fruiting bodies (Apothecium) could easily hide behind one. The apothecium is where the lichen’s spores are produced. In this case it is tiny black disc with a sunken center that makes it look like a bowl with a thick black rim. The way that they sit on the body (thallus) of the lichen makes them look like they’d blow away in a breeze, but they are attached. This isn’t a great photo but it’s only the second time I’ve ever been able to get this close to this lichen‘s apothecia and it’s a pretty fair bet that you’re seeing something you’ve never seen.
Here is what a normal, healthy and happy toadskin lichen looks like, and this one looked like this because an icicle was dripping meltwater on it. It was about as big as a quarter and cute as a button.
I got back to my car and saw that a horse had been there. Horseshoes are supposed to be lucky but I’m not sure about a horseshoe print. I did feel lucky though, having gotten up and down the hill without any issues. The temperature even went up 8 degrees and it was a beautiful day, up or down. I’m already itching to climb again.
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 coming by.
Posted in Nature, Scenery / Landscapes, Things I've Seen | Tagged American Basswood, Black Birch, Canon EOS Rebel T6, Common Toadskin Lichen, Hewe's Hill Swanzey NH, Ice, Keene, Native Plants, Nature, New Hampshire, NH, Olympus Stylus TG-870, Spring, Striped maple, Swanzey New Hampshire, Tippin Rock, Trail Blazes, Winter Climbing, Winter Hiking, Winter Plants, Winter Woods | 23 Comments
I am so pleased you managed the climb without getting breathing problems, Allen! It certainly looks as though spring is just around the corner. I hope you manage to find out why one of the toad lichens has turned brown and what the black birch deformity is. I also notice here when willows’ sap starts to rise and the branches turn yellow or green. I am sure then, that spring is very near.
Thank you Clare. I was surprised that climb seemed so easy, but I do get a lot of exercise at work so maybe that had something to do with it.
It can take years sometimes to answer questions about things you see in nature so I’ll just have to wait.
I think spring is essentially here but there is still the potential for some winter weather. Once we get through March that’s about it for our winter.
I enjoyed your pictures of the toadskin lichen, a tribute to your steady hand.
Thank you. The camera was against the rock they grew on.
Always an interesting and informative read. Thanks.
Willows are yellowing a bit, but it’s not winter here until your summer.
On Wed, Feb 26, 2020, 6:08 AM New Hampshire Garden Solutions New Hampshire Garden Solutions posted: ” I couldn’t remember the last time > I had climbed a hill or mountain so last Sunday I decided it was time. I > chose Hewe’s Hill in Swanzey, for no particular reason other than that’s > where the 40 ton glacial erratic called Tippin Rock lives. I set off acro” >
Thank you Ron. I’m seeing yellowish willows everywhere now.
Should be the male catkins.
Haven’t seen any yellow on the catkins yet, just the branches.
yellow on the branches?
Yes, the branches are golden in the spring on many willows. There will be a photo of one in an upcoming post.
Well, you’ve got native willows that may be doing that. Ours is the European willow closely related to your imports that I have not seen doing that.
There is a species of willow from Europe and Asia called golden willow (Salix alba vitellina) but I don’t know if the ones I’m seeing are that one.
Could well be the golden willow.
The black birch deformity is interesting. My guess is some sort of virus.
Spring is definitely breaking here, and hit 65 in my area yesterday. An hour south of us down in Eugene, trees were blooming along Beltline Highway.
Thank you Lavinia, You could be right. It’s hard to find anything out about it.
I’m glad spring has started in your area. It shouldn’t be far away here if this weather holds.
If you have an Agricultural Extension Service and or Master Gardener group in your area, they might be of help.
I find that they know a lot about ornamentals and agriculture but not much about nature.
keep an eye out for woolly adelgid infestation on hemlocks as the weather warms. We saw some in Richmond last year.
Bob Stone
Thank you Bob, I will. I’ve seen a small bit here in my own yard but I haven’t noticed it in the woods yet thankfully.
Well now you’ve done it. If ever I’m lucky enough to get up Hewe’s Hill again, I suppose I’ll expect to see Captain Obvious from the TV commercials pop out from behind the rock and say something really goofy.
Ha! That’s what I thought of when I saw the new signs!
Glad your climb was so satisfactory, thanks for all those views too.
You’re welcome Susan, I’m glad you liked them.