Regeneration

 

Clearly it has been a while since people hiked the White Pine Trail, since much of what is left of the trail has been obscured by tall ferns. Also, what trail markers might have once been in place are now long gone. At times, in fact, I had to resort to my compass to figure out where I was. No cell service here! 

Still, as often is the case, I made a new discovery traipsing through this part of the Mount Toby Forest. I discovered what a "regeneration system" is. According to one source I consulted, "Forest regeneration is the process by which new tree seedlings become established after forest trees have been harvested or have died from fire, insects, or disease. Regeneration is key to sustainable forestry and can be accomplished through two basic approaches:

1) natural regeneration, which occurs when new seedlings or sprouts are produced by trees left on or near the site (as with aspen) 

2) artificial regeneration, more commonly known as tree planting

White Pine

 

I have this strange penchant for taking the road or, in this case, the trail less traveled. Sometimes this results in my seeing some pretty interesting things. At other times, it gets me into trouble. This was one of those that nearly got me into trouble.

It started after I left the Cranberry Pond Trail, hung a right onto a fire road, then decided to take the so-called White Pine Trail, which appears on some maps but not on others. As it turns out, the White Pine Trail is very poorly marked. Heck! The last honest-to-goodness marker I saw was the one shown above . . .

South End

 

 

 

Here's the view from the southern end of Cranberry Pond looking north. According to the Secret Reel, this is "a small, 27-acre, cold water pond . . . characterized by clear watercolor and has a transparency of 15 feet. The mean and maximum depths are four feet and 26 feet respectively. The 1.1 miles of shoreline are undeveloped and emergent aquatic vegetation covers about ten percent of the surface area." 

 

Warning!

 

 

This was an unusually hot and humid day in western Massachusetts.And the warning about bringing plenty of bug spray, for once, was NOT an exaggeration. My sometimes perversely contrarian spirit, however, insisted that I could do without. Fortunately, I did wear a wide brim hat, which helped at least keep the bugs out of my hair and face. A bottle of water might have been a great help, too, considering the amount of perspiration involved. 

Sounds like a nightmare, huh? Well, it wasn't. Coming from Tidewater, Virginia . . . I'm used to hot, humid, and buggy conditions. Nothing new here! Also, there were these cooling views of Cranberry Pond all along the way.