The land trust paid the season’s final visit to the Redington Forest property in the High Peaks region in mid-November.  This area has a great variety of ecological zones which includes brook trout streams, upland wetlands, ponds, forests of all types and mountainous terrain.  The last category includes an area which covers most of the Crocker Mountain range and which will be classified as an ecological reserve area once the project is complete.  It is to this area that Pete McKinley, land trust Vice President and Wilderness Society ecologist, and Simon Rucker, land trust Executive Director, headed to a few weeks ago.

The area is difficult to access, and after leaving the truck when it could go no further, the two eventually left the logging roads at approximately 2700 feet and proceeded up through former harvesting areas to a large area of Aspen-Birch Forest on the shoulder of Crocker Mountain.  According to Maine Natural Areas Program Ecologist Andy Cutko, there was probably a forest fire on this plateau roughly 60-70 years ago, resulting in the glade of aspens with an understory of spruce and fir (see photo above).  There was evidence of charcoal in the soil on this visit and the forest is in great health as it regenerates.  It is a prime area for game and is truly a special spot.

At about 3,000 feet in elevation, after reaching the subalpine forest area, the rain showers that had lingered for most of the day turned to sleet and the two decided to turn back.  The weather conditions at this time of year prevent extended field study, and there was a hike of approximately two miles to get back to the truck.

There’s much more to be studied and documented at Redington Forest no matter which season.  Check our website and we’ll have a winter update in the New Year.

We have a great day for a hike last week – given the lateness of the season, the fact that we got all the way to West Baldpate without any traction aid is pretty remarkable!  But given the icy conditions – see the monorail on the trail in the photo above – it probably would have taken crampons to get to the next peak.

The day started out a bit cloudy and chilly, but everybody was in their best hunter orange and bundled up enough to start shedding layers.  The A.T. heading east out of Grafton Notch is not very steep and we progressed rapidly up the slope of the Baldpate massif.  Somehow everybody in the group missed the junction point with the Baldpate shelter spur trail, which is seen as the point at which you start really ascending.

The trail began to get icier and we encountered a group heading back down the mountain.  They did not have traction aids and had to turn back.

We reached the summit of West Baldpate, and knowing that the trail was going to be fully-iced over, and that we had a limited amount of daylight to work with, we decided to turn back.

We enjoyed the view before heading down.  The additional time we had allowed us to stop at the Baldpate shelter on the way back to enjoy a leisurely lunch in the sunshine.  It was a great day and a perfect hike leading into Thanksgiving!

Land trust Vice President Pete McKinley and Executive Director Simon Rucker paid another stewardship visit to the proposed Redington Forest easement area late in October, along with the property owner’s forester.  The purpose of the visit was to go over many of the forestry operations infrastructure on the land and get a tour of the property from the man who knows the land best.  On each visit, land trust staff and board members have been pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the ecological features on this special A.T. landscape, and this visit was no exception.

There is a large wetland area with a small pond which neither McKinley or Rucker had seen before.  It is classed as inland waterfowl and wading bird habitat by the State of Maine and is perhaps 25 acres in size.  Along with the mountain features along the A.T., the valuable stream corridors and intact forest, there’s lots to be excited about at Redington.

Stay tuned for next month’s report, as there are plans to explore the potential ecological reserve area on the property adjacent to the Appalachian Trail corridor!

The land trust’s annual monitoring trip to the Mount Abraham easement marked the initial visit of a new stewardship volunteer – Mike Marrone.  Mike is a New Gloucester native who returned to Maine from Colorado, having experienced the majesty of the American West.  As we all know, there’s no place like Maine, and Mike came home to volunteer for the land trust as a monitor of conservation easements.  He currently works for TD Bank as a supervisor at the Auburn Contact Center and will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in the fall of 2016 with his girlfriend, Brittany.

Mike and land trust Executive Director Simon Rucker headed up the Fire Warden Trail on a clear, cold Saturday for the annual conservation easement monitoring visit.  Mike is an experienced hiker but had never climbed Mount Abraham, which is a spectacular mountain with a variety of interesting terrain and features.  Despite this, it is often overlooked for day trips and there was only one other group on the mountain that day.  The first surprise they encountered were the TWO NEW BRIDGES over Rapid Stream.

Many a Mount Abraham trip had been made more harrowing by having to cross the two streams just to reach the trailhead.  We are happy to report that, with the installation of these bridges, high-clearance vehicles can once again drive right to the Fire Warden Trail trailhead.

Mike and Simon made it to the summit – about 4.5 miles – in about 2.5 hours.  The summit was wind and very cold and there was some icing above treeline.  Despite the conditions, they were able to inspect portions of the easement area shown above.  Another significant year-over-year change to the property (which is owned by the State of Maine) was that the old fire tower structure had fallen over.

The two chose to eat lunch lower down the trail on the return hike and despite the shortening of the days, made it back to the car before sunset.  It was a great day and it was great to have Mike aboard for stewardship duties!

The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust’s monthly hike on the A.T. was a short trip up to Table Rock over Columbus Day weekend.  The weather was cooler than most of the days have been this fall (there was rime ice on the summit of Old Speck) but the trip attendees dressed more suitably than trip leader Simon Rucker, who wore just a sweater.

As this hike was a joint effort between Mahoosuc Land Trust and Maine A.T. Land Trust, there were attendees from the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club in addition to those who are familiar with the land trusts’ work.  A few had never before been to Grafton Notch, and they were impressed by the fall foliage and the mountain scenery on the westernmost portion of the Appalachian Trail in Maine.  As the group headed up the trail we encountered other large groups of Mainers and tourists alike who were out for a pleasant hike in the fall weather.  After a chilly lunch on top of Table Rock – one hiker brought a blanket and it was needed – the group headed back down the trail.  There were many cars lining the road with license plates from all over the country when we got back to the parking lot.