trailwork pii - Carnage on North Meadows

It's near impossible to ride in the forest without clearing your way these days. Tonight, we witnessed the bloody, (pardon my nonfrench) mess that is / was North Meadows. I'll have to say, the three of us did a stellar clean up job. It was gnarly in parts.

The power of teamwork. So sweet.

The guys had to split a ways down and i was left to tackle the base. I lost some steam without the team but did manage to clear a largely ridable path.

Above: You would be surprised how much one person can move. Large tree tops can often be rolled off the path.
Below: Not perfect, but ridable.

Some are appreciative of our forests and demonstrate that by helping cleanup.
Some just walk on by and say "good luck".
Nice.

carnage in the woods

Deciduous and coniferous trees have very strategic structural adaptations to deal with harsh winter conditions. Deciduous trees lose their leaves for a reason - to alleviate weight bearing mass on their woody frames. in other words - leave drop so they can handle snow. This weekend, we were witness to trees when winter preceeds fall. Sheer and utter devastation.

Bear meadows at the intersection with kettle. The forest service has been working hard to clear the roads.

Kettle trail - my little trail helper. We passed another working on trails on his own. props to the local cycling community - we love our trails and forest.

Chaya doesn't have to worry about spokes or a derailleur. she just bunny hops it all.
Right: Some stop to smell the flowers, others the leaves...


up tuxedo...really there is a trail here. we found it.

in some instances entire trees were on the ground.
We moved as much as we could.

it was lovely none the less. so much snow.



Ironically, this "devastation" is a very natural process. we only find it unnatural because it impedes OUR use of the forest. In a truly natural system, woody debris would accumulate incrementally burning off in phases. However we have effectively eliminated fire from our forests on the east - case in point take note - most of the down trees are red maples. this topic however is an entirely different post. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Natural or not, my heart was a bit sore seeing the forest so torn up.

fragile

It's been a hard few weeks.
But harder yet is this story of a woman, battling cancer. She died Thursday, on the scene, after being hit by a truck; her husband was taking her to the hospital for treatment. To some it's just another headline in the news. To others, it's all too real.

I'm not sure how to process this information. What do I say to her husband when I see him next? Do I send a card? That hardly seems to be a meaningful gesture.
Is there anything, anything in the world that I could do to make things better? What about their family? Her sister?

my heart is sore contemplating this tragic story of fighting losing the one who means most to you in the world in one way to a consuming disease; but then watching them disappear suddenly and abrasively - the unexpected.

life is - fragile. live it while it's here.

national parks

My friend Ben told me about this documentary series. You can watch online through October 9 or catch it on PBS on TV. The series explores the parks beginning with early historical political roots touching on issues of conservation, preservation and a hint of philosophy (Muir). It's well worth watching! Thanks Ben!

Check it out here.

I miss the west in a big way...

conservation education - neotropical migrant pen pals

G sent me this article yesterday. It's short - and touches on the importance of conservation education in a creative way, interesting. Read here.

Avian conservation issues are global. Neotropical migrants like this warbler, raptors (like broad wings) and other species migrate beyond the borders of the United States (north and south). Conservation efforts in the US may be frivolous without equal measures taken in breeding and wintering grounds outside of the country. Cool stuff.

gettin' our migrate on???

yes folks, it's that time. unfortunately for us, big birds are leavin' town. I'm not talking about the yellow big bird either. It's hawk migration season. And this week is peak migration for Broad Winged Hawks.

Just in case you wondered, central PA is prime migration territory. Raptors follow thermal air belts that peak beginning in late august /early September through October and then slowly die / begin to cool. Specifically, in the Ridge and Valley, currents bounce off or ridge tops and sink into lowlands, creating ideal conditions for soaring (given a unique body mass : wing span ratio raptors soar in liu of flapping their wings). Believe it or not, our little rural region is one of the best for eagle sightings! And now is wave 1/2 of bald eagle migration with phase two later in the fall when Goldens begin to travel. Temperature and wind affects how many birds one may see on any given day.

Broad wings migrate early given their extended trip down to south america. The often travel in large "packs" known as kettles. Today we saw kettles of 8-12 birds at a time however they have been known to travel by the 100's!

My buddy the red tail.He's a buteo (short tail, fat body and thick wings). Take note of the dark belly band, the dark edge on the top front edge of the wing and the short broad tail and thick wingspan.

Rattlesnake next to the hawk platform - with 5 babies (one on the right).

Acipiter - Coopers Hawk. Not the long body - long tail with rounded feathers, crooked wings and round head. Classic cooper form. UPDATE: i think this may be a kestrel??? pointy wings and no streaks... hmmmm.

A broad-wing kettle!

Left: osprey - click on the pict. note the long wing span and dihedral form. Right: red-tail. note the windows in the wings, the dark bar at the front edge and the belly band!

Left: broad wing. Right: what has a white head and tail??? (hint: BALD EAGLE)

Turkey vultures...

not a hawk...

tree hugger

Today I hugged a tree.
This act of tree hugging, on some days, might be a metaphor for some greater save-the-baby-whales type effort; however today, it was a literal and much less meaningful event.

I, I mean Reynolds, nicked said tree with the handlebars. I then reached out to save face. One scar is enough, I don't need two. The tree just wasn't havin' it; it sent a branch into my arm and laid me down on some rocks. hard.

oooooh. that was low.

The trail: lewistown contingent, a twisty, rooty, rocky, off-camber and generally slippery mother trail; it's my nemesis. one day we'll see eye to eye. today was not that day.

I had to sit for a moment to regain composure. It left me with a few lovely knots on my quad and back side (u know what i mean) which are currently swelling into perfect golf-ball shaped form. It also left a perfectly positioned set of slits on my arm right where sleeves and arm warmers hit; a pleasant reminder of said fall for the rest of the ride.

Truth be told the fall was worth it and hardly bad. Namely because I continued on and cleared some stuff that previously was too gnarly in my mind's eye to attempt. (thanks to encouragement by dave and kendra!). (image right: me contemplating the same ledge that i managed to atleast get up on - on two wheels today. so sweet!)

rad. it was a sweet ride.

It's not so bad, being a tree hugger and all. As long as one can accept that trees are not always our friends; I still like them though. It's just that sometimes they take you down. Then you get back up and keep pedaling, dammit; muscle it out and grind through. It's the only way to get over and through life's rocks.