Huntington Gorge

Huntington Gorge

From a wide river...

...to narrow falls.

                 

Our trip to Huntington Gorge took place on a warm day in mid-april. The gorge is located in Richmond, VT and sits alongside a country road. Besides for the beauty of the falls; the falls are notorious for the high death toll due to powerful currents. The Huntington River goes from being a fairly wide meandering river to compressing itself in a small gap and rushing down the falls. The river bends around the corner at the end of the falls and continues on through the path it had carved many years before.

Carving through the stone.

The thousands of years of erosion has created all sorts of natural rock sculptures. The rock has been worn smooth by the constant flow of water and many deep pockets have been worn out.  As we made our way downstream we came upon a few remnants of the gorges previous use. There were pilings on the shore that showed the history of the gorge as a mill of various sorts. At first the river was a mill for grinding wheat but as time wore on the purpose changed and it was used for electricity for some time. 

The upper falls.

Lower Falls

Intervale Community Farm

Intervale Community Farm

     Our visit to the Intervale Community Farm occurred during the second week of April. The farm is located in Burlington, VT and there were a plethora of clouds in the sky. We met with Andy Jones who spoke to us about the basic functions of the farm. Andy described many of the functions regarding managing the largest CSA in Vermont. 

Intervale manager Andy on the combine.

    Andy discussed many of the hardships of managing a farm even through his own behaviors. We spent a fair amount of time looking for Andy but he was very busy working on some tractors and then a combine. Eventually he got the combine working and brought it near the fields. Andy explained the importance of CSA's to the farm and how they have allowed the farm to expand. 

    The farm recently added another barn that provides them storage options in the off-season and when they are not using it the Intervale Conservation Nursery uses the building for their young trees. After meeting with Andy we began to explore the farm. 

Working in the greenhouse.

   The first place we visited was the greenhouse, where many of the seedlings were being prepared for transfer to the fields. There were a handful of people working in the greenhouse preparing various plants for the transition to the outside. Besides for the greenhouse for the Intervale Community Farm, there were many other greenhouses for the other farms in the Intervale area.

Brussel sprouts from the previous season

    Once we left the greenhouse we headed out into the fields. The first stop was the berry bushes that provided many families with berries while in season. Beyond this, were a few fields including one which still had the brussel sprouts from the past season. One of the major issues with the farm was the location.

   The farm is located directly beside the Winooski River which has a tendency to flood. This can be a major issue as well as a benefactor to the farm. The flooding of the river can bring about fresh soil and plenty of silt which helps with the nutrients and growth of the plants. Along with the nutrients, the river can bring rogue seedlings that may be weeds or other plants that the farmland does not need, but without the flooding it would be difficult for the river to get the required nutrients. 

Mt. Philo

Mt. Philo State Park

    We visited Mt. Philo during the first week of April on one of the clearest days of the year. The mountain is located in Charlotte, VT and is about 1000 feet high. One of the unique parts of the mountain is its isolation which means it has great sight lines for viewing many of the higher mountain ranges. Philo provides a great view of the Adirondack and Green Mountains especially on the day we went where visibility was as long as 100 miles. 

Snake Mountain

    Philo along with many of the surrounding mountains were created when tectonic plates collided and created a peak. It is estimates that hundreds of millions of years ago the mountain and its surrounding counterparts stood higher than the Himalayas. Since that time they have been worn down by glaciers, and various elements of weather. The top of the mountain was formerly an island when much of Vermont was covered by the Champlain Sea.

Old Growth Maple

     The path heading up to the summit had a very old maple tree. This tree was not cut because it was used for sugaring but most of the mountain was clearcut for agriculture hundreds of years ago. Much of the mountain was used for sheep and forested but the CCC replanted much of the forest in the 1930s.

Adirondack Mountains

    Upon reaching the top of Mt. Philo we could see much of the surrounding farm land which was in a flat valley meaning the soil was fertile. Beyond the farmland was Lake Champlain, the Adirondacks and some of the Green Mountains. The high level of clarity meant that we could see almost as far south as Massachusetts.

     

Lone Rock Point

Lone Rock Point

Cedar hanging on to the edge of the cliff

     We visited Lone Rock Point on a warm partly cloudy day at the end of March. The site is located on the edge of Lake Champlain directly north of Burlington, VT. Upon reaching the site we discussed lenses for a short while before walking to the cliffs overlooking the lake. 

Cedar Tree

    The cliffs ranged from twenty to eighty feet above the water level. Upon the edge of the cliffs and extending twenty feet back were cedar trees. The cedars thrive in the harsh climate that they are located in. They do not require little soil and gain their nutrients from the dolomite cliffs. The are small in stature due to the harsh conditions but are the one of the only types of trees that can live in such an environment. 

Champlain Thrust

      Beyond the cliffs, we followed a small stream down to the beach area beneath the cliffs. This is where we came upon the Champlain Thrust which had created these cliffs millions of years ago. What made the Champlain Thrust so unique is that it is a reverse thrust meaning the older rock had pushed itself over the younger rock which is uncommon. In the case of the Champlain Thrust the older dolomite rock was driven over the 100 million year younger shale. The shale was eroding faster than the dolomite meaning small caverns and undercut overhangs were beginning to appear throughout the cliff structure. 

Fossilized coral from worlds oldest coral reef.

     While scouring the beach I located a piece of what we believe is old coral reef. North of our location is the oldest coral reef in the world so it is possible that somehow the coral made its way to the beach. Beyond the cliffs we came upon the actual lone rock point which was located about one hundred feet above the lake. Here we took some fantastic group pictures while perched precariously upon the edge.

Green Mountain Audubon Center

Green Mountain Audubon Center

Sugaring

   We visited the Green Mountain Audubon Center in mid-March. The weather was overcast with brief spurts of sunlight and the temperature hovered in the thirties. Upon walking into the wooded area around the Audubon Center we came upon the sugaring operation. There were many tapped maples with a simple bucket system for collection. The weather was still a little cold for much sap to be flowing but there was some slow dripping. 

A beaver's unfinished business

     Beyond the sugaring operation was a young stand of hemlocks that stood in an area that beavers had previously cleared away. Past the hemlock grove was the beaver pond. There were about four dams along the waterway. The beaver home was located in the center of the top dam and there was much evidence of where the beavers had cleared the land out. In one of the ponds there were some salamanders found. They were moving sluggishly due to the cold weather. Following the beaver ponds we came upon a creek that eventually drained into the Huntington River. The creak had a mix of hardwoods around it. 

The top of the beaver dam

    In the drainage area was evidence of some large ice flows. This area was in a sharp bend in the Huntington and collected many icebergs. In the area of the bend was a march area that had evidence of old beaver damns but had long since been overtaken with cattails and march grasses. After viewing the river we went along a higher path that took us through another area of succession. In the area the hemlocks were much larger since it was from an earlier time period. As we left the hemlock grove and headed towards the cars a light snow developed.

The creak that runs into the Huntington River

An old beaver pond.

Huntington River

Some of the broken up ice flows

Snowing on the sugaring trail.

Winter Storm Saturn

Winter Storm Saturn

Flooded beach parking lot

Waves washing into the road

   Winter storm Saturn brought a massive storm surge to the east coast between march 7th and 10th. The storm had moved up the coast of the country and set off for Europe but not before leaving a swath of destruction. The storm brought swells up to twenty feet which damaged boats, houses and land. The storm was intensified by a full moon which caused even higher tides. In my home town of Gloucester I went out and photographed pictures of the event on March 9th on the early high tide. I went to various beaches and the exposed rocky shores of Gloucester. The waves were tossing large granite boulders around including some into the sides of houses. Various areas were highly flooded and many roads became inaccessible. There were various instances of erosion where the sands of the beaches and surrounding areas were washed away. Along with the sand the water took parts of various wooden bridges and some parking lots.

Wooden bridge enveloped by the high waters

Sands eroding around water lines.

Damage to a house from various rocks being thrown over the stone wall.

A parking lot being swallowed by the sea.

Ocean spray rising above the granite shoreline.

Ocean spray dwarfing a house.

UVM Greenhouse