OUR
COMMENTS - OCTOBER, 2000
Mosquitoes and Eagles
This summer passed much too quickly, but was followed by a spectacular fall and a brilliant display of crimson foliage that has now turned to the soothing autumn harvest gold, complemented by yellow leaves of prominent Shelburne birches. I welcomed the predominately cool and wet summer and still enjoyed much outdoor time on the mountain, even though most of my work time was confined inside the cottage doing finishing work. Enough has been completed to make the place comfortable for visiting guests this summer and fall, and I have just now had to move outside to get exterior work underway before the snows come. I am getting a late start on painting, staining, and installing trim boards, soffits, and porch ceiling and must finish those chores before I can start the long process of installing some 14,000 cedar shingles (in the process of being stained by dipping each twice) over the exposed Typar. I no longer predict a scheduled finish date and now look at this whole enterprise as an ongoing project for the rest of my life.
I
felt like the mosquitoes were greatly reduced this year, though a neighbor
closer to the river informed me that I was very mistaken. I have spent enough
time outside with the mosquitoes this summer that they are now treating me
like a "native" and are only a mild nuisance. As you can see from the
photo at left, our Indiana friends and Ginger do not get similar respect
as we prepare for a hot July climb to Joe's Ledges on First Mountain. I joined
them wearing a t-shirt and no netting and was unbothered, while the visitors
were swarmed. Friends from Randolph visited us one day a short time later
and agreed only to a brief walk through the neighboring field and down to
the river. They had hiked in Shelburne a week earlier and had vowed
never to summer hike in that mosquito infested valley ever again. In
Randolph, they have open mountains and fast flowing cool waters, with the
resultant black flies that they coexist with. Here in Shelburne, we have
the wild, closed in valley forest with famed Mahoosuc bogs and marshes to
create the most ideal mosquito habitat. Most would consider them an
unwanted pest, but they do perform the valued function of keeping our valley
less settled and more wild
There was only a minimal expansion of trails on the property this summer and most of my rare trail work was devoted to maintaining the system closer to the cottage and below the center cliffs. Higher trails became overgrown by mid-summer, but have again become apparent as the summer growth dies back. We did clear one spectacular lower view point on the eastern hemlock cliffs by removing just one maple and one hemlock. Mount Madison and Washington dominate the view and one can see the glint of sunlight off the vehicles on the auto road as the sun moves to the northwest in late afternoon.
We have climbed to Joe's Ledges several times this summer, but did not see the hawks that figured prominently in our visits last season. We did observe a falcon (likely a gyrfalcon) briefly on an early fall visit as it flew along our cliffs. The most dramatic bird sighting came during a walk to the Androscoggin River last week. As we hiked through the Whitney Farm field, where the northward view is dominated by First Mountain, we saw a mature Bald Eagle flying low over the field only a hundred feet from us. After swooping along the surface of the field for a few minutes, it performed a slow climbing circle and soared on the high winds over the field. Then, the likely female eagle turned northward and flew directly to Joe's Ledges on First Mountain where she perched briefly. We next saw her soaring along the center cliffs and finally lost sight of her when she flew to the back of our summit. I have enjoyed several sightings of Bald Eagles on the Androscoggin River further east into Maine, but had not previously seen one in our Shelburne valley. The waters below the nearby Leadmine Dam remain open throughout the winter and ought to provide a great food source for a wintering eagle. They migrate only as far as necessary to insure an adequate winter food supply, and will remain in their summer and fall range as long as food is plentiful.
We did not spend all of our time at the mountain working this summer and enjoyed many hikes and explorations in the area. We twice climbed to the "Outlook" off the Success Trail on the northern side of the Mahoosucs and enjoyed the dramatic southern view to the rugged rock face of North Baldcap and the wild interior Mahoosuc Range. We also made our first exploration to the forest perched over the center cliffs of First Mountain, though we still did not get down to the upper edge of the cliffs. From a distance, that area looks like a tree covered single steep slope. However, as we walked through it, we found that it was actually made up of several terraces, one above the other. We eventually reached the western rock outcropping we call "Sharon's Bald" and then continued across the summit of First Mountain and down the north side.
From the "Bald", we decided to try to continue on to the summit of Middle Mountain. We had not previously hiked there because the current AMC guide indicates that the old trail is severely overgrown and not easily followed. I found a previously unnoticed "Y" in the overgrown Middle Mountain Road at the back of our mountain and shortly came upon a steep path turning sharply to the north which was marked by two large rocks with a giant "MM" painted in orange upon them. From that point, the trail had been recently cleared, was well marked, and took us directly to the open, rocky bald summit of Middle Mountain. We had only a few brief views back to the north side of First Mountain during the climb, but found great views looking north to Baldcap Peak from the summit and good views west to the Whites and back east along the Androscoggin. We also found that there was another very rugged valley between us and the summit of Baldcap Peak. There are no trails through the valley, but a connector trail used to descend into the valley and turn westward to join the Peabody Brook Trail. We will return next summer and try to bushwhack to Baldcap Peak through the valley and up the steep slope, completing the summit trio climb of First Mountain, Middle Mountain, and Baldcap Peak.
2000 Fall photos are being posted at this web site along with these "Owner's Comments". You can click on this link or access them through the main page. Our next comments column should tell you about the coming winter.
Larry
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