Once on the flat at the base of the hill the party worked it way along. I
noticed a large number of puffballs growing on the decaying wood of downed
trees. I took a number of photos. I met a couple more ENTS people with
whom I had corresponded John Eichholz and Howard Stoner. We found a large
gnarled sugar maple with major amounts of rot still standing on the flats
just below a rocky area. We spent some time there measuring trees. The
biggest find was a 143.5 foot, 6.8 foot girth White Ash. We also came
across a large grapevine that measured 22 inches around near one split.

From here we headed back across a brown grassy field along a pathway. The
trees on the mountain were brightly colored and a counterpoint was added by
the white stems of birch intermixed with the more colorful foliage. We
could see the large tree we visited near the top of the slope. I could
make out a distinct band where the heights of the trees jumped near the top
of the hill, and a smaller band a little higher on the hill top. This must
have been where the rock outcrop we visited caused a break in the forest
cover. Then back we went through the field, through the woods to our
vehicles. We paused for a group picture before heading out.

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The trip home was nice. In the small towns of Massachusetts the sugar
maples and other trees were in full color. Brilliant reds, oranges and
yellows dotted our road home. We all decided we want to make a side trip
to Mt. Tom, a short distance from Bob's house, to try and see the state
champion hemlock tree. After one wrong turn, we arrived at the state
reservation at 4:10. The sign said the gates closed at 4. Not wanting to
get locked in we put off the trip for another time.

We got back at Bob L's house around 4:30. After a delicious dinner of
Salmon, we all got ready, and left for the second night of the conference.
The first presentation was by the group Save America's Forests on their
efforts to preserve our nations forests. The next presentation was by Will
Blozan entitled "New Perspectives on Old Forests."   He showed pictures of
many of his tree climbs and talked about what was found within the upper
canopies of these trees and what had struck him from these lofty
perspectives. The next talk was by Bob Van Pelt entitled "Ecology of the
Canopy of the Great Forests." He had some amazing images of the epiphytes
growing in the tops of some of the great trees in the temperate rainforests
of the Pacific Coast. This was followed by a multimedia presentation
hosted by Bob Leverett showing a more poetic side of the great trees using
images taken by ENTS members set to music. The final presentation was by
Ishgooda, a Wyandot woman and native activist on the thinking of native
peoples on their relationship to the land and trees and the work that ENTS
trying to accomplish.

We gathered around Bob's house that evening, some working on their own
projects, others in earnest conversations, many of us sitting around just
talking. At the conference tonight we were joined by David King - perhaps
the top tropical canopy researcher in the world. He joined us at the
Leverett residence Friday night and joined in the conversations. Susan
benoit also joined us after the conference session. Eventually we all
settled down to sleep filling the beds, couches and floors of the home.
Early the next morning I awoke feeling ill. I had been fighting a cold for
several days and it had finally caught up with me. I knew I had to leave
before I got worse. So with sadness I bid my adieus to everyone and left
for home, the last days of the conference yet unfinished.

I will post pictures from the trip to the website. I already have posted a
series of the Thoreau Pine climb Sunday taken by Marsha Rutz to the
galleries section of the website.

Ed Frank