| Thumper
Mountain and the Ed Frank Tree |
Robert
Leverett |
| Apr
02, 2007 08:47 PDT |
ENTS,
Thumper mountain is located in the eastern end of MTSF. Thumper
is a
mountain in name only. It rises a mere 355 feet above the
Deerfield
River to the east, and as a land form, occupies around 110
acres. Its
summit is a modest 945 feet above sea level. Real mountain buffs
would
laugh at the idea of so small a protuberance being graced with
the title
of mountain. However, the little mountain or hill is loaded with
charm.
A rocky region of steep ledges isolate the top 60 vertical feet
of the
mountain. The southwestern side is crossed by a series of ledges
that
are home to a wealth of old, but not extremely old trees, mainly
hemlock. Many of the gnarly little hemlocks are from 150 to
around 220
years of age. There may be older trees, but the hemlocks are
fairly
stunted and don't reveal their ages well.
The abundance of ledges and gnarly old trees on Thumper's
slopes, the
hint of distant views, and the understory of mountain laurel
make the
little mountain quite aesthetic, especially in June when the
laurel
blooms. There is a pleasing view from the summit looking
southward
across the Cold River and Cold River Gorge to a patch of old
growth on a
higher, unnamed ridge. A path named the Totem Trail ends at a
lookout
point on the unnamed ridge. I have walked that path many times,
but
prefer off trail climbs to the lookout.
One does not climb Thumper
Mountain to see big trees. Small is
beautiful on Thumper’s upper reaches, but the lower slopes of
Thumper
hold secrets. The original Mohawk Indian Trail skirts Thumper on
its
north side. Near the eastern foot of Thumper, one finds the
gravesite of
John Wheeler, ancestor to 5 American presidents. That kind of
history is
not encountered every day. Vertically down from the summit about
160
feet, on a bearing of 98 degrees, and roughly 920 linear feet
from the
summit puts one at the northwestern end of the ENTS Grove.
For our new members, the
ENTS Grove is home to a family of white
pines dedicated to the ENTS organization, with specific trees
named for
individual Ents. Will Blozan received the first named tree in
the grove.
His tree was actually the first measured in the larger
"Encampment
Pines" area to over 150 feet in height, and he was,
appropriately
enough, its measurer. Will didn’t name his tree. I named it
for him. We
don’t name trees after ourselves.
Will's tree measures a
respectable 10 feet in circumference and is
now at least 151.9 feet in height, according to my last
measurement. The
tallest tree in the ENTS Grove is named for Dr. Lee Frelich, the
ENTS
Veep. Lee's tree presently stands at somewhere between 158.3 and
158.7
feet in height and measures 8.3 feet in girth. Lee's tree may
make 160
this season. There is a small chance of that, but if not this
year, next
year for sure. The top is healthy and the tree grows in a fairly
protected area. Other trees in the ENTS Grove are named for Dale
Luthringer, Ed Frank, Tom Diggins, Jess Riddle, Howard Stoner,
Susan
Benoit, Lisa Bozzuto, Diane Gray, (members of FMTSF who do
inventory
work in Mohawk), etc. Altogether, there are 18 white pines in
the ENTS
Grove that reach 150 feet or more, the trees are relatively
young,
between 115 and 130 years of age. So there will be more joining
the club
over the next 5 years.
On Sunday, Monica and I spent a several hours in MTSF climbing
around
Thumper Mountain. Monica had not been to the summit and was
captivated
by the trail and view from the top. I think Thumper now has
another fan.
After spending a short stay at the summit, we dropped down from
the
summit through a shallow notch that I call Lost Notch. It
isn’t lost. I
forgot about its existence. The notch has several gorgeous white
pines
and hemlocks and a lone red spruce. The single spruce is located
among a
small scattering of older trees than the trees that grow in the
surrounding forest and below the notch. The survivor may signal
what
once grew in greater abundance.
Below the shallow notch, one
reaches the northwest end of the ENTS
grove. Our mission for Sunday was to check on the pines in the
grove to
see how it made it through the winter. One tree I wanted to
check on was
the Ed Frank Tree. I hadn't measured it in 2 growing seasons. I
am
pleased to report that Ed's tree is doing well. It has grown in
the
radial dimension in the two seasons. It now has a girth of 11
feet,
which makes it one of only 17 pines in MTSF that reach 11 or
more feet
in girth. I have Ed's tree's height at 150.4 feet, which is what
I had
it at two years ago. Oops, I think I over-measured it then. I
believe
Ed’s tree is about 120 years old. Reports on other trees to
come.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
|
|