Though the weather outlook for the entire day was “iffy,” those of us who signed up to hike today decided yesterday evening that it was a “go.”  The instructions were to meet at 8 am at Gate 37 in Petersham, then we would carpool to our starting point at Gate 43.  I left my house around 7 am, to allow myself time to get lost and then get back on track, but because I spent a lot of time with Google maps yesterday, I had no problem finding the location, obscure as it is (it’s at the end of a one-lane mostly dirt road).  Then eventually, after some car-hopping and convoy driving, twelve of us hardy souls gathered at Gate 43, and we set off, heading mostly north.

This was the second scheduled Quabbin hike (the first took us from Lookout Tower to Gate 43); we intended to hike about ten miles to where we left the cars.  For the first few miles, we walked mostly on asphalt pavement.  This may sound incongruous, but remember that the Quabbin Watershed is known as the “Accidental Wilderness.”  Not so long ago, this area was farmland; up until 1938, hundreds of people lived in the four small towns of Dana, Prescott, Enfield, and Greenwich, which were dismantled to create the Reservoir.  Today, the 24,529 acre reservoir is surrounded by 54,686 acres of watershed land.  The DCR’s “Fast Facts” about the Quabbin cover geography, soils, forest, and wildlife.  I was interested to learn that

At least 27 species listed as “special concern”  in Massachusetts occur on Quabbin, including mammals, reptiles and amphibians (such as spotted and wood turtles, Jefferson salamander), and many birds (such as American bittern and bald eagle).

The Quabbin is treasured by anglers for its freshwater fishing, and our route took us past a popular boat mooring area.  At this point Pottapaug Pond was to our right, to the east, as we walked to the west of Pottapaug Hill, which rises to 921 feet.  After about a mile or so, the trail led us down to the water, where we stopped to look at some of the Quabbin islands.  By this time, the rain had started coming down, and I decided to put on my rain jacket (I carried a full set of rain gear in my pack).  Thus somewhat protected, we turned toward to the northeast and headed for Dana.

For some reason, I had thought that all the towns were under water, but of course, that is not the case.  Another few miles of walking brought us to the old town center, where there are no buildings any more, but historical markers indicate where some of the main structures stood.  Here, at Dana Common, the group took stock, and because it continued to pour, we decided we should cut short our hike and return to the cars at Gate 40.

When the rain slackened a bit, I ate some of my snacks, then took off my shoes and wrung the water out of my socks.  As we walked northeast, again on asphalt, we heard thunder and saw the lightning, and felt that we had made the right decision.  By noon, we had reached Gate 40; the carpools were quick and efficient, and soon enough I picked up my car at Gate 37.

We’ll be back in September, to continue our walk around the East Quabbin.  I’m already looking forward to it.

The 26th Annual Meeting of the Greater Worcester Land Trust was held this afternoon under a tent set up across from the Ecotarium, on Harrington Way in Worcester.  The science museum abuts Crow Hill, a property which has been protected by the Land Trust for many years.  A recent sale and purchase increased the acreage conserved around Crow Hill to around 50 acres, this in the heart of a major urban area.

Shortly after we gathered at 4 pm, GWLT Executive Director Colin Novick led us on a hike to the summit of Crow Hill, stopping every so often to talk about aspects of the property, such as the following:

Geology.  Crow Hill, rising to a height of about 650 feet in elevation, is a drumlin, a glacier-created landform common in southern New England.  The soil is mostly clay.

Fauna.  Across Harrington Way, the state-listed Orange Sallow Moth (Pyrrhia aurantiago) has been reported; its host plant is false foxglove.  Sightings at Crow Hill include osprey, turkey vultures, warblers, deer, and coyote.  Consider that US Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz, a Worcester native, adopted a bobcat kitten he found in the woods near Vernon Hill, about two miles from here, in the early years of the last century.  Gazing at the densely populated neighborhoods surrounding the area, one wonders how this diversity of animals is possible, but an aerial view, such as one provided by Google Maps, hints at the answer: railroad tracks almost encircle the area, thus providing a pathway clear of houses, cars, and people, for these creatures to use as their migration corridor.

Flora.  Oak is dominant, with aspen as an early successional species.  Blueberry bushes are abundant in the understory, as well as goldenrod and asters.

History.  The soil here, though not optimal for that purpose, was once used to make bricks; remnants of the brickworks are still visible.  The laborers in these types of industries were often French-Canadian immigrants; they are one of the many ethnic groups that populated Worcester and transformed it first into a manufacturing center and then into a distribution hub.

Ecology.  This is a fire-adapted landscape, which during colonial times was much more prevalent in the Commonwealth than it is now.  For example, the Heath Hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido), which went extinct on Martha’s Vineyard in 1932 and whose habitat was “scrubby heathland barrens,” was frequently observed on the Boston Common.  In fact, the Nipmuc tribe, which occupied great swaths of central Massachusetts, had words in their language for “prairie hen” (the Heath Hen is considered a distinctive subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken).  Native Americans, we’ve come to realize, were enthusiastic fire-starters.

After we enjoyed a potluck supper and cook-out, GWLT President Allen Fletcher conducted a short business meeting.  Following a presentation by Colin on projects completed during the past twelve months, US Forest Service botanist and ecologist Tom Rawinski took the floor as featured speaker.  I’ll summarize the gist of his remarks below.

Land Stewardship Lessons.  We may be falling short in this area, particularly with respect to what he termed “eco-environmental gentrification,” by which he meant the human tendency to abdicate responsibility for managing the landscape.  The prime example of this disastrous short-sightedness is the problem of overabundance of white-tailed deer, which are wreaking havoc on our Northeastern ecosystems.  Human beings, he said, are part of nature, and we can’t remove ourselves from nature and believe we’re helping out, because there will surely be unintended consequences.  Just as we should be willing to shoot deer, we should also be willing to set fires in landscapes like Crow Hill.  If we agree to “re-wild” ourselves, we will also be re-wilding Nature.