Hiking the ROW Part 1

Fairpoint Communications telephone pole ID

On our property there is a right of way (ROW) up to the ridegeline of Barton Mountain for electricity and cables to the cell towers up top. This past September, Fairpoint put in fiber optic cables on those poles. I wrote about this invasion in an earlier post. Because of our concern about the Fairpoint activity we saw from the house, we decided to climb up the ROW to see what damage had been done to the land. We saw plenty. Unfortunately, I didn't take photographs of the damage, but it is still visible and will be visible for years. I will return after mud season to document the damage better. The photos here in this multipart photographic essay are of our activity on the hike — of John, me and the cats Buddy and Oscar. Despite our anger at the invasion, we had a wonderful afternoon. I took only my 70-250mm lens, which was inadequate for most of the macro photos here. Next time I'll take the whole kit and caboodle.

Looking down the ROW.
Our home is through the woods to the left.

Looking up the ROW.
All trails end at the bottom of those cliffs, which is where bear and bobcat live.

Buddy wanted to rest here.
He actually wanted to turn back and go home, but continued on with us.

A couple of chickadees kept a close eye on us the entire hike.

We found even more apple trees from the orchard a century ago!

White Worm Coral Fungus (Clavaria fragilis)

Bear scat full of chokecherry pits.

To be continued . . . .

To view the other photos:
Introduction: Strangers on the mountain
Hiking the ROW: Part 1
Hiking the ROW: Part 2
Hiking the ROW: Part 3

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Apple Orchard Update

Two of the new apple trees

So far, the ten new apple trees are doing beautifully. They have developed many leaves and even some buds! We may not be getting apples from them this year, but they are growing big and strong.

The apple blossom in the photograph above is from the small tree below. This tree was growing on its side for years after it "fell" off a cliff. Using he tractor, John dug it up and planted it in the side yard near the brook. We didn't know if it would survive this transplant, but it leafed out and blossomed on May 26.

Transplanted apple tree

The older trees in the orchard are doing great. Let's hope conditions remain good for apples this year!

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Quicksand

Underground spring bubbles up through quicksand

There is a large underground spring in the orchard that comes up out of sand and flows down to the bog. Quicksand. The sand looks like any other sand but it will suck you down in. How far? Probably to China. So it’s probably a good spot to rid oneself of big, heavy evidence . . .

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