SPNHF: Earth Day at Mount Major

Earth Day started back in 1970, and I’ve been marking it for the last four years by heading to Mount Major with the Forest Society for a day of service. We gather at the FS tent and get our marching orders. Folks are encouraged to pick up trash on their hikes, learn about the Mount Major Volunteer Trailhead Outreach Program, or hop onto a project team.

Justin, the new FS photographer

I wish I had never heard about graffiti on a mountain, but someone had defaced an area near the summit about 12’ square, so I headed up the Boulder Loop Trail with this team to see how they were going to tackle it.


Walking through the oak and pine forest near the top, I couldn’t help thinking about the 2008 fire and how well the forest finds its balance when left to recover.

Former burned area
Former burned area
We settled on a straightforward approach: spray the graffiti with Goof Off, then scrub with a wire brush. That combo seemed to work best. Matt brought some gray spray paint for stubborn spots that just wouldn’t come clean, but I headed back down to the parking lot before they reached that point.
My presence didn't phase this guy. This photo isn't zoomed.
The Alton Rotary Club joined us for the first time, which was a nice surprise. They brought coffee and treats for newcomers and left some really good brownies for the crew who finished up.

On the way home I felt like I hadn’t taken enough photos, so I swung by Cooper Cedar Woods in New Durham, another SPNHF property. The trail’s only about three quarters of a mile, and I walked slowly, snapping pictures with my new macro lens. I left around 6 pm—almost four hours after I started— with at least 6 photos each of new moss and lichen species.  

Moss on Cedar
Reindeer and crumpled rag lichens

Script Lichen


Crumpled rag lichen

witch hazel leaf that a leaf miner mined


Atlantic White Cedar

Nursery stump

Creeping snowberry on liverwort

Tamarack cones


partridgeberry, aka twinberry

springtails 

shining clubmoss

Gouty oak gall


Sphagnum moss

Red maple flower

Cubical brown rot


Black spruce

Trailing arbutus aka Mayflower

Dried flower from rattlesnake plantain

Rattlesnake plantain

Piliated woodpecker holes

Balsam fir sap bubbles

Leaf miner holes


Bracket fungus conk

Ground pine

Go capture some memories, leave the trail better than you found it, and don't forget to take off the lens cap! - Kate






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