Nelson's Northwest corner on a misty day

Early on Monday morning, it was pouring and I was sure that we were in for a very wet hike this day.  But as is often the case, by the time Al and I were ready to head out, the rain had abated.  We would still get wet, but not soaked.  With the right clothes, we could manage just fine.

Al's inclination on this foggy, misty day was to explore along the town line between Nelson and Stoddard, beginning on West Shore Road near Granite Lake.  I was up for anything so off we went.  We started in an area that had been logged about three or four years ago.  What looks like a nice open space is usually very difficult to get through; the dead fern hide fallen and rotting logs and the early succession growth is thick and prickly.  One of the first plants to appear after a clear cut is blackberry and there is just no easy way to get through it.  Oh, well... we did our best and soon found ourselves at the top of a steep rise in a much more open understory in a coniferous woods.

Consulting map and compass, we headed off in a northerly direction following what we believed to be about where the town line should be.  We followed a stone wall to a spot where two trails intersected.   I looked off to the right and noticed a pile of something white.  What was it?  Prepare yourselves, dear readers: it was not a pretty sight.   The pile of white was the guts of three butchered cows, including the intact stomach of one cow.  We also found three severed heads, hoofs and hides of the cows.  The remains must have been dumped recently, because I couldn't smell anything and clearly, the scavengers hadn't discovered them yet.  But they will and when they do, the pile will quickly disappear.   Nature has a way of taking care of its mess pretty quickly.   Nothing is wasted.

We didn't linger at the cow remains for long. We were on a mission to find what other interesting things we might discover in the northwest corner of Nelson.  For a time, we followed a stone wall, consulting the map often to determine where we were and to anticipate when we might verify that we were on the right course.   The area had been logged and it was more rough going, though we could find patches of wood in which to walk more easily.

We came upon a tree marked with bright orange survey.  This could indicate the town line!  We decided to look for the next mark and soon were rewarded with a clear path to follow: red blazes cut into the trees which delineated the boundary.  A stone wall also served as a reliable landmark to follow.  A clear path, yes, but not easy.  We had entered an area of large boulders and steep slopes.  The area resembled a gorge and Al chose the simple, but appropriate name for this place: "Town Line Gorge."  It works.  We paused at one point, Al perched on one side of the gorge and I on the other.  Towering ledges and small crevasses, boulders piled on top of one another, uprooted trees: these were the characteristic features of the land.  In one crevass  I saw a little mole scurry up the face of a rock.  Nearby, we observed branches stripped of their bark by porcupines.

Up and down we went, keeping the blazes in sight, checking in with each other as we found interesting spots along the way.  As we often do, we chose parallel paths, about 50 to 100 feet apart from each other so we might be able to find more interesting things.  At one point, I looked down and saw what looked like a teapot.  It was the remains of a rotted tree branch, with the larger part looking like the pot and a smaller branch like a spout.  It was hollowed out and had it a bottom, I would probably taken it with me to see what I might fashion from it.  Just as I found the "teapot", Al called me over to see something that he had found. I looked carefully at the ground as I walked.  Often Al will find something and leave it in its place and I will have to observe carefully to find it.  This time, Al was holding a small round something.  It was covered with a brown coating and soft to the touch. I had no idea what it was, but Al thought that it might be a truffle or false truffle.  He determined to check with his ex-wife, Sue, who is an expert in the woods, to see if she could identify it.

We found the corner, where the town line turns to the west.  We were sure that we were following the line, because the spot was marked with "TLNS" and the year on a post.   We turned west.   The slope was still steep, but we were no longer following the line of the gorge.  Soon, we came to a large wetlands, with deep sphagnum moss.  Because of the unusually warm late fall weather, the ground and the water were not frozen so we tried to step carefully to avoid getting our feet wet.  No such luck!   My boots were good, water-proof boots, but when one steps in a spot where the water is over the top of the boot, one can't avoid getting wet.  Thank goodness for good wool socks.

Even with good boots and socks, slogging through a wetlands gets tiresome after a while.  I headed for higher, dryer ground.  Al was not far behind.   Slogging also works up an appetite.  Time for a snack: cookies, a baked potato and clementines--our usual hiking fare.  Nothing better.   After a little break, we were back on track to follow the town line.  It was a short hike to Otter Brook and the end of our attempt to follow the boundary for today.  While the water didn't appear deep, it was much too cold for wading on this day.  We chose instead to follow a deer trail along the brook.

The trail took us through woods and across a partially frozen wetlands to what is best described as a moss garden:  boulders upon boulders covered with thick green mosses.   It was a feast for the eyes and felt luxurious on the feet.   On one boulder, we found a spruce and a yellow birch growing together, their roots entwined as if they were dancing.

We found our way back to the town  boundary markers and the gorge and discovered that the boulders we had seen coming up looked entirely different from the other direction.   We also found many boulders which seem to be delicately balanced, poised to tumble at any moment.  But our efforts to move them were in vain. What looks like a balancing boulder turned out to be pretty stable.

While we tried to avoid the logged areas, we still had to push through them near the end of our hike.  Along the way, we found four different types of club moss, a hollowed out ash tree that must have been massive in its hay day (I squeezed myself into the hollow and found rich, red soil--the happy result of decomposition), a maple tree that had fallen over a stone wall at an odd angle, and merged with the stone wall as it rotted away, and moose and deer scat and browse.   One of these days, we will see the actual animal again, or find that elusive shed antler.

We finished our hike near another deer stand, where we found a curious cylindrical container hanging about 12 feet off the ground.  We thought it looked like a cache up off the ground to prevent bears from getting into it, but not exactly.  We could use some help identifying this object.

Uggh--one of the cow heads, the least gory of the three.  

In the town line gorge.  

Al on the other side of the gorge.

At Otter Brook above Ellis Reservoir

Moss garden

Four kinds of club moss.

Here is how one gets inside a hollow tree.  Not always easy.  

Nice soil in the base at the tree.

Under the wildlife feeder.  

Across the power line tract, through a huge space which will  become a field, across McIntyre Road, and through the woods, and we were back on West Shore Road, with wonderful memories of a new place and pleasantly tired bodies.