Mondays in the Nelson Wilds: RNTL Property, AKA, Roxbury Nelson Town Line

So today, Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is a perfect day to get out into the woods to celebrate a holiday. I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. Al and I decided to meet at our friend, Wendy Byrns', house in Sullivan, find the Nelson town line and follow it down to a place where we had explored before, a place where we had previously come upon a post in the woods with the initials "RNTL". When we first found this post, we both thought that it was actually a piece of land for rent, ie, "RNTL property," until we realized that the post marked the line between Roxbury and Nelson. Before, we had come on this spot in the course of a hike down and along the shores of Woodward Pond. It seems like sometimes, we are playing a game of connect the dots, hiking in a new area to connect with an area in which we have explored before. And today, we definitely covered some new ground.

It was a cold day, so we were "layered up" and had brought extra clothing just in case. We started our hike before 8 am, after warming cups of tea in Wendy's kitchen. We headed into the woods right behind Wendy's house, and soon found ourselves on a steep slope, looking down at a stream. So many times when I am in the woods, I have a pre-conceived notion of the direction which I should travel. And if I don't think about it and pay attention, I could so easily go far astray. My instincts were to follow the stream down the hill, but Al pointed out that it was the wrong direction, and that following the stream would lead us away from the town line. Seeing the sun rising in the southeast, I realized that he was right. It's as if my internal GPS needed to be re-directed. Once I became aware, it was much easier to stay on course.

We discovered that this area is full of trails, which we chose to follow for a time, because, as Al puts it, "trails are there to get us to a point where we can bushwhack." Bushwhacking and following animal tracks leads us to the good stuff, like porcupine dens, or kill sites, cellar holes and mammoth trees. Well, we didn't find any kill sites this day, but we did find porcupine tracks, deer (as usual) tracks, snowshoe hare, fox, coyote, probably dog, red squirrel, and yes, bobcat tracks. We also found some old cabins below Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, one that is particularly large and clearly not in use anymore except by the mice and squirrels. It's a shame really as it is a nice large cabin and looks like it would have accommodated a goodly number of people.

Since I have been out hiking with Al for more than two years, I have gotten used to his habit of quizzing me on the identity of various trees, shrubs and other plants. And I have gotten pretty good at correctly identifying trees by their bark. I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself and pleased that I have acquired this skill. But Wendy hasn't spent as much time as we have, so, while she took the same tree identification course that Al and I did at the Harris Center last winter, she still has to work hard to remember the different features which distinguish the common tree species in our area. But she is game for being tested and she feels the same satisfaction as I do at identifying trees correctly. So today was a test, but it's all about the learning, and we spent a great deal of time asking "what kind of tree is this?" and trying to figure out the answers. In the process, we all learned something and fine-tuned our knowledge of the woods. Ash, beech, all manner of birchs, sugar, striped and red maples, hemlock, spruce, red oak, service berry, black cherry, hop hornbeam and quaking aspen: these were the mental work of our hike today.

We also wanted to find the town line and follow it. We came upon a tree which had been flagged with orange survey tape. Because of our experience a few weeks ago in following the town line between Stoddard and Nelson, I thought that the particular way which the tree was flagged indicated a town boundary. Rather than hanging the tape from a branch as we often see to indicate a property line, the tape had been wrapped around the trunk of the tree. This, in addition to spray painted trees, was very similar to what we had seen on our previous hike. Our hunch proved to be accurate, and while we were able to follow the line for quite a way, we didn't make it all the way to the stake which we had found on our previous trip. But we did find another "RNTL" stake, right at the beginning of a stone wall adjacent to a trail which led down from Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.

We followed the line a little further in the time we had left before I had to be back for another commitment and along the way, we found another beech tree with many claw marks. We also found the first bobcat tracks of the day, which is always very satisfying to me, since it has taken me a long time to easily recognize bobcat tracks.

Speaking of time, we checked the time and found that I only had about 15 minutes to get back to Wendy's house, so it was a speedy trudge out of the wood on that path up to Apple Hill Center that we had crossed earlier. It was a lot steeper than we expected and we couldn't move fast, but eventually, we made it. Wendy paused to sit on the swing below the buildings at Apple Hill.

Usually once we get to a road, we are pretty much finished with new sights and sounds, but not today. Today, we followed, though not too closely a skunk as it ambled down the road. I don't usually expect to see a skunk this time of year, so it may not have been healthy. It was especially telling that it was out in the middle of the day and that it continued to go down the road. In fact, after I left to run my errand, the skunk moved around Wendy's house, and when I returned, I saw it wandering down the road again.

Just the same, it was an interesting sighting for the end of our hike. And how we enjoyed the delicious end to our hike, which was a Wendy-made gypsy soup, with lots of tasty, crisp vegetables. The food, the companionship, the discoveries: all add up to a full and satisfying day. Well worth braving the bracing cold morning.