Fish On The Hill; Huckle Hill

 Prologue: 

I hope that you are equally enthralled with these sorts of things as I am. Though I offered this map for you to locate Charles Hill in my last post, this time I want you to go back to it for another reason. Enlarge the map and carefully study it. Begin at the town forest road and track down towards Slippery Rock and over towards Charles Hill. Do you see that brook? Follow it as it runs adjacent to Huckle Hill road. Follow the brook towards the base of Charles Hill near where Hickory Hollow Rd ends and then on  towards Old Farm Rd. 

Charles Hill as seen from Hickory Hollow Rd and where the brook flows through farmland.

Do you see on the map, that in this area the brook merges just north of Old Farm Rd with another brook? That brook is the brook that flows through the village at Allison Ln then under lower Huckle Hill Rd to just below where Hickory Hollow Rd begins. Are you still with me? 

 Follow the merged brooks to Central Park where two more brooks merge into the one we have been following. Locate on the map where the brook is now labeled Town Brook. Before Town Brook crosses under the railroad and 142, it picks up another brook which has come down from West Rd.

 All of the brooks that have merged  to form Town Brook, flow into the pond at the post office parking lot. At this spot, its waters are held back by a dam at the old mill site until the water level surpasses the height of the dam. It then flows over the dam, down through a steep ravine and finally into the Connecticut River.

I could barely contain my excitement as I counted the nine brook twigs and branches that combine to create Town Brook. To be perfectly honest, I am certain that they are not called twigs. I'm not even sure if I was counting twigs and branches correctly for that matter. 

What I wish you to consider is that Town Brook is like the trunk of a big tree with its branches and twigs traversing flatlands and extending up into Vernon's hills.

Now consider this, Town Brook in Vernon is but one of the twigs off of the Connecticut River. 

As I studied and talked about the map for the umpteenth time, Wayne for his part contributed "But you knew all of that before you started." Yes, it's true that I knew about Town Brook, it's branches and twigs; but that was before the fish. And because of the fish, my curiosity was rapidly flowing. 

Part 2 Fish On The Hill; Huckle Hill

If you recall from part one Fish On The Hill; But Not Charles Hill, Wayne and I while on a hike to Charles Hill, were turned back by posted land. This left us with two options, hike back up Slippery Rock to the town forest or find a new destination. It's amazing what we are willing to do to avoid hiking up a hill. 

When we arrived back at the place where a rather non descript seepage ran under the small snowmobile bridge, I asked Wayne if we could follow the water down and see where it led to. 

I'm inserting this picture of stacked rocks that I took along the water because it reminds me of the scientist from Antioch College whom I met as she was studying the Black Gum 

swamps in the town forest. She taught me that the rocks that hold the swamps (albeit on a much larger scale) are stacked in this vertical manner. 

Wayne stands at the place where the small brook, joins a larger un named brook.

We know these small brooks to dry up in the summer. With last Summer's drought conditions, it was surprising that early autumn rains had filled its small pools. 

We decided to hike along the bank.

From where had all of this water come?

It came from the J. Maynard Miller Municipal Forest, The Basin and near Hemlock Rd.

 At that place where water flows and old trees are left to meet their natural fate.

We came upon an old road of sorts which followed the brook and so decided to walk along it instead.

At places, the brook seemed to collect water from dry beds  

from which it formed deep pools

Where I first began to see them.

 I dared not say anything to Wayne, I wanted to make sure that I was seeing them.

I tried to photograph the small three to four inch fish; and because I could not, I decided that I had seen something other, perhaps a newt or frog.

How could fish have gotten to the pool in this place anyway? I certainly was mistaken! I was standing on a hill with the Interstate, then the moss filled swampy lands of RBWMA and town forest above me and Huckle Hill road below. How many dry beds? How many road culverts? How many human and naturally diverted water pathways? Yes, I most certainly was mistaken, and so I held my find to myself.

How would they survive dried summer streambeds and frozen waters?

We came upon a  substantial bridge made out of logs.

Perhaps there was something more to this un named brook. Could it be the brook was somehow more interconnected than I could know? 

And then Wayne saw them too.

We stood there watching the small fish dart in and out of the shadows.

unable to determine what kind they were and unsuccessful in taking their picture.

We crossed Huckle Hill Rd towards home; but the brook had other plans and followed instead to the side of the road on it's way to the Connecticut River. -Norma Manning

Air Photo Base Map of Vernon 2019

Topographic Base Map of Vernon with contours 2019

Fishes of Vermont, Vermont Fish & Wildlife

Blacknose Dace Note: I can't be sure that this is the fish that we saw; but my resource tells me it is common in small Vermont streams. They too admitted to me that they are unsure how they got into the stream we hiked along on Huckle Hill. Perhaps they have always been there.