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.

Hike a Right Before Rifle Season

With little more than a month until blaze orange season and not many seventy degree days ahead of us, Wayne and I decided to hit the town trail with the plan to take a right onto a state land trail which is also a VAST trail.  We have taken the gravel road that starts at the town forest trailhead on Basin road many times. This road goes past Haskin's Overlook and continues on as the White Trail Loop. We have continued straight several times where the White Loop bears left. Straight ahead leads to state lands and recent logging activity. It's easy to get lost after the "Trail Ends" sign, so if you choose to go in this way, go in prepared for this eventuality.  

I think that Wayne and I have had enough of getting lost for the season and so we decided that we would take the right just before arriving at the "trail ends" sign and head right into the Sweet Fern and the Goldenrod that has gone to seed. 

I was hoping to find a clue as to whether or not the Roaring Brook Wildlife Refuge continues to the right of the Vernon town forest without cheating and referencing a map. As a matter of fact, yes I do drive Wayne crazy. 

At the spot if we were to go straight through the sign there is posted a vast arrow pointing to the right with a gas symbol below it. Neither Wayne nor I have the faintest clue as to where there is gas available in Vernon. 

                

                                                                          Sweet Fern

The road began wide and easy enough to travel on. In spots it drops several feet below the shoulders giving hints of being older and well traveled. Areas can still be seen where it has been wet as the ruts are deep and the trail has been widened by those trying to get around them. Today however there wasn't a drop of water to be found.

The VAST trail blazes are blue heading away from the town forest and green returning to it. We also noted state land markers on the trees. 

The land has been managed and is a mix of impressive old growth and new growth trees. I hoped to see some wildlife attracted to the mixed growth; but a few birds and Coyote scat are all that we noted. 

                    I often fall in love with trees on the trail and this big red oak was no exception!

     I found it odd that these trees fell in all directions. I suppose we can call it a split decision?

                                        

                                            The trail begins to get rocky on the decline

                                                          Take this sign seriously!

A check of Google Maps shows us to be paralleling Huckle Hill road around VT Woods Studio. We decided to go down the steep decline as the map shows a stream near the bottom. 

                                                          Mountains in the distance.

As I age I find myself increasingly admiring people who can go downhill without feeling the need to gauge the effort required to go back up. Wayne has introduced me to a great strategy for return trips however; pick a point up the hill and announce, "We will take a break there." Setting goals and rewards is ever more helpful than waiting until you become blinded by salty sweat before resting. 

Photographing changes or confusing spots in the trail is helpful for the return trip. We came down on the trail to the left. I turned around to take the picture from the return perspective. I also periodically text pictures and comments to my children alerting them to our location. As experienced hikers learn to understand, anyone can get easily confused on even the best marked trails.

An hour since we left the white trail and with no water in the streambed, we decided to backtrack towards home. Wayne and I will definitely take this trail again on a day when we can start earlier. I would be interested in hearing from readers who have traveled this trail in the winter months. I would like to know where it intersects with a Vernon town road. 

This short hike to the right has me questioning where exactly wildlife gets their drinking water during drought conditions. As we drove back down Huckle Hill, we kept an eye out hoping to catch a glimpse of the stream we noted on Google Maps at the bottom of the hill we hiked. We drove past Vermont Woods Studio and down to Pond Rd only seeing dry streambeds. Perhaps in times like these, it would be kind if residents to set water out on their property for wildlife.

-Norma Manning

Hardscape, Hard to Escape

Spending time within parameters set by people of the past became a way of life after I began blogging about Vernon. While Wayne and I set out to explore the natural beauty and curiosities within Vernon's geopolitical borders; this recent turn of events has limitations imposed by official government decree. Something we were doing by choice suddenly has a very different feeling now that it is imposed by people we don't really know.

What is a wildlife corridor? "A strip of natural habitat connecting populations of wildlife otherwise separated by cultivated lands, roads etc..." -Oxford Dictionaries

I once read a meme that said something like this: What if wildlife wasn't crossing over our roads, but our roads were crossing through their homes?

Yesterday my friend shared that MA Governor Charlie Baker urged travelers to not cross MA borders.  Huckle Hill is the next road up from mine and at the top of Huckle Hill is the VT - MA border. Right at that line you will find the most beautiful beaver pond located in an official MA wildlife management area. So by governor's decree and by my own self imposed limits for the purposes of this blog, that pond was forbidden fruit. How appropriate that a wildlife management area stops at the state border; but the actual habitat does not. How thought provoking that a road runs through it.

It is out of love and a sense of responsibility to others that our governors have ordered us to not cross borders or even our neighbors thresholds. Likewise it is by love and a sense of responsibility that we ensure wildlife corridors are preserved or reestablished. - Norma Manning

Just over the border

Coexisting 

Dedicated to my friend Eileen who travels across the boarder every weekday

The state line looking down Huckle hill into Vernon