Exploring the Old Forest

November is a great time to really see the woods. The undulations of the land and the forms of the forest suddenly become apparent. There are still some leaves, creating beautiful interludes of green and yellow, with lower reaches of the canopy more obvious with their clinging leaves and small trunks and branches. Distant fascinations such as large, mysterious trees invite a detour into the woods to explore these hidden treasures.

So it was late fall when Buck O’Herin and I decided to explore the old forest along the Hills to Sea Trail at Sandy Stream as part of our work to assess the amazing stretch of woods there. As part of an effort to create protections for this rare old forest, we wanted to get a sense of its extent, and to describe large trees and other features we found.