We got out for a hike today, it was a\ngorgeous 60-degree sunny day when we headed off, but as the clouds rolled in\nfor the evening rains, the temps dropped back into the 50\u2019s. No matter though,\nit was absolutely wonderful to be back in the woods. We chose an area I\u2019ve\nnever hiked before called Big River. The area is almost 8,500 acres of streams,\nponds, and trees and has literally hundreds of trails crisscrossing throughout\nthe entire area. Most trails are poorly marked, many not marked at all; you\nreally need GPS and a trail map to navigate confidently. Happily I had both,\nbut it was less necessary today as I chose an easy to follow four-mile loop\nthat wove around two of the larger ponds in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story of this area is actually\nquite interesting; I won\u2019t go through it all, but will touch on a couple of\npoints of interest. Since 1928, the state had been looking for a back up to\ntheir largest reservoir, the Scituate reservoir. Big River was chosen and plans\nwere drafted and in the 1970\u2019s, the state used eminent domain to buy the 8,500\nacres from 351 land owners and took ownership of the area. But (there\u2019s always\na but, isn\u2019t there?) there were hurdles and obstacles facing the plan to dam\nthe Big River and to flood the land for a reservoir. Ultimately it was the EPA\nthat stepped in and denied the permit and announced they would not endorse\nfuture plans for this, mostly due to the huge number of swamps, wetlands, and\nstreams that would be destroyed and the hundreds of species that would be\ndisplaced by doing so. The land remains designated as \u201copen space\u201d and in 1993\nthe state passed a law that the \u201copen space\u201d shall not be sold. To this day the\nState of RI maintains that the land is being held as a \u201cpotential future water source\u201d.\nAnd as such, the land is not maintained as are all the other properties managed\nby the state. It remains essentially the same as when they took the land fifty\nyears ago, except that a few years ago they brought in equipment and manpower\nto clean up the huge mess of illegal dumping that had been taking place, and\nthen blocking off the roads in to prevent reoccurrence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, dirt bikers and\nmountain bikers began creating their own paths and trails throughout the area,\nfollowed by hikers. Quickly the various unorganized endeavors became informally\norganized and a couple of websites for dirt bike riders began posting trails\nmapped with GPS by riders. This eventually became more widespread as hikers\nbegan similar mapping and in the blink of an eye, trail maps became available\nto download or print. Today was a Tuesday, school in session and people working\nas usual, yet over the four miles we ran into easily a half dozen people, so\nthe area has clearly become well used. There are mapped trails that range from\na couple of miles up to seventeen miles so there is much opportunity! The\nelevation is not extreme so the hiking is not challenging, at least not around\nthe ponds; we\u2019ll see what future hikes have to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woods is awakening, slowly \u2013 sort\nof the sleepy stretch we all do after a long, solid night\u2019s sleep. It has been\nan extremely mild winter here, and at least as of now, the advent of an early\nspring. Many trees are beginning to bud, mosses are deepening their green, and\nsome plants are popping up out of their winter\u2019s sleep, especially crocus and\ndaffodil \u2013 I even had a small insect land on my hand at one point. All\nharbingers of that magical reawakening of the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the start of this, I mentioned the\nevening rain, which as forecast, did arrive. Given the daytime temps well above\n50 and even touching 60, coupled with the rains, today likely kicked off one of\nthe rarer natural displays one can stumble upon in the woods \u2013 the wood frog\norgies. We were lucky enough to encounter this twice over the last twenty\nyears; the first time made me wild with curiosity at what I was experiencing\nand the second time wild with excitement to be able to witness it again. Wood\nfrogs hibernate through the winter, and can actually full freeze in the severe\ncold, but they thaw in fine health as early spring crests the horizon. And on\nthe first day with temps above 50 and with rain, they all begin a journey, a\npilgrimage form wherever they spent the winter back to the vernal pool or pond\nof their area. They come from every direction, hopping and jumping not by the\nhundreds but by the thousands, all converging on the specific pond of choice.\nAnd once there, they all begin to vocalize, signifying the beginning of their\ncourting and subsequent mating. And when I say vocalizing, I mean yelling,\nscreaming, if frogs could do so \u2013 the volume of thousands of these tiny\namphibians vocalizing is both deafening and amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were hiking near Beach Pond when I\nheard the sounds, completely unfamiliar and difficult to pinpoint an origin. We\nleft the trail and wandered to and fro through the woods trying to zero in on\nthe sound. And then we began seeing the frogs; they were in the branches, the\nleaves, on the rocks and on the trail \u2013 all moving in the same direction. We came\nto a swampy pond and clearly the genesis of the symphony of frog croaks in the\nair: thousands upon thousands of frogs. Everywhere you looked there were frogs\nand quite likely there were frogs in between everywhere you looked as well. And\nthey were all in full voice. It gave me goosebumps. Sometimes, you just know\nyou are in the midst of something special; that you are witnessing something\nalmost no one else ever gets to see, or probably even knows about. When I got\nhome that evening I jumped on the PC and Google quickly explained what I has\nseen and heard. The temps and rain the previous day had triggered the mass\nmigration of the frogs in the area to this particular pond where they courted\nand then mated. Once done, they would all turn around and head back to the\nstream, pong, pool, or puddle from where they had come. Amazing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second time was a few years later\nand was similar, except that it was in a completely different location. This\ntime the rains had just begun, during the hike, and the frogs were still early\nin their journeys to whichever pond they were headed. Some were obviously\nalready there by the loud vocalizations coming from across the trail, but the\ntrail itself was littered with little wood frogs all heading for that pond, not\nwanting to be late to the party. We didn\u2019t hike down to the pond as it was\nraining and they were still gathering, but also because we immediately knew\nwhat it was. I expect that, were I to go into the woods tomorrow, if I was\nlucky I would find the frogs all hopping along to this year\u2019s party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is magic everywhere, sometimes\nyou just need to be lucky enough to catch it. The frog orgies are certainly a\ngreat example of that, but frankly, for me, I see it every time I step foot\ninto the woods. The springs that for streams that feed swamps and ponds; the\nrocks that become carpeted with the brilliant greens of the mosses; the cliffs\nand ledges whose clefts and cracks provide just enough space to allow a seed to\ntake root and then turn into a tree \u2013 a tree that first grows out horizontally\nto the ground until it has attained enough distance from the rock face to then\nturn ninety degrees and reach for the blue sky and the sun; all examples of the\nmagic in the woods. Far from still and static, the woods are ever changing and\nevolving to support the myriad of species of both fawn and fauna within them. I\npray I never lose sight of that magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It reminds me a little of part of the\nlyrics in Metallica\u2019s For Whom The Bell Tolls: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take\na look to the sky just before you die
\nIt is the last time you will<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am not sure there is a more\nwonderful way to close your eyes the final time, looking up to the sky through\nthe trees of the woods. Of course, let\u2019s be honest here, if your final view is\nup at the sky through the trees, you probably have just gone through something\npretty severe, such as a big fall; no one who is about to breath their last\ncrawls into the woods to die so this probably isn\u2019t quite the moment I painted\nfor myself! The point is though, that the woods are filled with living magic.\nTo stay rooted in the real world, to have one\u2019s feet planted firmly on the ground, I firmly believe one needs to get\nout into the woods as often as possible \u2013 at least occasionally for those not\nclose to the woods. The roots of our humanity are there \u2013 home of our ancestors\n\u2013 and their life stories were left there, waiting to be found. And maybe just a\nlittle magic too, if you\u2019re lucky!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We got out for a hike today, it was a gorgeous 60-degree sunny day when we headed off, but as the clouds rolled in for the evening rains, the temps dropped back into the 50\u2019s. No matter though, it was absolutely wonderful to be back in the woods. We chose an area I\u2019ve never hiked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"\n