Chronicles of Quabbin - Gate 15

(extracts from a hike on Wednesday, 3 January 2007)

I haven't explored a new gate at Quabbin in well over a year, since I've been content to investigate the already-familiar gates more thoroughly. But a new year opens upon us and new adventures are called for, so away I went into the great unknown. The panoramic view above is nothing special in comparison to the sweeping hilly views from the more northern extremities, but it was not the reservoir that proved to be the highlight of this new journey.

Mere miles south of Gate 16, the Shutesbury hills fold over close upon themselves to form a yawning, vast, and wild ravine, a rocky vale shadowed by towering hemlock & pine, girdled by impenetrable thickets of mountain laurel, and threaded by the crystalline waters of a babbling rill named Atherton Brook (as pictured, with another photo here). An old stone dam spans the stream, breached on one side for trout's sake - probably the largest and most complete relic I've come across yet. Numerous rock outcrops, mature oak stands, a blueberry swamp, and the heavy mountain laurel cover are all constituents of wonderful bear habitat, so I maintained especial alertness as I struggled my way through the tangled understory. The sheer density and variety of the woods is evident in the photo above, a remarkable example of a mature forest, surely much older than Quabbin itself, in the midst of a heavily managed (i.e. logged) reservation. I found one white pine nearly 4' dbh (diameter at breast height) and more 3-footers than I could count. The hemlocks were typically in excess of 2' dbh with several fully 3' across, and I also noted many girthy oaks and birches. Only a narrow and nearly indistinct trail paralleled the stream, worn by the intermittent travels of human recreators and researchers, as well as deer. The hemlock-shaded stream-lined ravine is by far my favorite forest type, and I am delighted to have discovered this one in particular due to its combination of maturity and isolation from heavy human traffic. Certainly worth a second visit, perhaps during fishing season when I may sample the brook trout population.