A UVM blog Emily’s Wonderblog

Entry #3- Brook Hollow trail July 4

By ehakanss

General Information

I visited the Brook Hollow trail at around 3:30 on July 4th. The weather was very warm, in the mid/high eighties, and sunny.

Exploration

As soon as I arrived at the trail, I knew I wanted to head for the stream, as it was so rich with life and interesting scenes during my last trip. On my way there, though, a large ant hill I hadn’t noticed before by the trail caught my eye. It was immediately obvious that this colony was teeming with activity; I could see a steady flow of ants entering and exiting the mound. I crouched down on the trail to watch the ants for a bit, noticing the morsels of food many of them were carrying and wondering what they had found. If it weren’t for the rich vegetation (including poison ivy!), I would have loved to follow a few and try to uncover the colony’s food sources.

How are plants able to thrive growing from rocks?

It has always amazed me to see so many plant species happily growing tall out of a rock. How can they grow with little to no soil? This phenomena is very present on the Brook Hollow trail. My research on this has told me that many plant species, notably mosses and lichen, are able to grow from leeching minerals out of the surface of solid rock, so they don’t need any soil at all.

Photos

vines growing up a tree. I chose this subject because I thought photographing it from underneath the leaves was an interesting perspective.
Moss sprouting around a tree root. I chose this subject because I found the contrast of the green moss and the brown ground/root to be fascinating.
Fallen tree among ferns. I chose this subject for kind of the inverse reason as the last; the broken and dead nature of the tree contrasts the lush ferns nicely.
Wooden bridge over mud on the trail. I chose this subject because I loved how the man-made bridge stands out and makes a path through the untamed wilderness around it.
White flowers next to the trail. I chose this subject because there aren’t many flowers this small and delicate along the trail and I found it fascinating to focus on their small details amongst all that’s happening around them.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed the experience of taking photos of my site. I felt that it forced me to focus on small details, and on the significance of everything around me to locate subjects. It didn’t make me hone in as much as sketching did, but it was similar. One thing that was different with this was having to consider what angle photograph from. All and all, I had a very lovely and peaceful visit. I hope to see more wildlife on my next one.

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