This week I traveled to my place with my friend by bike. It was a 45 degree October day, sunny, and so windy there was white caps on the waves in Lake Champlain.

Last time I visited my place, the sun was setting and the most of the leaves were still on the trees, although most of the deciduous trees had shown signs of leave-color change. This time, I visited my place in broad daylight and many trees had lost about 25%-60% of their leaves. The ground was littered in brown, fallen Red Oak leaves and yellow fallen ash leaves. Orange pine needles were also everywhere. As for animal activity, I did not see or hear much of it this time around. I think that this could be attributed to the high wind speeds. I did see a few chickadees and fat gray squirrels, but no sign of their homes. There was some evidence of woodpecker left behind on some of the trees, which I believe I mentioned witnessing last week.

Below is my sketch of my place. I sketched this from the concrete platform because it is a good centerpiece for this area. This concrete platform appears to be some sort of abandoned foundation for a structure, although this is just speculation. It is in the shape of a what I believe to be a decagon. If you are facing the lake while sitting on the concrete platform, your view is framed directly by Sumac and blackberry shrubs. There is also a pathway in front of you, leading to the right as well as a pathway a little behind you, leading to the left. A few feet in front of the concrete begins a rock ledge. This is also a good place to sit. In front of the rock ledge is another path, and in front of the path are several notable trees. The biggest of which is a Red Oak tree. Neighboring this oak tree are several Eastern White pines. Farther left is a medium-sized Eastern White Pine. Beyond this is sort of a dramatic down slope, which I probably won’t ever explore in regard to my own safety. The slope is covered in Hemlock, Cedar, and Red Oak trees as well as many unidentified shrubs. Directly behind the platform is a row of shrubs that I also do not recognize (which is why I did not include them in my sketch; I was unsure of how to label them). They are planted relatively close together and sort of frame the boundary of the platform. Also behind the platform is a sizable Oak tree and another, grassy path. Behind this is, essentially, a row of sumac. If your back is to the lake, there is a relatively large hemlock to your right. Behind the row of sumac are oaks, maples, and quite a few ash trees. Considering that this is a fairly woody area, I did not list every tree present, just the ones that I found to stand out due to size.

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

I could not get my computer to allow me to embed a map in this blog, so here is a link that will take you to a map that gives the approximate location of my place.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=1bdw-w4EJIJMUIRMz8XmcqCnR7N4&ll=44.45497833620077%2C-73.22885910783543&z=18

My Place is off of the bike path at Oakledge Park, in Burlington, VT. There are two ways to get to my spot. I will be describing how I get to my spot from where I live, on Trinity campus. The “main” way to get to my spot is going down Colchester Avenue, until you reach South Prospect Street. You then take a left onto South Prospect Street (past the Waterman Building) and then take a right onto College Street, and continue all the way down to the Waterfront. You then take the bike path from the Echo Center, heading left, until you reach Oakledge Park. Once you reach Oakledge Park, you continue down the bike path as if you were headed towards the more “rocky” beach. There is an offshoot trail along the bike path, which leads you to my place. On this offshoot trail, there are decrepit, shallow, concrete stairs that lead you up to a lookout, which is my place. The pathway is narrow and somewhat gravel covered. The other way to reach my place, what I like to call the “back” way,  starts with taking East Avenue from Trinity Campus, and then taking Spear Street to Athletic campus. Next, you take the South Burlington Recreation Path until it ends, which puts you near the O’Dell Apartment complexes. From there, you take Farrell Street, which turns into Home Avenue, which then turns into Austin Drive. You follow this road(s) until you reach the outer limits of Oakledge Park, where you take the bike path. You then pass the rockier of beaches (you are now headed to my spot coming from the other side of the park as the first set of directions), and eventually, you end up at the same offshoot trail that leads you to my place.

I chose this place because Oakledge is one of my favorite parks in Burlington to explore and visit regularly. My roommate and I went on a bike ride a couple of weeks ago and stumbled upon this place.  It was a beautiful spot to view the lake, and obviously frequented by people (due to the American Flag hanging from one of the trees) but still tucked away from the rest of the park.

The general elevation of my place is 200ft according to my phone’s barometer. You have a beautiful view of the lake from it as well. The most prominent plant species that I noticed were Red Oak and Eastern White Pine. Sumac was also very prevalent, as were Cedar and Hemlock. I also saw a Boxelder, some Sugar Maples, and ferns. There was a lot of very small oak saplings. My place is situated on a rock ledge. While I was up there, a woodpecker was aggressively pecking at an oak tree in front of me, which was neat to watch.

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File

Hoag, Franni. (Oakledge Park Spot) 2016 JPG File