Entry #3, The Brook on Tollgate Rd. Manchester VT, 7/4/23

Description of site:

I arrived at my site at 1:23 pm today and the weather was warm with blue, sunny skies. This past week was another rainy week in my area, so I was not too surprised to see that the water level was even higher than last time. The white water of the falls is even more rampant than before and there are three new streams of water trickling off the ledge of the rocks. When I stood close to the edge to look at the water, the waterfall coated me with a spritz of mist. With the sun shining, the water sprayed a rainbow if I looked at it at the right angle.

I saw that the puddles are completely devoid of algae and larvae at this point. The new streams of water must have washed them away. They are nothing like the glowing bodies of water I saw my fist visit here. It’s kind of a relief there are no more mosquito larvae in them anymore. They were fun to look at at first but once I knew what they were I found them a little creepy.

Photos:

Today at my site I was more focus on the little details of my site rather than the big picture of it. Photos allowed me to capture the little wonders of the place.

Photo #1

I found this fallen birch tree with some of its bark dangling underneath it. I liked how the bark aged to form three perfect curls of bark in a row.

Photo #2:

This is another interesting birch bark phenomenon I came across. This gash in the tree travels from the base to about ten feet straight up the tree. I liked how the slice of the tree divided it into two parts which I think makes an interesting photograph.

Photo #3

This is a close-up of the flow of the waterfall as it drops off. I talk so much about the water at my wonder blog site. I liked how the water glistens in this photo. It captures its beauty and how fast it was moving today.

Photo #4

This is a photo of a perfectly circular pool of water tucked in the rocks next to the waterfall. This was such a cool find! I can’t believe I haven’t seen this yet but I am glad I found it. It almost looks like someone drilled into the rock but I’m sure it’s from natural water erosion.

Photo #5

This is a photo of the rainbows that showed up from the waterfall mist and the sun. It was hard to get a picture of it but I think this photo came out well. It captures how the mist sparkles in the sunlight which I thought would be exciting to share.

Natural History Mystery:

Ever since the first day at my wonder blog site, I have been curious as to where this brook starts and where it ends. I also wanted to know if it had any particular name. There are small brooks down almost every street in my town and I always wonder if I have technically been on that stream before or if it’s coming from somewhere new to me. Because of this, I had no prediction for where this rive could be coming from and ending. I decided to look all of this up on a map.

Where the river starts, ends, and other notable spots.

I discovered that the river starts at the long trail head that goes up Bromley Mountain and ends right next to Little Rock Pond. It’s not on this map but there is another small runoff that comes from the Batten Kill river and flows into the one I have been visiting from the west. The most interesting thing about this map is that it is the same flow of water that I have been visiting for years close to my house. I have always called the brook near my house the Bromley Brook. The official name was not indicated on the map so I will continue to call it the Bromley Brook. This is funny to me because I thought I was choosing a place that was completely new to me. Turns out I have actually been visiting this brook for my whole life but a bit farther down stream.

Conclusion:

I think that photography was an excellent way to portray the little things at my site. I find myself wondering what is worth mentioning in my site’s descriptions. What is too insignificant to share or too broad? Sketching and photography gave me the outlet I needed to discover new things about my site and show it in blog form with greater detail. I would say I am much more fulfilled by the drawings I made from last time’s visit because it took a lot of focus to produce something that looked nice. Photography felt less involved, but I am still happy with the way my photos came out.

Overall, photography was fun and new to me so I was happy to give it my best try. I also feel satisfied now that I know a bit more about the brook as a whole and that it connects to my childhood river spot. It seems that every visit to my wonder blog site gets better and better.

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