Rock Point

According to Burlington Geographic, Rock Point was previously used by the Abenaki tribe for many different purposes. The land was cleared in the 1800s by loggers. The property was cleared and landscaped and used for subsistence agriculture. Bishop Hopkins created an Episcopal educational facility, which was destroyed in a fire. It has now mostly been restored as a natural area with some educational facilities and personal properties.

Sexton, S. (Photographer). (2020). Untitled [All Photographs]. Retrieved Fall 2020, from Rock Point.

Rock Point: Human Land-Use History. Burlington Geographic. https://www.uvm.edu/place/burlingtongeographic/focalplaces/rp-landuse.php

Jockey Hollow, Morristown NJ

The site I chose near my hometown is called Jockey Hollow, a natural area with paths and historical monuments. I took a walk through the woods with my mom, taking note of the similarities and differences between here and Rock Point. One noticeable difference was the absence of cedars in Jockey Hollow. At Rock Point, most of the understory was made up of cedars. Here there was very little understory, but there are ferns and mosses. The moss covered the forest floor off of the path because it was less disturbed. The overstory consists mainly of Red Oak trees. However, I was also able to identify Yellow Birch and Beech trees. All of these trees were very tall and seemed to have reached their full height, which doesn’t seem to be true of Rock Point where there were more trees in the middle of growth. In Jockey Hollow, a large portion of the Beech trees were carved into by humans, which was not the case at Rock Point. I feel that there is a difference in people’s outlooks towards caring for these areas in Vermont versus New Jersey, as seen by the levels of human disturbance in each of these areas.

Rain has fallen here

Drips onto the dolomite

But not onto shale

Hiking boots on rocks

I put them in the cold lake

There are no waves here

Rustling from above

Could it be a nest of birds

No it’s just a squirrel

Since my last visit, I have noticed a change in the coverage of the forest canopy. While walking through the woods farther from the shoreline, the deciduous trees are almost completely bare. At my last visit there was still some leaves left. In addition, there were more leaves covering the ground and the trails than last time because of these deciduous trees dropping their leaves. There was an increase in the brown needles on the ground from the cedars as well. The forest floor was damp because of the recent rainfall, but because of the soils makeup of glacial till, silt, and sand, it drains well.

Changes since first visit: On my first trip to Rock Point, the vegetation in the deep forest was bright green and the cedars growing near the shoreline had needles on them. This time, as the weather is getting colder and it is getting closer to the winter months, I noticed that a lot of the cedars needles were turning brown and there were lots that fell off scattered on the forest floor. I was wondering why this would be since cedars are evergreens and do not lose their leaves in the winter. After doing some research, I learned that some browning of the needles is normal in fall and winter. In addition, many of the deciduous trees present are starting to lose their leaves, and many are already completely bare.

Wildlife: On this trip, I took the time to sit in silence both near the shore and in the woods to observe the species I saw. Near the water I did not see any wildlife running about, just some insects crawling on the rocks. In the forest, I saw many squirrels and a few birds flying overhead that I couldn’t identify. Although I did not see much in person, I learned from some additional research that the natural communities at Rock Point are home to many rare or endangered plants and animals, such as moose and Indiana bats!