Woods Wanderer

While vacationing with Judy on the Maine coast last week, I did a little tramping around on my own. Hit a couple of the usual places, like Wells Reserve, then checked out a new trail. On the map it’s called Bridle Path, which isn’t very appealing, but I walked it anyway. Come to find out that another name for it is Mousam River Outlook Access Trail, which better reflects what the trail has to offer.

A nearly straight, wide path follows the Mousam River, just outside Kenebunkport, for a mile or so before passing into a neighborhood. The Mousam River and its salt marshes pop into view along the way. The trail crosses a few quiet tributaries that captured my attention. Not much going on there, it seemed, but I found the blend of woods and brackish waters quite alluring.

The southern Maine coast is a busy place, chock full of homes, vacation places and commercial development. But there are pockets of wildness here and there for those of us who are looking for them. An immature bald eagle perched on a dead tree along the river reminded me of that, as did the chipmunks scurrying across the trail. Wild nature, it seems, is never as far away as we think it is. And in quiet, backwater places, life goes on pretty much the same way it has for thousands of years.

Admittedly, I prefer deep woods to manicured parks and managed reserves, but wildlife, wildflowers and most other wild things don’t seem to care how far away they are from human busy-ness. This never ceases to amaze me. Migrating birds are apt to show up anywhere. Weeds growing in the cracks of an abandoned lot underscore a truth that most of us find difficult to accept, that civilization – human presence, that is – is a temporary arrangement in a world that could easily go on without us.

Tide pools scream fecundity. Salt marshes are much more subtle about it. I collected a water sample from a Mousam River backwater, looked at it under a microscope when I got home and found it to be a very busy place. Lots of microbes there. This makes me wonder how much of what’s going on around us we don’t see, or simply ignore, or shrug off. This makes me wonder how important humankind is in the greater scheme of things. Certainly not as important as we think we are.

Tags: development, Maine coast, salt marshes, wildlife, wildness

There’s a woodlot on the edge of town that I like to visit whenever I’m the mood to wander about aimlessly without having to drive very far. When I was a child growing up in Ohio, I used to roam fallow fields and woodlots where few people ever went. Doing so nowadays takes me back to my roots.

The woodlot isn’t very big – no more than a half mile square if you count the adjoining fields full of briars and scrub. The heart of it is a cedar swamp of sorts where the water table is often just above the surface level. That’s why a day like yesterday is ideal for visiting the place. With no snow cover and temps just below freezing, walking is easy. All I have to do is follow animal tracks threading through saplings and downed trees.

Hares, chipmunks, squirrels and all sorts of birds live in this woodlot. I got up close and personal with a barred owl here a few years ago. I’ve chased deer out of these woods and spooked ruffed grouse more than once. My dog loves the place because there are lots of interesting smells. Aside from a homeless fellow who once resided here, I’ve never seen anyone in this woodlot. Yet all I have to do to access it is leave my car in a grocery store parking lot and follow a track through illegally dumped trash and into the trees.

Towards the end of my ramble yesterday, I heard the hum of heavy equipment in the distance. After following an ATV trail to a field where I usually pick up the track heading back to the parking lot, I saw something that rocked my world. A huge building had just been erected in the field and all kinds of construction vehicles were moving around the place. The brand new WalMart, of course. I forgot about that. Developers broke ground last fall, shortly after clearing the last legal hurdle. Progress. Soon everything around the woodlot will be developed – perhaps even the woodlot itself. Yeah, just like the Ohio of my childhood. That’s why designated wilderness areas and forest preserves are so important. The almighty dollar changes everything.

Tags: backyard nature, bushwhacking, development