The LRCC members at the SLA have had a varied introduction to New Hampshire over the past few weeks. We’ve been snowed on, rained on, slid down mountains, encountered all sorts of wildlife, seen some beautiful sunsets (and sunrises), camped in cabins, been trained in wilderness first aid, and have gradually been increasing our skills with small engines and pickaxes, among other things. At least we know we’ll never be bored here! I’ve had some field experience in land stewardship with the National Audubon Society and the National Park Service, but this service opportunity is a new beast for me with all that the SLA takes on throughout the year.
We started Guided Hikes and Adventure Ecology Programs last week; it’s great to meet more people from the area and get some tips on things to do or good restaurants at which to eat. Kaela and I led a hike up Mount Israel, which gave us the first taste of snow this year as much of the upper section of the mountain was covered in a thin layer. We could have used some microspikes over the icy spots, but the view was certainly worth it. The LRCC members here at the SLA also took a day to drive over to another LRCC site at the Green Mountain Conservation Group in Effingham. We got to serve at their host site and see their home turf, which was a lot of fun. We finished that day off with some smores and a campfire, though it did start to graupel/soft hail on us, which was a new experience for all of us. Didn’t stop the fire and didn’t stop us from snarfing down some snores!
The Wentworth Trail near the top of Mount Israel.
The most exciting thing that’s happened this week has to be a wildlife encounter that just about startled the pants off of me. Eric, Nikka, and I hiked up the Crawford-Ridgepole Trail from Sandwich Notch Road to complete some trail work. The trail itself was beautiful, especially after it flattened out at the top of the mountains and meandered through some beautiful moss covered forest floor. It’s quiet up there, only the wind through the pine needles and the sound of our footsteps on the rock or ice-encrusted mud. That’s what made it all the more startling to turn a corner and come face to face with a big female moose nosing along the edge of the trail! I think we startled her as much as she started us; we all basically dove off trail and got trees in between us, but she was definitely unhappy we were around, making a few feints down the trail towards us and circling around in the trees as we tried to back up. I’ve been around my fair share of moose before, mostly in Wyoming, but never that close. Luckily nothing bad happened, but it was a good lesson on always keeping your head on a swivel when hiking -- not only for seeing interesting things, but also for potential dangers.
The next ten months serving with the SLA will be an exciting time, though hopefully we can continue to avoid any moose-or-otherwise-unrelated accidents during our tenure. I really love hanging with all my fellow LRCC members (I think we’re close enough by now for me to call them friends) at our cottage or at the office and getting to know more about each other and our supervisors. I haven’t had a good winter since I left Vermont in the middle of my senior year at Middlebury College in 2020, so I’m excited for the upcoming season and, especially, the lake freezing over. Plenty to look forward to!
Bri is a full-termer serving with the Squam Lakes Association. She graduated from Middlebury College with a double major in biology and anthropology/sociology. Learn more about Bri here!