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A granite boulder covered with mosses and lichens, including an odd pinkish lichen. Summer, Webster Cliff Trail, Presidential Range, White Mountain National Forest
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A lichen-covered boulder is split neatly in to three segments, cracked along planes that were once the floor of the Iapetus Ocean. Spring, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Close-up of Arethusa Falls in spring thaw. Spring, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Close-up of Arethusa Falls in spring thaw. Spring, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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At the base of Arethusa Falls, the outflow of Bemis Brook carves a channel through the rotting spring snow. Spring, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) barely rises above the mosses in the big meadow north of Crawford Notch. It has been green under the snow all winter long, like the mosses. Early spring, White Mountain National Forest
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Mats of mountain cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) and mosses are liberated by the melting snow. They will soon be overshadowed by taller herbaceous plants that will dominate the meadow north of Crawford Notch. Early spring, White Mountain National Forest
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Arethusa Falls locked in ice. Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Footprints of a red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). This shallow impression in dusty snow on top of a hard crusty snow shows the details very clearly. Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Tracks of a red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) record the rodent's busy, energetic foraging. Notice that the tracks record the way the squirrel moves: He hops, rather than walks. The snow is littered with winter-fallen twigs and the empty husks of beech nuts (Fagus grandifolia). Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A twig and cone of a red spruce (Picea rubens) lies on the snow. In late winter, the snow is littered with cones, twigs, and needles of spruce and fir. They may have been cut by a squirrel who then forgot to collect them, or simply blown down by the wind. Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Many meadow flowers hold their seeds all winter, dropping them in the spring. I don't know the species of these. Late winter, White Mountain National Forest
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Many meadow flowers hold their seeds all winter, dropping them in the spring. I don't know the species of these. Late winter, White Mountain National Forest
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Granite boulder covered with various lichens and surrounded by snow. Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Granite boulder covered with various lichens and surrounded by snow. Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Granite boulder covered with various lichens. Late winter, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Orange-brown polypore fungus (family Polyporaceae), with a little bit of leafy ("foliose") green lichen, on the trunk of a dead tree. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Moss, which remains green all winter and photosynthesizes any time there is enough light, pokes through the melting snow of late winter. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Orange-brown polypore fungus (family Polyporaceae) and leafy ("foliose") green lichen on the trunk of a dead tree. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Orange-brown polypore fungus (family Polyporaceae) and a dense blanket of green moss on the trunk of a dead tree. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Orange-brown polypore fungus (family Polyporaceae), leafy ("foliose") green lichen, and a little dark green moss on the trunk of a dead tree. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Leafy ("foliose") green lichen on the trunk of a dead tree. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Tracks of a red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). You can see where the squirrel's tail brushed the snow as it hopped along. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A mouse, either a white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) or a deer mouse (P. maniculatus), left its tracks in a thin dusting of new snow atop the older, crusted snow. You can tell the tracks of a mouse from those of a shrew because mice hop, but shrews walk. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Bemis Brook peeks out from its winter sarcophagus of snow and ice. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Ice slowly grows its way upstream to cover a hole in the winter covering of Bemis Brook. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Gray granite ledge can still be seen on the bed of Bemis Brook through a hole in its five-foot-thick blanket of ice and snow. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Gray granite ledge can still be seen on the bed of Bemis Brook through a hole in its five-foot-thick blanket of ice and snow. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A leaf-like green lichen spreading on the trunk of a dead tree. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Branches of a red spruce (Picea rubens) sapling overhang two seelings of red spruce peeking out from the snow. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Myriad species of fungus and lichen coat a broken stump, and are themselves coated with snow. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Lichen growing on a dead twig. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A white birch (Betula papyrifera) with an injury in the process of healing. When the bark is cut, the tree first grows smooth, reddish bark like this, similar to the bark of a very young white birch. Later, this bark will become grayish and furrowed, almost like the bark of a maple. After many years, the bark will return to the usual chalky white. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Bare hardwoods, mostly white birch (Betula papyrifera) and some American beech (Fagus grandifolia) stand in stark contrast against the dark hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) and the steely blue winter sky. Winter, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Close-up of a dead hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) infested with a white polypore fungus. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Close-up of a dead hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) infested with an orange fungus. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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Pink ladys slipper orchids (Cypripedium acaule) beginning to bloom, surrounded by fallen twigs of red spruce (Picea rubens). Many spruce twigs litter the ground in the spring, but I don't quite know why. Spring, Bemis Brook Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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This little seep dripping down a vertical rock face provides cool shade and moisture on a hot afternoon as you wend your way down the switchbacks from Frankenstein Cliff. Spring, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Mosses and other plants line the cracks in the pink granite beside the Saco River. There are many veins of pink granite in the Crawford Notch area, including this one near the Dry River Campground. In the foreground, gravel dropped by the river in flood lies atop the more common gray granite. Late spring, Saco River, Crawford Notch State Park
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A little mountain birch (Betula minor) sprawls on the granite beside the Saco River. This creeper-like shrub is common at high altitudes, but present wherever there are cracks in the rock. Late spring, Saco River, Crawford Notch State Park
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Arethusa Falls in the light of a late-winter morning, seen from about a third of the way up the cliff on the south side. Winter, Arethusa Falls, Crawford Notch State Park
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Elephant Head, late spring, Elephant Head, Crawford Notch
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The moss on this boulder almost looks like graffiti. Late spring, Crawford Path, White Mountain National Forest
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Granite like this, with wide rectangular crystals of quartz within it, is very common on Mount Monadnock, but there are a few pieces like this on Mount Jackson. Late spring, Webster Cliff Trail, White Mountain National Forest.
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Close-up of unusual granite with wide rectangular crystals of quartz within it. Late spring, Webster Cliff Trail, White Mountain National Forest.
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Closer view of holes in a dead American beech (Fagus grandifolia) drilled by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock.
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A vertical channel more than an inch wide has opened up in a boulder which otherwise has only horizontal layers. This may be a small example of a structure like a dike or flume, where a crack was filled with softer material, which is now eroding faster than the surrounding rock. Spring, Marion Davis Trail, Pack Monadnock
Times.
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Horizontal layers of rock have sagged over the eons into curved layers, but cracked under the strain in more recent geological time. Spring, Wapack Trail, Pack Monadnock
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A single brown leaf in an oak (Quercus sp.) catches the cold sunshine of a winter afternoon. Winter, Mine Falls Park
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A small bush growing in a crack of a lichen-encrusted boulder near the summit of Pack Monadnock. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Reindeer lichen (possibly Cladonia sp.) near the summit of Pack Monadnock. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Shining clubmoss (Lycopodium lucidulum) in the leaf litter, fall, Pack Monadnock
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Black bracket fungus on a standing dead birch, fall, Pack Monadnock
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Mushrooms on a standing dead birch, fall, Pack Monadnock
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The same species of mushrooms just emerging from within the same standing dead birch, fall, Pack Monadnock
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A large bracket fungus of the family Polyporaceae on a rotten log, fall, Pack Monadnock
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A cluster of ferns around a fallen log, fall, Pack Monadnock
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In an unseasonably warm January, meltwater seeps from the moss and down the face of a granite boulder, winter, Pack Monadnock
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A garden of mosses, lichens, and creepers on a granite boulder, winter, Pack Monadnock
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Frankenstein Cliff is lightly dusted with new-fallen snow, winter, Crawford Notch
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Tracks of a shrew (probably a northern short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda) lead to a perfectly circular tunnel in the snow. Winter, Crawford Notch State Park
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Patches of snow on leaves that rise out of a tiny watercourse. Smaller dry spots are covered with miniature "Christmas trees" of rime frost. Winter, Crawford Notch State Park
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Imprint of a fox's (Vulpes vulpes) body, where it bounded into the compacted trail, then back out again. You can see the round outline of the animal's chest, and light drag-marks where its feet brushed the snow as it jumped out. (The circular holes and drag-marks running parallel to the trail are from a hiker's walking poles.) Winter, Crawford Notch State Park
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Tracks of a fox (Vulpes vulpes) making its way through the thicket beside the Ammonoosuc River. Winter, White Mountain National Forest
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A partridge berry plant remains green among the brown autumn oak leaves, fall, Mine Falls Park
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A tiny seedling maple (Acer sp.) holds onto its fall colors amid the brown litter of earlier fallen leaves. The laurel will remain green all winter. Fall, Mine Falls Park
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Footprints of a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) in a thin dusting of snow atop the ice on the Mill Pond, late fall, Mine Falls Park
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Tracks of a mink (Mustela vison) in the late-fall snow. You can see where the little carnivore loitered, possibly to investigate a scent or to leave its own scent-mark on a dead branch. Late fall, Mine Falls Park
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A lost feather decorates the snow on Christmas Eve, winter, Mine Falls Park
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Close-up of a white pine (Pinus strobus) growing out of a tiny crack in a large boulder. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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The Wapack Trail scrambles up several low cliffs like this one. Notice the trees rooted in the cracks in the ledge. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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A young juniper (Juniperus sp.) creeps down the vertical face of a boulder. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Reindeer lichen (possibly Cladonia sp.) near the summit of Pack Monadnock. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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In this one picture, we see seedlings of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis at left) and red pine (Pinus resinosa at right), as well as shining clubmoss (Lycopodium lucidulum mostly in front of the hemlock) and ground cedar clubmoss (L. complanatum mostly in front of the pine). Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Ground cedar clubmoss (Lycopodium complanatum, mostly right and background) and shining clubmoss (L. lucidulum, front, center, and left). The ground cedar on the right, with three tiers of branches, is among the largest I've seen. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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This seedling is starting out in a crack in a boulder, with plenty of lichens for company. Summer, Pack Monadnock
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Oak leaves (Quercus sp.) locked in the ice until spring. Late fall, Mine Falls Park
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Ice on the Mill Pond has taken on a pattern that looks almost like leaves. Late fall, Mine Falls Park
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I count at least 30 annual growth rings in this 8-inch slice of red spruce (Picea rubens). Late fall, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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I haven't counted very precisely, but there are clearly well over 100 annual growth rings in this 18-inch slice of red spruce (Picea rubens). Late fall, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Lightly falling snow glitters among the trees in the weak morning sunshine. Late fall, Arethusa Falls Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Ice crystals grow from the mud and curl as they rise. Late fall, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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Similar crystals, but shorter, thicker, and not curling, rise through red mud. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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And again, shorter, thicker, straight crystals of ice. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Ice from a frozen seep forms a layer-cake across the trail. Late fall, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A small waterfall frozen in the act of spilling across the trail. Late fall, Frankenstein Cliff Trail, Crawford Notch State Park
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A tiny seedling juniper (Juniperus sp.) in a crack in a boulder on top of Pack Monadnock. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Many times, I've come close to deleting this picture of a chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), but I always stop myself. Is it an awful picture, or a serendipitous study of motion? How the bird's head markings elongate into streaks of black white and chestnut! How the forward motion and the downstroke of the wings transforms the primary flight feathers into neat diagonal gray bars! If you don't like it, don't download the full-size version. In any case, it shows why I don't have a proper picture of a chickadee: Little buggers won't sit still! Fall, Pack Monadnock
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Oak leaf (Quercus sp.) on a water-smoothed glacial erratic. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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An abandoned hornet's nest. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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A few sprigs of partridge berry and leaf litter on a bed of moss. Fall, Pack Monadnock
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A frozen seep forms a pretty layer-cake and a treacherous hazard on the trail, late fall, Crawford Notch State Park
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This frozen stream and fallen logs across the trail present a real challenge, late fall, Crawford Notch State Park
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This dripping wet monolith offers cool shade and dampness on a hot summer afternoon as you descend Frankenstein Cliff. Spring, Crawford Notch State Park
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The same cliff is a hazard of falling icicles on a winter morning as the sun warms the night's ice. And the seep below is perilously slick with inches of solid ice. Late fall, Crawford Notch State Park
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Lush lichens drape the trees in the high, swampy forests on Mount Pierce, summer, Presidential Range
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Close-up of lichens on the trees on Mount Pierce, summer, Presidential Range
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Close-up of bog vegetation on Mount Jackson includes red leaves of sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), summer, Presidential Range
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Rock face beside Saco Lake, early fall, Crawford Notch
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This odd lichen looks dead, but a little water turns it soft and green, early fall, Crawford Notch
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Basalt bedrock on Elephant Head Trail. Near the bottom of the picture, about a third of the way from the left-hand side, is an odd depression that we've always called "the fossil." I don't really know what it is, but I'm sure it's not an actual fossil in basalt. Early fall, Crawford Notch
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Close-up of the "fossil" on Elephant Head Trail, early fall, Crawford Notch
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Granite boulder, late summer, Crawford Notch
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Water strider (Gerris sp.), late summer, Crawford Notch
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A spider on pink granite, late summer, Crawford Notch
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Mixed undergrowth on the sunlit northern bank of Bemis Brook above Arethusa Falls, including stiff aster (Aster linariifolius), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium), and numerous ferns and grasses, late summer, Crawford Notch
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A little garden of ferns on a granite boulder, late summer, Presidential Range
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A little garden of ferns on a granite boulder, late summer, Presidential Range
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Slugs on granite, late summer, Presidential Range
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Bakeapple berries (Vaccinium macrocarpon). This is actually a wild cranberry, also called bear berry, and distinct from the bakeapple berry of Newfoundland (Rubus chamaemorus), also called cloud berry. But it tastes like a baked apple, complete with cinnamon. They grow in the bogs on the northern slope of Mount Jackson, and this was a banner year. Most years, I only find two or three ripe berries. Late summer, Presidential Range
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The basalt bedrock of Mount Pierce can be seen at several points along the Mizpah Cut-Off. Although cracked and worn, it still shows gouges from the continental ice sheets that crept over it in the last glaciation. Glacial scars run from upper right to lower left. The Canadian Shield is northwest of here, toward the upper right of the picture. Late summer, Presidential Range
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Water spider (family Cybaeidae). The surface he's standing on is actually water with a dense growth of tiny duckweed (Lemna minor) floating on it. Summer, Mine Falls Park
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Underside of a fern leaf, summer, Mine Falls Park
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A water strider (Gerris sp.) floating above pink granite, early summer, Crawford Notch
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Patch of wood sorrel (Oxalis montana). This is the native North American type. The common wood sorrel on your lawn or in your city park is more likely O. europaea, an invasive form. Early summer, Crawford Notch
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Layered rock cliff face, summer, Pack Monadnock
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A leaf of wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) that has been eaten by an insect larva. Notice how the track got larger as the insect grew. Summer, Pack Monadnock
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Various lichens and algae on a large granite outcrop, summer, Pack Monadnock
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Footprint of a moose in the middle of Arethusa Falls Trail, early spring, Crawford Notch
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Tracks of a red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) traveling right to left cross those of a lemming (Synaptomys borealis) going from top-left to bottom-right, winter, Crawford Notch
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Mouse tracks in the snow, winter, Crawford Notch
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Boulder with distinct striations of dark and light, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Various mosses and ferns, greenery under the winter snow, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Close-up of ferns and mosses, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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This odd lichen is called "rock tripe," but I don't know the species. I'm investigating. This plant occurs almost exclusively on vertical surfaces, almost always granite. It appears dead, but comes to life when moistened, turning green and succulent within minutes, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Shining clubmoss, mid-spring, Crawford Notch
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Moss, ground pine clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum), lichen, and hemlock seedlings (Tsuga canadensis) on an undercut bank, late winter, Mine Falls Park
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Moss and seedling hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and pine (Pinus sp.), late winter, Mine Falls Park
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Ground-pine clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum), late winter, Mine Falls Park
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Can't identify the species, or even genus, of most fungus, but I know this is of the family Polyporaceae. This is the "wallpaper" of one of my virtual computers. Late winter, Mine Falls Park
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Moss-covered roots, winter, Mine Falls Park
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Polypore fungus (either the same species as above, or not), winter, Mine Falls Park
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Lichen on red pine, winter, Mine Falls Park
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Polypore fungus (probably a different species from the two pictures above), winter, Mine Falls Park
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Nearly-bare branches of oak against the steely sky, late fall, Mine Falls Park
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Leaf litter and a red mushroom, fall, Mine Falls Park
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