Into the Woods of Ford Glen Brook          By: Claudia Corona       9/14/09

The great thing about having chosen such an isolated site, such as Hopkins Forest, is not the fact that it is a 30 minute walk from Mission hall, or that any vehicles that pass do it with as much consistency as Williams losing to Amherst; but that it has such minimal human impact, and one can see that shortly after walking on the path towards Ford Glen Brook. As you walk down the path towards Ford Glen Brook, something out of the ordinary immediately catches one’s attention. There is a 6 foot long horizontal bright-white metal bar, about 2 feet above the ground, in front of your path. Unlike many other sites, this location already has its first line of defense against any vagabonds on motorcycles or hunters looking for a kill. This metal bar places a mild restriction on who can pass over it (or under it), and whether intentionally or not, it keeps the path towards Ford Glen Brook and all the surrounding vegetation and forestry out of touch of the human hand.

Finally, you go over the metal bar and walk down the path and one can’t hep but notice that there are few rocks, certainly no boulders, and small pebbles on the path, but less by the surrounding vegetation. You crouch down and dig a small hole with your hands near the surrounding plants and you notice that the soil covered by the fallen foliage is dark brown and a bit damp, a cause of it being rich and fertile soil.

You look up towards the sky, but you can’t see a thing. That’s when you notice that the trees are towering over you, at heights of over 36 feet, if not more. There isn’t much sunlight getting through the trees, making it look later in the day than it really is. You can tell that these are deciduous trees, especially since deciduous tend to be more shade tolerant than other types of biomes. But whether they are old-growth or second-growth forests one can’t really tell from just looking. And although trees are all that you see when you look up, they aren’t all different species. In fact, there are very few tree species in this part of the Hopkins Forest, most of them being Birch trees, Oak trees and Eastern White Pines. The trees all still have the majority of their leaves, but some are beginning to fall, indicating the soon arrival of autumn.

Under the trees are many low-lying plants and very few grasses. Unlike the tree species, there is certainly more variety among the types of plants. Various ferns, artist’s fungus, and many other leafy green plants grow on the edge of the nature path, and become denser as you walk deeper into the forest.

Eventually you keep walking and as you do, you notice that there are various fallen logs, most of which are rotting and helping the spread of fungus, but it increases the nutritional value of the wood to other organisms. The forest floor is uneven, where pits and mounds show evidence of toppled over.  As you continue to walk, you begin to hear buzzing by your ears and see mosquitoes congregating all over your face. One thinks that these mosquitoes are a big nuisance, and they are, but they are a necessary part to the nutrient cycling that goes on in temperate deciduous forests. At first sight, mosquitoes seem like the only fauna around, but if you listen closely, you can hear woodpeckers at work. Stop walking and look around, and you will most likely see Eastern chipmunks scurrying around the fallen trees if you stop.

Unlike other sites, one rarely sees any wildflowers, grass, or coniferous flora on this part of Hopkins Forest. During my trip to the Ford Glen Brook , I encountered a decent amount of poison ivy and poison oak, as well as some ticks. Hence, the word of caution, Ford Glen Brook is an amazing place, but being cautious makes the experience all that more magnificent.