September 26, 2019: Lake Umbagog

This week found us up north, paddling at Lake Umbagog, a first time for me.  Ever since seeing Willem Lange feature the lake on Windows to the Wilds many years ago, we’ve wanted to experience this storied lake.  It is a special place.

The morning fog lifts, revealing Lake Umbagog.

We’ve been to the Colebrook, Errol, and Dixville Notch area before but had never been on Lake Umbagog or visited the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge; both are wonderfully protected natural areas with beautiful paddling, hiking, and camping.  Umbagog Lake State Park is a peaceful campground right on the shore of the lake.

The waterfront at Umbagog Lake State Park.

That’s where we rented a canoe for a day of paddling on a serenely quiet September day.

On our excursions we saw many of the same animals we see here in the Lakes Region including moose, herons, eagles, and ducks, but we did see one bird I’ve never spotted before:

Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) in Lake Umbagog.

According to the guidebook the greater yellowlegs is identified by a large neck and a beak longer than its head, while the lesser yellowlegs has a shorter neck and a beak shorter than its head.  Both the greater and the lesser yellowlegs are noted as rare species even at Lake Umbagog and are only seen in America during migration from their breeding grounds in boreal bogs far north in Canada.  We were fortunate to find one migrating south, taking advantage of the low water level in the lake.  The park ranger I spoke with estimated the lake is five to ten feet below where it should be at this time of year.  This unexpected sighting was the nature highlight of the trip!

We also hiked along the Magalloway River and up to The Roost in the National Wildlife Refuge.  Something that struck me is how fortunate we are to have so much undeveloped land at the western side of Meredith which supports so many New Hampshire species.  Of all the animals featured in the Lake Umbagog National Wildlife brochure, all are present right here except the black-backed woodpecker, which is perhaps a good thing since they prefer burned down forests.  We're at the very southern edge of their range, so we probably won't see them here again as they'll move north with the climate.

Being near Dixville Notch we had to hike up to Table Rock at the very top of the notch, a hike we hadn’t done for almost exactly 35 years.  

The east side of Dixville Notch from Table Rock.

The Balsams, currently closed.

We also hiked up to “The Roost” in the wildlife refuge, and both hikes were rewarded with great views and some early foliage.

The Roost in the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge with the Magalloway River below.

If you're looking for some early fall color this week, try north of the southern notches (Franconia and Crawford) this week as the trees should be starting to turn there.  

At the highest point of Dixville Notch, on top of Table Rock, there was this hardy plant surviving, even thriving, on the thin soil in that harsh environment:

Lingonberry on Table Rock.  (Vaccinium vitas-idaea)

This is known as lingonberry, cowberry, and mountain cranberry.  In the past two weeks I’ve seen cranberries growing in two highly divergent habitats:  this one in the alpine tundra, and the cranberry viburnum (which botanically, isn't a cranberry) in the wetlands at Hawkins Brook in Meredith. 

You’ll find lingonberry growing in the Alpine Gardens on Mount Washington too – that’s just how hardy this plant is, though a single plant may have taken decades to grow to its present small size.  Its low profile means it’s protected by snow cover from the worst winter elements but it also means it has a short growing season - snow will be falling on Mount Washington any day now.  The lingonberry on Table Rock was growing right where Linda is standing:

Open ledges above Dixville Notch.

These cranberries are edible, though tart.  The plentiful fruit on these plants shows the abundant sunshine available on the top of the ledge; lingonberry will grow in shade but won’t produce fruit.  Picking lingonberry is problematic because one can’t walk among the plants without destroying the fragile habitat with one’s footsteps.  Pick a few beside the trail if you’re hiking above timberline, but don’t stray from the trail, as a single footstep can destroy a hundred years of effort by plants growing in this harsh environment. 

What a diverse geographic location up near Lake Umbagog – arctic tundra cranberries and wading shorebirds found within 10 miles of each other.

I’ll share a less picturesque sight from Friday back here in Meredith.  On a run up Chemung Road after Friday’s rain I saw this muddy stream flowing under the road from the Hamlin Town Forest towards Lake Winnisquam.

I was curious as to the source of the silt in water coming from conservation land so I followed upstream and found it was still brown at the bridge at the Hamlin Trail head.

But just above the bridge, at the confluence of two streams, I found the source of the mud was not the conserved land, but rather the drainage from Chemung Road and Tucker Mountain Road. 

Muddy water on the left meets the clean water coming from the Hamlin Town Forest.

Continuing up Chemung Road, the runoff was clearly coming down from Tucker Mountain.  

This stream, after crossing Chemung Road and then Camp Waldron Road, empties into “Swamp Pond” before entering Lake Winnisquam so the silt is probably left in the wetlands before it gets to Winnisquam, but it can’t be healthy for those wetlands.  This is a good example of why the Winnisquam Wetlands Network is focused on improving road drainage within the Winnisquam watershed (which also includes the Wicwas watershed).  With a long term commitment and a lot of hard work from a coordinated effort by multiple organizations, our local streams can be returned to the same clear water and wildlife habitat that Dixville Notch enjoys.

A crystal-clear waterfall in the flume at Dixville Notch.