September 22, 2015

Fox Forest in Pictures

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

Fox Forest #1. Trees and glacial erratic boulders.

Fox Forest #1. Trees and glacial erratic boulders.

For this week’s Monday Geology Picture I shared a picture of a stone wall incorporating a large glacial erratic. I took this picture recently in Fox Forest in southern New Hampshire. Yesterday, my husband and I went on a lovely hike in the forest. We saw quite a few glacial erratics… parts of the forest are piled high with them! We also saw many stone walls incorporating glacially dropped stones. Most of the forest is relatively young and grew up over the past hundred years or a little less on top of former farmland. You thus see old stone walls, the outlines of former fields, throughout the forest. You can also see old building foundations and even an old cemetery. A few parts of the forest are “virgin” and contain older trees, including some that are hundreds of years old. All in all, I recommend a walk in the forest. You can see some glacial geology… and learn about the trees and other vegetation, too!

I thought I’d share a few more pictures of our hike yesterday. If you want to read more about glacial erratics and stone walls in New England, I highly recommend this Earth Magazine article. Thanks to AGI for recommending the article to me on Twitter!

Without further ado, here are some more pictures from lovely Fox Forest:

Fox Forest #2. More glacial erratic boulders amidst the trees.

Fox Forest #2. More glacial erratic boulders and trees.

Fox Forest #3. A glacial erratic boulder, with geologist on top for scale.

Fox Forest #3. A glacial erratic boulder, with geologist on top for scale.

Fox Forest #4. Erratics, erratics everywhere!

Fox Forest #4. Erratics, erratics everywhere!

Fox Forest #5. Moss-covered erratics and some ferns.

Fox Forest #5. Moss-covered erratics and some ferns.

Fox Forest #6. A stone wall made out of glacial erratics.

Fox Forest #6. A stone wall made out of glacial erratics.

Fox Forest #7. A closer view of the stone wall.

Fox Forest #7. A closer view of the stone wall.

Fox Forest #8. A long stone wall running through the forest.

Fox Forest #8. A long stone wall running through the forest.

Fox Forest #9. A stone wall incorporating a very large erratic boulder.

Fox Forest #9. A stone wall incorporating a very large erratic boulder.

Fox Forest #10. An old cemetery in the middle of the forest.

Fox Forest #10. An old cemetery in the middle of the forest.

Fox Forest #11. Cemetery headstones.

Fox Forest #11. Cemetery headstones.

Fox Forest #13. A fallen headstone, in the process of being restored.

Fox Forest #12. A fallen headstone, in the process of being restored.

Fox Forest #14. Another large erratic boulder, with another geologist for scale.

Fox Forest #13. Another large erratic boulder, with another geologist for scale.

Fox Forest #15. Another stone wall.

Fox Forest #14. Another stone wall.

Fox Forest #16. Fading afternoon light in the forest, near the entrance to the hiking trail.

Fox Forest #15. Fading afternoon light in the forest, near the entrance to the hiking trail.