Paddock Woods Saturday March 11
Back to the scene of our tree-thinning several weeks ago, we worked on brush, mostly, along the gully that cuts through the site. An abundance of honeysuckle taunted the first arrivals. One brush-cutter, one chainsaw, and some energetic hand tool use and hauling took care of that and kept the fire burning throughout the morning.
In another month we'll be talking about spring ephemerals, and Paddock is one of our star sites for spring viewing. Frequent rain will hopefully help make it a good spring.
Hidden Pond Woods Sunday March 12
We had another terrific group at Hidden Pond, including first-time Palos volunteers Ace and David. After a couple sessions clearing brush closer to the prairie, we focused on the western edge this time, near the multi-use trail. In our three hours we opened a big section to the trail job well done!
Kent Oliven found a reference mark originally placed by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1874 and replaced in 1944. This mark, pictured below, was a short distance (~ 112 ft.) from a triangulation station, used by surveyors in conjunction with other stations throughout the country. There should be two more reference marks - one may have been paved over when La Grange Road was widened and the other should be fairly easy to locate.
Apparently, these markers (240,000 in the U.S. alone) are popular among orienteers, who will inform the agency and send a photo, as Kent did, when they locate one.
Back to the scene of our tree-thinning several weeks ago, we worked on brush, mostly, along the gully that cuts through the site. An abundance of honeysuckle taunted the first arrivals. One brush-cutter, one chainsaw, and some energetic hand tool use and hauling took care of that and kept the fire burning throughout the morning.
In another month we'll be talking about spring ephemerals, and Paddock is one of our star sites for spring viewing. Frequent rain will hopefully help make it a good spring.
Hidden Pond Woods Sunday March 12
We had another terrific group at Hidden Pond, including first-time Palos volunteers Ace and David. After a couple sessions clearing brush closer to the prairie, we focused on the western edge this time, near the multi-use trail. In our three hours we opened a big section to the trail job well done!
Kent Oliven found a reference mark originally placed by U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1874 and replaced in 1944. This mark, pictured below, was a short distance (~ 112 ft.) from a triangulation station, used by surveyors in conjunction with other stations throughout the country. There should be two more reference marks - one may have been paved over when La Grange Road was widened and the other should be fairly easy to locate.
Apparently, these markers (240,000 in the U.S. alone) are popular among orienteers, who will inform the agency and send a photo, as Kent did, when they locate one.
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