Tom Rankin
Well-known member
I joined Dick Cheney (at another undisclosed location 
), Dr. Kudish, my son David, (a budding conservation biologist at SUNY ESF), and Laurie for a trip to a high mountain meadow in the Catskills. Dr. Kudish last studied this site several years ago, and wanted to go back and see how it was doing.
Dr. Kudish seems to have an unerring sense of direction. That and he takes very good notes, which he used to help us get back to the meadow dead on.
The meadow is heavily used by deer and possibly bear as a feeding place and a water source. Herd paths, scat and animal prints were obvious. There were no human prints. We were careful to stay on the herd paths. The meadow is about 500' long and up to 200' wide in places. It is completely flat. It was surrounded by wild raisins and some kind of cherry trees.
The flowers were doing quite well. Some were over my head. There were at least 2 varieties that Dr. Kudish had never seen before in the Catskills, and that is saying something! He rattled off a long list of Latin names, but I don't remember any of them. Some of the common names are Asters, Jacob's Ladder, Cone Flower, a Parsnip relative, 3-way Sedge, Turtle Head, and many more.
We had great weather and went at a slow pace all day. I think this is the first hike I've ever done where I never broke a sweat! Another great day in the mountains!
), Dr. Kudish, my son David, (a budding conservation biologist at SUNY ESF), and Laurie for a trip to a high mountain meadow in the Catskills. Dr. Kudish last studied this site several years ago, and wanted to go back and see how it was doing.Dr. Kudish seems to have an unerring sense of direction. That and he takes very good notes, which he used to help us get back to the meadow dead on.
The meadow is heavily used by deer and possibly bear as a feeding place and a water source. Herd paths, scat and animal prints were obvious. There were no human prints. We were careful to stay on the herd paths. The meadow is about 500' long and up to 200' wide in places. It is completely flat. It was surrounded by wild raisins and some kind of cherry trees.
The flowers were doing quite well. Some were over my head. There were at least 2 varieties that Dr. Kudish had never seen before in the Catskills, and that is saying something! He rattled off a long list of Latin names, but I don't remember any of them. Some of the common names are Asters, Jacob's Ladder, Cone Flower, a Parsnip relative, 3-way Sedge, Turtle Head, and many more.
We had great weather and went at a slow pace all day. I think this is the first hike I've ever done where I never broke a sweat! Another great day in the mountains!
