If we could slow down to geological time, we would feel the earth rising and falling beneath our feet in a perpetual churn of motion. Alas, our lives are too brief. We can, however, learn to read the landscape to understand the movement that came before our time.
On Saturday, September 14, from 9 AM–12 PM, join Chocorua Lake Conservancy for an exploration of the local glacial and bedrock geology of the Clark Reserve in Chocorua with geologist Rick Allmendinger. (Rain date will be Sunday, September 15.) The hike will offer an opportunity to see eskers, glacial meltwater channels, and kame terraces, profound evidence of natural climate change over the last 25,000 years, though still far slower than today’s anthropogenic climate change. Hikers will also see two types of granite with different ages and a visit to the Splitting Stone will show how and why the methods to work the rock used more than 100 years ago are still the ones used today. The hike will start and end at the southern end of the Old Mail Road on Chocorua Lake/Fowlers Mill Road and will cover about 2.4 miles and ~300 ft of elevation change.
The 277-acre Clark Reserve is bounded by the White Mountain National Forest to the north and The Nature Conservancy’s Bolles Reserve to the east. A mix of forest types and varied terrain make for good exploring. Small vernal pools and wooded wetlands occur along with snaking eskers and rocky slopes.
Wear sturdy shoes; hiking shoes/boots or sneakers should be fine, but flip flops might be a challenge on a couple of short steep stretches up and down Bickford Heights. Bring water and a snack, and be prepared for sun and bugs or ticks. Free for CLC members and kids; $10 suggested donation for non-members. Please register in advance above so that we can let you know of any changes in the schedule. Rain date will be Sunday, September 15.
Rick Allmendinger. Photo: Juno Lamb
Rick Allmendinger is Professor Emeritus of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. He is by training a structural geologist and has spent most of his career working in the Andes and the western United States. Nonetheless, he is a New Hampshire native by birth and his family have owned property in the basin for nearly 100 years. His first professional geology job was mapping glacial deposits and bedrock units in northeastern Massachusetts for the USGS under the direction of Gene Boudette, who later became State Geologist of New Hampshire. At Cornell, he taught courses in structural geology, regional geology, and energy and climate change.
Banner image: Visiting with a giant boulder in the Clark Reserve. Photo: Juno Lamb