First photos from Duck Hole

I hiked to Duck Hole yesterday from Upper Works. The trail was easily passable despite occasional blowdown (easily skirted).

Click here to see my photos of Duck Hole and the broken dam.

did the lean-to's survive?

Explorer Editor said:

The two lean-tos at Duck Hole have long been favorite destinations of hikers on the Northville-Placid Trail. Both were undamaged by the storm, but their views are much impaired.

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I believe Phil mentioned the two leantos are still standing.

Jay

Sad. Very sad.

Feeling alot of regret for not having had the opportunity to visit this fabulous place.

Does anyone know the reasoning behind the creation of the Dam (other than that it created a beautiful pond)? Is something being protected downstream?

I hope the decision to rebuild/not rebuild takes into account that over the last 100 years, that area's ecosystem has likely become quite dependent on the presence of those impoundments.

MichaelJ said:

I hope the decision to rebuild/not rebuild takes into account that over the last 100 years, that area's ecosystem has likely become quite dependent on the presence of those impoundments.

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Nature adapts (either way).

A typical (undisturbed) progression is:
* ponds fill in to become marshes
* marshes become plains
* grasses etc grow
* shrubby plants replace the grasses
* trees replace the shrubby plants

The impoundment simply disturbed the progression by making or prolonging the pond.

Doug

DougPaul said:

Nature adapts (either way).

A typical (undisturbed) progression is:
* ponds fill in to become marshes
* marshes become plains
* grasses etc grow
* shrubby plants replace the grasses
* trees replace the shrubby plants

The impoundment simply disturbed the progression by making or prolonging the pond.

Doug

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Yes but I'm sure that resident animals are currently displaced or impacted by thier sudden change in the environment!

JacobH said:

Does anyone know the reasoning behind the creation of the Dam ?

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Logging which they don't do anymore. Dam releases flushed logs down a brook or river that didn't have enough flow to float logs.

DougPaul said:

The impoundment simply disturbed the progression by making or prolonging the pond.

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This loss of the impoundments happened a lot faster than any eutrophication or other natural losses.

If it were a beaver dam, the beavers would already be rebuilding.

I hope the value of Duck Hole a a place to camp, paddle, fish and commune with nature drives the decision towards rebuilding the dam.

una_dogger said:

I hope the value of Duck Hole a a place to camp, paddle, fish and commune with nature drives the decision towards rebuilding the dam.

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I see no reason why camping, fishing, and communing cannot still be done with just as much value as before. Though somewhat differently, that doesn't make it worse. As for canoeing, it was a destination to say you have carried to and paddled, but not a large body of water with much reason to canoe in other than to say you have canoed there (and I have).

una_dogger said:

Yes but I'm sure that resident animals are currently displaced or impacted by thier sudden change in the environment!

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MichaelJ said:

This loss of the impoundments happened a lot faster than any eutrophication or other natural losses.

If it were a beaver dam, the beavers would already be rebuilding.

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Of course. But the natural community will still adapt. (How is this any different from the new slides and washouts? They happened suddenly too and the natural community will still adapt...)

Maybe beavers will decide to put in a dam. Then it would be a "natural" impoundment. (Many of the organisms won't care--a pond is a pond is a pond...)

The so called "balance of nature" is not static--populations of the individual species are changing all the time in response to changes in the environment.

Doug

The dam was built by man and destroyed by nature. A meadow isn't such an ugly sight, is it?

It's a lot better than a walmart!

Jay

Jay H said:

It's a lot better than a walmart!

Jay

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Any day!
;-)

I think we just should accept what has happened. There ia more to this in the grand design then we are able to comprehend at this time. Time will reveal all. We're just a small player in all this. We don't like to think we are.

Thanks for the hiking in and snapping the photos, Phil. Glad I had a chance to visit Duck Hole and take pictures of the dam and the impoundment a few years ago.
As for the future, whether or not to rebuild the dam, I quote the Beatles:
"Let it Be."

A couple of "before" pictures.