The Old Railroad Grade

Part 5

It is winter again and I am reluctant to retake pictures from last year.  This year, there was more snow and the woods are always changing.

This picture was taken just east of the arch bridge looking north on January 1, 2011.  We had not yet had a lot of snow or cold.  The water was not frozen and the high grass was not covered by snow.

The pictures below were taken on January 29, 2011.  I was the first human (I think I am human!) to walk down the trail after the snowstorm.  The tracks are from an animal.  I could not identify the prints because of the nature of the snow, but it was about the size of a dog.  The snow was over a foot deep and very difficult to traverse.  The following week, it was almost three feet deep and I stayed home.  As I walked down the trail, I took photos about every fifty or hundred feet.

I went down to the water's edge on the north side of the arch bridge and took a picture.  The water is partially frozen because of the cold weather and the grass is partially covered.

The beaver dam was partially covered by snow.

I went to the southern side of the arch bridge.  It was no easy task going down the slope to the water's edge through the deep snow.

This picture on February 19 from the same place as the first picture on this page.  It has warmed up a little, but notice that the high grass is completely covered by the snow.

I have taken a series of photographs of the dam to the south of the old railroad grade in the Village.  They will be posted on the another page.

The picture below was taken on February 26.

The next three pictures are the grade on March 12.  Some of the snow has melted.  Remnants of snowmobiles can be seen.

Most of the snow is gone from the brook.  The level is quite high.

From the water's edge, it can be seen that the water level is very high.

The beaver dam is completely under water.