Unfortunately I deleted the first slice of my new Whitehead Crossing related photos last night when preparing this post. But I’ll probably take pics of all the deleted scenes soon enough. So let’s go with what we’ve got this morning. The first picture records part of the process of creating a “thinking circle”, or a place I would walk around in a big circle and just think out loud. I’ve made quite a number of these down through the years in various spots; *thinking* most recently in… well, actually I hadn’t made one of these in a number of years, and have forgotten where the last appearance would be. I use to have a thinking rock just outside of Boulder, within the Herman Park borders. I’d basically pace a small loop upon the rock while talking to myself about various, usually synchronicity related subjects. The stone lays below one of the park’s many carriage trails, jutting from the top side of a deep valley to Boulder’s west. But I haven’t been over there for many years. In contemplating the matter further, I *have* created quite a number of these loops, but usually they are of a very transient nature, and used only once or twice. But there are exceptions. Will the Whitehead Crossing contemplation circle (new name) be more long term in nature? Well, first I have to nail down the path of the loop, which I didn’t quite do this fine, late May day. The gray feather at the base of the tree pictured below might be an indicator on where the loop should be placed — I was looking for signs like this when continuing to pick out the path in test runs. If the loop is completed it seems to be of a ovoid shape, about 40 yards long and 25 or so yards wide, and centered by a large tulip tree which forks into two parts near its base.
More on that story as it develops during future visits.
A shot of the huge Knobby Log crossing Whitehead Brook near the center of the complex.
Bank of Whitehead Brook, opposite a small beach just upstream from Knobby Log or Big Log — haven’t quite settled on a name yet.
I didn’t take any pictures this day of the heart of the 4 Sticks area, which may also represent the beating heart of Whitehead Crossing as a whole. However, I certainly stopped in, as I always do when visiting WC, and took note of late spring developments. Yes, it truly seems to be an epicenter, and if I was — no, *when* I camp in the area — this is as good a spot as any to set up a tent. As with the creation of the Contemplation Loop, I’m very cognizant of the wildlife already present, with my aim to disturb and especially kill or eradicate as few of the native plants as possible. Contemplation Loop is being set up in the only logical place it could be within Whitehead X-ing, in a more open area with much fewer ground plants than other spots. The center of 4 Sticks also fits this bill, but within a much more limited range, probably too limited for the creation of a contemplation loop there. But I’ll talk more of 4 Sticks later on as well… this is probably where I’ll set the model train track down also (a la a Lion’s Roar), if it comes to that. 🙂
But to the below picture: Another thing I decided to work on today was identifying the main path through the Whitehead Crossing area, beginning at the Maine Trail (official hiking trail just north of Whitehead Crossing) and running all the way through the meat of the area — past the Contemplation Loop and Grey Seal and Cliffs of Dundee and 4 Sticks, etc. — to Green Stream, a distance of several football fields, perhaps. Just past 4 Sticks (heading to Green Stream) the trail seems to divide into 2, with the left fork quickly coming to a dead end, however. Instead, the less obvious, right fork is the way to reach the fabled stream, soon crossing the below log with a peculiar fungus attached to it now, looking perhaps a bit too much like a skull (?) Or looking at the picture a little better now, perhaps just an amorphous face with still identifiable eyes, nose, and mouth regions. The black and sparkly dots on the “face” may be insects of some kind — didn’t check when I took the picture. The same log had a large yellow fungus on its top a way’s up the branch, which I also took a picture of but didn’t turn out as well as this one.
As I’ve stated before, the Whitehead X-ing area is large and varied, with many prominent locations yet to be named. This would include the spot below, perched on the edge of a rather deep yet dry valley filled with rhododendrons, and marking probably an eastern edge of WC (or “WX”) as a whole. This would be between 4 Sticks and Green Stream on the main path through the area.
Reaching the flat plain surrounding Green Stream at the upper end of the Korean Channel, I decided to take a picture of Rock’s Rocket, first discussed in this Baker Blink Blog post from last spring. As you can see, Gene Fade has yet to find money in the “Fade to Moss” motion picture budget to paint the famed wreck, per Rock’s suggestion. Or perhaps Gene Fade thinks the rusted look will work better in the movie; can’t wait to see it, whatever. 😎
Another picture of those large, dead hemlocks positioned on opposite banks of Green Stream, marking a type of gateway.
I’ve decided to call the passage of Green Stream through this gateway the Straightway, because, as you can tell from the below photo, the creek runs basically straight in this area, or from the northern tip of Great Island, which I’ll get to in a moment, and the very upper limit of the Korean Channel at another rocky island which I’ll also talk about below.
Mr. Blue Sky was very much in evidence during this day’s visit to the Korean Channel.
(continued in Whitehead X-ing, Late Spring 02)
Sunklands 