Fall colors on Welch Mountain

Fall colors in the area are spectacular right now, even more so in the rain. Or so it seems to me. Yesterday, I spent some time on the ledges of Welch Mountain with Environmental Science and Policy undergraduate students from Plymouth State University. The students ventured to the expansive ledge area you first encounter about 1.3 miles from the trail head that leads to the summit of Welch Mountain. Despite overcast skies threatening rain, they hiked to learn about the outcrop plant communities that inhabit the ledge and some of the research methods we are adopting to monitor the long-term health of these plants. Up to 5,000 hikers may visit the ledges in a given summer. This summer we spoke to almost 1,000 hikers about the plants that live there and about the importance of staying on the trail to help protect them. When the students and I were finished with our visit on the ledge, I let them head on down before me. Alone, I enjoyed another moment or two in the kaleidoscope of fall colors breaking through the mist. 

- Kim Votta, Rey Center Research Coordinator