The flats and scarps of Lake Dunmore

The north end of Lake Dunmore is surrounded by 250 acres of flat, level land which is less than 25 feet higher than the lake. The soil is gravely sand, and lobes of sandy soil bulge into the lake at the Keewaydin and Songadeewin summer camps. I assumed these sandy lobes were deltas built into the lake as the Laurentide glacier melted away to the north, but now I’m not so sure.

Figure 1. When I moved to this area 25 years ago this was the best map available for interpreting the history of this landscape. From this map we know that it is flat around this part of Lake Dunmore. From the soil map we know that this flat area is gravelly sand. Learning anything else required walking around. Camp Songadeewin is the southernmost flat area on the western side of the lake, and Camp Keewaydin is the flat peninsula on the east side. Part of USGS East Middlebury quadrangle.
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Delta, pine, trail

This year, the Salisbury Conservation Commission created a new trail in the Town Forest. This project started with a professional survey of the boundaries of the 140 acre town property which marked a little-known, half mile long, 30 foot-wide access corridor from Plains Road to the property. This now allows easy access to the western part of the town forest which few people in town had ever visited. Parts of the corridor were overgrown with invasive shrubs (honeysuckle) and a tremendous amount of labor was required to turn this corridor and the rest of the route into a hiking trail. With a small parking area on Plains Road it is now easy to visit the western end of the town forest.

Figure 1. The newly cleared trail along the access corridor to the town forest. This part of the new Pitch Pine Trail traverses an area that was a sand quarry in the 1940s. August 12, 2020
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Town Forest KML tour

Below is an embedded Google Earth KML tour which introduces the relationship between the Salisbury Town Forest and some glacial features.

Below is an embedded Google Earth KML tour which introduces the relationship between the Salisbury Town Forest and some glacial features. It includes a two minute flying tour with audio narration. Your computer must have the Google Earth browser plugin installed to play the tour.

Click here to open the KML tour in a new browser tab. Then click the “Play Tour” button (upper right) to start the tour. Your computer must have the Google Earth browser plugin installed to play the tour. (Note: If you enter a gigapan, the “Exit Photo” button is partly hidden under the “Terrain” button. Click the exposed edge of it to exit the gigapan.)

The controls at the lower left of the tour window can be used to stop and start the tour, and when the tour is stopped you can navigate around the landscape and view the photos and gigapans. The links within the gigapan popups are not a good way to view the gigapans. Continue reading “Town Forest KML tour”

Kame terrace KML tour

Below is an embedded Google Earth KML tour which introduces some features of KML tours.

Below is an embedded Google Earth KML tour which introduces some features of KML tours. It includes a two minute flying tour with audio narration.

The controls at the lower left of the tour window can be used to stop and start the tour, and when the tour is stopped you can navigate around the landscape and view the photos and gigapans. The links within the gigapan popups are not a good way to view gigapans.

Click here to open the KML tour in a new browser tab. Then click the “Play Tour” button (upper right) to start the tour. (Note: If you enter a gigapan, the “Exit Photo” button is partly hidden under the “Terrain” button. Click the exposed edge of it to exit the gigapan.) Continue reading “Kame terrace KML tour”

Kame Terrace video

The 11.5 minute video below describes some geomorphological features at the eastern edge of the Champlain Valley in Vermont. It includes video animations made in Google Earth and saved as video files using the Movie Maker tool in Google Earth Pro. To watch in HD, go to Vimeo. Continue reading “Kame Terrace video”