Guide to the Cultural and Natural History of the Four Soldiers Path

The Physical Landscape

Average temperature differences in the soil are approximately four degrees
Fahrenheit from north to south slopes.

Our forest here is a combination of the boreal softwood forest zone found to our north and the mixed hardwood forest zone to the south. These large areas of basically similar vegetation indicate climate zones on a global scale. Here in the boundary land between the two zones, differences in forest types can be detected by traversing just a few steps along the path. This is due chiefly to the slope or steepness of a hillside, and whether it faces the sun.

The aspect of the slope (the compass direction it faces) affects the forest microclimate—the climate within and under the canopy of trees. Northern slopes generally have lower air and soil temperatures, along with less evaporation. Average temperature differences in the soil are approximately four degrees Fahrenheit from north to south slopes. A north-facing slope receives less solar radiation than a south-facing slope and thus tends to be cooler and somewhat wetter, usually supporting more conifers.

Valley floors are also cooler, but at night. As the sun sets, the ground radiates heat and cools the air, which becomes heavier and slowly drains down the slope to collect in the valleys, just as water does. On a clear still night, when radiational cooling is at its greatest, an air temperature difference of 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit can develop between a basin and an adjacent hillside. Known as “frost pockets,” these basins have a shorter growing season.

The most significant changes, however, are caused by the simple facts that the higher elevations are colder, windier, and cloudier than lower elevations. In addition, soils are thinner on higher terrain and, therefore, change temperature as quickly as the air, as opposed to the deep rich soils that can maintain a more even temperature over the course of a season.

When hiking up a mountain, gaining 1,000 feet of elevation is roughly equivalent to traveling 200 miles north, as far as forest vegetation and climate are concerned. The Four Soldiers Path gains 1,000 feet of elevation from its start at Pasture Path to the height of land at the “Eye of the Needle.”

Note: Steepest slopes, including cliffs, are almost always found on the southeast side of a hill or mountain in New England. As glaciers, centered around southern Hudson Bay, expanded outward, they rode up over the northwest side of our mountains, smoothing that side. As they expanded further to the southeast, they froze solid to huge chunks of rock, literally pulling them out of the mountain as they advanced, creating steep slopes and cliffs. Lookout Ledge is just one example of this “glacial plucking.”

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