A Winter Wonderland Walk through McCabe with the Harris Center

The Harris Center for Conservation Education hosted an “Easy Going Hike” at the Forest Society's Dorothy and John McCabe Forest in Antrim for 22 hardy winter walkers. Harris Center Trip Leaders Susie Spikol, Ben Haubrich and Brett Amy Thelen invited Dave Anderson and Laurel Swope-Brush of the Forest Society staff to accompany the group.     

The winter woods are cloaked in a shallow snowpack – enough for some wildlife tracking.  The trails which wind along the bends of the Contoocook River are a popular local walking destination with parking and a trailhead kiosk located on Rt. 202.  We shared the glacial history of the alluvial soils of the Contoocook River – a river running north, connecting the Monadnock Region to The Central Merrimack River Valley. In post glacial time, parts of the valley are the floor of a former glacial lake.

The valley had been important travel corridor for indigenous people of the Penacook tribe of the Eastern Abenaki Nation. The Contoocook Trail from Jaffery to Peterboro and to Concord passed through Antrim and the McCabe forest, connecting Penacook villages. The original indigenous name “Kowontegok” is said to indicate  “pine river from the place of many falls.” The waterfalls of Jaffrey, Hillsborough and white water at Henniker were later developed for colonial water-powered industries.  The wide alluvial floodplain farms at Antrim occupy the slow flat stretch of the river in what had been the floor of the glacial lake.  This history is similar to the rich farmlands of the Merrimack and Connecticut River valleys.

The agricultural field at the private home had been constructed by James Hopkins who lived on the property from 1780 to 1840 and had constructed the house and operated a commercial brickyard. We visited the location of the brick clay pit and the brickyard.  Later the home was “Contoocook Manor” owned by Arthur Miller whose daughter Etta inherited the family home in 1922. John and Dorothy McCabe bought the house in 1943 and donated it to The Forest Society in 1982 to permanently protect the property from future subdivision and development. Real estate proposals at one time had included a race track, office buildings, house lots and a golf course with views of the river.

Naturalists, Susie, Ben and Dave talked about winter active wildlife: fur-bearing mammals including several rodents, 6 species of NH weasels, 3 canids, 1 feline and 2 ungulates. The river and its associated wetlands are the preferred habitat of 2 aquatic rodents muskrat and beaver and 2 weasels mink and otter. A series of vernal pools provided the opportunity for Brett Thelen to share information about amphibians breeding and the Harris Center work to annually train volunteers to help amphibians to cross busy roads throughout the Monadnock Region.