Baxter Cabin
Beginning on the Maddron Bald Trail, our mall group of SEFTC hikers, followed the old road which leads to Albright Grove. The first stop is at Baxter Cabin, a one room structure without a window. Some of it has been renovated but the sides of chestnut logs remain original. The road we turned onto from Rt 321 was Baxter Road. So, obviously this is a family name of the area.
The road continues to a spot where it loops at a turn around. This was the long ago trailhead. From this point, the trail is more of an old wagon road until we reach the footbridge below.
At this point, the trail crosses Indian Camp Creek and then hugs the hillside as it rises quickly. There is much Fraser Sedge in this area. Within a few hundred feet, we arrive at the first junction with Albright Loop Trail. As we make our way around the loop, large trees make their presence felt. Some of the massive Hemlocks in the grove have been saved but looking outside the loop's boundary, they are all dead. Some have fallen in spots, rerouting the trail. The other really big trees here are the Tuliptrees. I am also impressed with large Silverbells. Some trees have large hollow bases but still survive. The grove lacks the magical feeling I first experienced before the Hemlocks started to succumb to the Hemlock adelgid.
Back on the Maddron Bald Trail, we passed this massive log. Given the time, I would have liked to count the rings, but that was not to happen today.
Above is a great example of a nurse log or in this case, a nurse stump. Trees with very slow decay rates, like American Chestnut, supported seedlings which grew into trees until finally the log or stump fully decayed leaving an odd looking trees supported with a tangle roots.
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