by Hadley C.
Blue Group 9/28/2018
On the third day at Cardigan my hiking group and I spent most of our time around the Lodge, exploring a pond across from the building to look at macroinvertebrates that live in the area. Here we found creatures such as salamanders, water boatmen, snails, mayfly nymphs, threadworms, and numerous others. We later attempted to identify these creatures, before labeling and sketching them. In order to do this we observed pictures in books and a very helpful chart that would step by step help you assess what type of creature you found. After this we went on a short hike on the Nature Trail, which took us through the woods around Cardigan Lodge.
Eventually we went off the trail to look for an old antique car. It was once used at the top of the mountain on Dukes Ski Trail to help form the "magic carpet" that people used to have. The car was rusted, and the doors hung on their hinges so that we could peek inside. The metal had grown so dilapitated, the fabric on the seats had vanished, and other objects such as the bucket and the container of gas were scattered around the area. Afterwards we played a game of camoflague in an area near the trail, before departing for our return to Hopkinton.
This is an example of one of the Five Themes of Geography known as Human Environment Interaction, since we were "interacting" with the creatures in the pond as we inspected and learned about them. We also temporarily relocated them to trays full of water so we could look at them under microscopes. All of these prospects affecting both the creatures and us. The car in the woods was also an example of this theme of geography because the car was interacting with the nature around it in order to help people get up the mountain before the area that was once Dukes Ski Trail became part of the Cardigan Mountain Reserve.
We were at Mount Cardigan and the surrounding area for three days, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. This is the Cardigan Index.