We started out the day with four of us taking a trip over to my neighbors&rsquo farm for a farm-yard tour and demo on sugar-bush management. The Dominique chickens were definitely the hit of the farm-yard. After muffins and cider we were lead to the farms sugar-bush for a demo in the proper removal of timber. The demo involved using two sets of oxen to remove felled trees. Oxen were used to minimize ground compaction. Maple trees have very shallow root systems which would be damaged by modern tree harvesting equipment.

After spotting a few cars at the end of the trail, fifteen of us headed up into Yale Forest for a hike. We were joined by Kris C. the forests' assistant manager. Our first destination point was a shelter-wood harvest where Kris gave a very informative half hour talk on the various techniques utilized to manage the forest. He explained the seventy year management cycle and the life stages the forest goes through during those seventy years.

Leaving Kris for his return trip to New Haven, we hoped onto the Nipmuck trail and headed south. We had Joe L. and amateur mycologist on the hike, so along the way we kept and eye out for fungi. Joe was able to identify all the fungi we spotted and tell us a little about each specimen.

The Nipmuck trail lead us to a scenic overlook where we were able to gaze down upon beautiful fall colors decorating the trees of Boston Hollow.

The trip was wrapped up with a short car ride back to the starting point.