I hope that this post is more popular than the last couple. Maybe folks are bored with cascades.
Bear’s Den got its name from a huge bear killed in this location. There is a story also that during colonial times, Metacomet, a chief of the Wampanoag tribe, met with others here to plan attacks on the settlers. Now it is a property managed by The Trustees of Reservations here in Massachusetts. The water for the falls is supplied by the Middle Branch of the Swift River on its way to help fill the Quabbin Reservoir.
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Even after your various waterfall pictures, it suddenly occurred to me to ask whether people are allowed to go into the water. My guess is no, in order to preserve the place, and if that’s the case, I wonder how many people ignore the rules.
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In the main reservoir, no. It’s not as strict in the brooks that feed the water body. Dilution is the solution to pollution isn’t an acceptable excuse for breaking the rules, but at 412 billion gallons toxic levels are pretty low. The biggest threat behind that rule is the introduction of invasive species. Fishing is allowed, but boats have to be hosed down first. No wading allowed but shore fishing is.
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Lovely. And I prefer the scene bare of bears, for the sake of your safety.
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Thanks, Ann. Having a bear there would wear on me fair. Actually, I’ve never had an encounter with a bear. Not sure if that’s good or bad. At a good distance would be best. 🙂
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The large rock formation in the center bears a vague resemblance to a paw — a nice reminder of the story behind the name.
The name of the Wampanoag tribe reminded me of wampum, and I realized I didn’t have a clue what wampum actually was. When I saw it was made from the shells of whelks and clams, that connected right back to your comment about the need to wash boats to prevent the spread of invasive species. We’re having trouble here with zebra mussels, and the same sort of regulations are in place.The good news is that people seem to be taking the cautions seriously, and there’s quite a bit of public discussion about the issue.
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Quabbin is concerned with zebra mussels as well. Most fishermen take the precautions seriously but it only takes a few and there are some who do what they want.
I’ve tried different placements of that large formation in various compositions but it is so dominant that no mater what it has to be dealt with. I also shot just the left side and may post that at a later date.
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It is lovely to see the falls from a step or two back. I saw a film recently about the spread of invasive species, including the zebra mussel. That boat has already sailed as far as Lake Michigan is concerned, sadly. I think there are even laws preventing the transportation of boats from one state to another out west.
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We also cannot truck wood from one county to another for fear of spreading tree destroying insects such as the Asian long-horned beetle and the emerald ash borer. A large section of Quabbin Park had an infestation of red pine scale decimate hundreds of trees.
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The insects are quite a problem here as well. We didn’t realize just how many ash trees we had until the emerald ash borers swept through and huge swathes of our forests stood dead! It looked really disconcerting but it was a boon, in a way, because now there is more room for oaks to regenerate. Our woods are perhaps healthier now than before. I have an ash growing in my garden, a daughter of my neighbor’s tree that was killed. When it gets a little bigger I’ll girdle it and leave it for the woodpeckers.
We can’t transport wood, either, but it feels like locking the barn after the horse has long since galloped over the horizon.
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