New Quest Search:
Glebe Quest
Thetford, VT
Difficulty: Moderate
Special Features: Natural
Walking Conditions: Trail
Duration: 2-3 hours
Season: May-Oct
Description
This Quest crosses through Thetford Academy, Thetford Hill State Forest, and Upper Valley Land Trust land. Along the quest you will meet various tree species, a variety of forest evidence concepts covered in Tom Wessels’ Reading the Forested
Landscape, and other natural history and cultural history facts about this area. This quest will show you some interesting components of this diverse forest ecosystem, including, at the end of the quest, some of the oldest and largest trees found in Thetford. Bring your phone if you wish to use the online map.
While you’re here: Check out Sunset Hill, The Outdoor Classroom Yurt, The Torrey Mt. bike trail, the Thetford Historical Society, and the trails in the State Forest and on Thetford Academy land.
Directions
From I-91, take exit 14 for VT-113 toward US-5/Thetford and head uphill/northwest at the end of the exit ramp onto Rt. 113. After .9 miles, turn left onto Academy Road. After .4 miles, Thetford Academy is on your right. The Quest begins at the bottom of the driveway that is just past (south of) the main building.Clues and Map
Click here to view/print the clues and map for this quest.Clues
Online Map
The map will be your guide to clues
Forest facts and cool trees
A link is fun, your phone to use
Navigate with new ease
Clues:
1.Blue Numbers
Follow the blue, to find a clue
The size of a quarter
They are marked with a silver hue
Follow them in order
Extra Trees
Before you even start this quest
A couple trees to meet
Butternut and apple are best
Some rare and pretty neat
The apple is one you can spot
Butternut not so much
Use the map and look for blue dot
If these trees you must touch
2. Apple
In front of the white building search
A planted apple tree
From the branches small fruit will lurch
Just past pavement is me
3. Butternut Tree
This Vermont tree is often rare
It produces large nuts
In the winter branches are bare
The bark doesn’t have ruts
4. Start
Once you arrive at parking lot
It’s time to start your quest
To timber frame turn left and stop
Outdoor class is the best
5. Barrett Field
Cross the Barrett field to Pete’s Path
Step lightly over roots
In the garden students do math
Be careful of your boots
6. Lower Loop crossing
When you arrive at the crossing
You can look up and see
The forest has many of these
The white pine comes to be
7. White Pine
Loved for Vermont festivity
And its pure earthy scent
Treat it with great civility
Time with pine is well spent
8. Ranger cabin
Off of the Pete’s Path you will find
A cabin that is brown
Take a right now if you don’t mind
Walk the road, look around
9. Quaking Aspen
Aspens quake over assassins
Brown fur and flat tails search
Triangle leaves fall in basins
Upper branches like birch
10. Access Rd
Go on this road for ⅓ mile
Built in 1930
The woods trail crosses all the while
Ahead a bench that is sturdy
11. Six Corners
Many trails that come together
Fireplace Trail for us
Fireplace Quest here forever
Little trail turn a must
12. Frost Walk
Pass old granite fireplaces
Cross the old wooden bridge
Fifty paces a beech tree, you’ll see
Trees back has a deep ridge
13. Frost Crack
Winter sun can be a beast
Frost cracking hurts the trees
The sun beaming against white snow
It performs a bright show
14. Nurse Stump
A tree no more, now sits a stump
Along came a small seed
To now grow in a mossy clump
With the mothering deed
15. Eastern Hemlock
Eastern hemlock is sought after
Then adelgid attacks
Is strong and is used for rafters
What a punch it sure packs
16. Glebe Trail Turn
When you come to the Glebe trail sign
You must then bank a left
This is the Glebe trail starting line
You must carry your heft
17. Red Blazes
Now that you are on the glebe trail
The red dots lead the way
Stay on this trail so you don’t fail
Then you have a good day
18. Hop Hornbeam
Ironwood won’t float in water
Find it throughout Vermont
Dense rings if you’re a good spotter
Found more often than not
19. Coppiced Tree
Just Looking down you may find out
Coppiced trees are sublime.
They are the new growths from a stump
Trees live after their time
20. Paper Birch
Come to see the paper birch tree
The tree known for its bark
Rotting is not their cup of tea
And make easy landmark
21. Tree Shovel
Shovel forever bound with tree
Three bridges cross the creek
I wonder what could its use be
If only it could speak
22. Red Maple
Let your eyes become more stable
Acer rubrum, it’s latin name
Glory of red maple
Its leaves are of a flame
23. Forest Pathogen
Microscopic tree pathogen
Destroy roots, drink water
Insect and parasite damage
Finding trees to slaughter
24. Yellow Birch
Yellow birch hovers above ground
Stretching towards the free birds
Perfectly balanced on its mound
Yellow bark peels thin curls
25. Pillow
Now that the roots rotted away
All that’s left is a mound
On this hill new strong trees may grow
And there, new plants are found
26. Cradle
A dent in the ground has meaning
Roots of tree were once there
They ripped up the dirt unseaming
cradle with room to spare
27. Sugar Maple
Sugar Maple flies at full mast
Home the beauty bestow
Fake syrup make you an outcast
Springtime makes the sap flow
28. Property Lines
When in Upper Valley Land Trust
Cross a property line
Although the forest may adjust
It will make you bee-line
29. Red Spruce
The red spruce has red scaly bark
The needles have a curve
Usually not far apart
You’ll find spruce to conserve
30. American Beech
The tree is just a foreigner
It’s never out of reach
A beech around every corner
It is a common beech
31. Blowdown
A Blowdown tree, roots shimmering
The sun glistens of dun
The Tree and earth start quivering
Roots make abode for some
32. Stump
This stump is not a mystery
Before we made it fall
The tree was full of history
Hemlock that once stood tall
33. Basal Scar
Basal scars are marks left on trees
They are made by impact
They are left for people to see
The lumber gets attacked
34. Pond
Walk along till you see a pond
Festooned with cattails grass
Many beavers find very fond
A road to walk on chasse
35. Weevil Tree
This pine ahead has many shoots
An insect weevil struck
The white pine weevil is a brute
Now pine growth run amuck
36. Stay Left
From the pond turn right on gravel
About 40 yards up
A turn to the left you travel
This trail muddy buildup
37. Stone Wall
Over hills and across the plains
These walls once kept sheep caged
Through the woods like a ribboned vein
Made in 1830 they have aged
38. Painted Arrow
Look for the painted red arrow
Continue to the left
The trail will become more narrow
Soon you can take a rest
39. Stay Right
In this spot some people get lost
Keep moving to the right
If you go left you’ll pay the cost
Keep the red paint in sight
40. Lollipop turn
Up a steep hill and then turn South
The trail loops its way back
160 paces count by mouth
Find Cherry of the black
41. Black Cherry
With scaly bark as black like night
A cherry sits ahead
The canopy will bring delight
Oval leaves make a bed
42. Red Oak
Shaded forests that will be seen
To others we are sprawled
Standing tall above all we lean
Red oak is what I’m called
43. After Oak
After you see the big oak tree
The trail is what you seek
Stay to the right so you can see
Big trees are at the peak.
44. Age Discontinuity
Tree age discontinuity
Young and small old and tall
Gone superficially
The age of trees was stalled.
45. Wolf Tree
Alone in the woods of the east
Stands a tree big and bold
You could say this tree is a beast
This tree is pretty old
46. White Ash Tree
The branches of the ash tree sprawl
A crown of fifty feet
The borer might soon make it fall
While it lasts it’s still neat
47. Final Box
Facing the ash, turn to the right
Thirty or so paces
A forked tree reaching for the light
Don’t leave any traces
48. You finished
Hey, good job you have now arrived
You may take your earned stamp
What do you know, you have survived
You did this like a champ
www.
49. Getting home
Two ways to get back to the start
Return the way you came
Or, chose to see another part
The routes are not the same Put Glebe Quest Stamp Here!
Alternative route back
Go back to the Road near the pond
Follow down to pavement
Left on Road that we find so fond
See views with amazement