On the Trail on New Year’s Day
I Visited a Vernal Pool at the North Chagrin Reservation
The vernal pool at North Chagrin Reservation, pictured on Jan. 1, 2024, is a kind of wetland that provides a place for amphibians, insects and other living beings.
By Anna Krejci
My New Year’s Day tradition is hiking in a park. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to hike
on the first day of the new year. I can
experience the distance I’ve traveled on foot.
I know I have a starting point and an ending point. A New Year’s Day hike is my first resolution
for each year, and it helps to have one that I can mark off as having been done
so early. I think it gives me momentum
to tackle the other resolutions I have.
This year I hiked in the North Chagrin Reservation of the
Cleveland Metroparks. It was not my
first time there; I wanted to return to a small wetland that I remembered from
an earlier visit.
This natural habitat I revisited was called a “vernal pool.” When I saw it on New Year’s Day, it looked
like a puddle formed on top of a leafy bottom.
They do not last long; they form in winter or spring but dry out in
summer. The pools are a little like
time, kind of fleeting. They are there
and then they aren’t. But they do
return. The role of vernal pools is to
provide safe places apart from fish for amphibians and other creatures. Otherwise,
fish would disrupt them. Because the
water in the pools evaporates, fish can never live in the places. The vernal pools are considered wetlands, and
they support the beginning of life for insect larvae, crustaceans, salamanders,
snails, reptiles and even leeches. This is
according to a sign erected by a vernal pool along Foster’s Run, a portion of
trail on the far southern end of the park.
Foster’s Run had a watercourse alongside it; water spilled
over rocks. It was a bit exciting to
sense the water’s movement – to watch and hear the current. The flow was more eye-catching than the
vernal pool at this time of year.
According to the literature about the pools from the park system, they
have no water flowing in or out. But in
the spring, I would think they should be teeming with life.
Nature fascinates me in this way. It is so prepared for the next step. The vernal pools form when it is still winter,
but they are ready for the next season when the little critters will come to
life in them. If only I could be so
well-prepared for what comes next. I
feel like every January I make plans for the coming year. There are resolutions to be made. I form expectations. Usually some of my plans come to fruition and
always it seems there are some that are postponed until the following
year. It is still progress that I make,
I believe.
So, on New Year’s Day this year, the temperature was in the
30s and snow flurries dallied around me in the air. I wore a long coat, gloves, and ear
band. After I began striding along, the
cold became less of an issue. In my
favor, the wind was not strong, and I felt sheltered underneath my coat’s hood.
Peering out from under my hood, I saw a good number of
fellow hikers and walkers at the Metropark.
I know I am not alone in doing a New Year’s Day hike. I think it is such a good tradition. My expectations for the coming year are
hopeful. Mother Nature keeps her
expectations, too, as evident by the vernal pool.
First Day Hikes Are
Common Across U.S.
Some of Ohio’s state parks, which are different entities
from the Cleveland Metroparks, held First Day Hikes to coincide with New Year’s
Day. The state park system publicized
the hikes, including those which were headed by a naturalist, in a news release
on their website. Some history of the
First Day Hikes program was provided by the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources.
On Jan. 1, 2024, there were more than 1,000 hikes scheduled among
the 50 states. They were to take place
under a program called First Day Hikes In America’s State Parks. It is a 30-year-old program, and all the
states have taken part since 2012, according to the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources.
Accessing The
Vernal Pool at North Chagrin Reservation
The closest parking lot to the vernal pool from the north is
at the A.B. Williams Memorial Woods Trailhead parking lot. After a 20-minute
walk south on the paved, all-purpose trail, I arrived at Foster’s Run, which takes
you down by the vernal pool. On the
opposite end of the trail, there is another parking lot at the Wilson Mills
Road Trailhead, so this section is accessible by both ends. The vernal pool is
marked with signs, and there is a boardwalk surrounding it.
Works Cited
“ODNR Encourages New Year’s Resolutions With First Day Hikes.”
Ohio Department of Natural Resources. 26 Dec. 2023, https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/first-day-hikes.
“Vernal Pool Restoration.” Cleveland Metroparks. Retrieved 2
Jan. 2024, https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/about/conservation/resource-management/vernal-pool-restoration-1.
