Half of the forest in this area is deciduous with a good number of ironwood trees and half is a red pine plantation with clumps of eastern white-cedar. The deciduous forest is on the high ground and the ironwood trees are mostly clustered around a south facing ridge. The coniferous trees begin at the bottom of the slope leading from the ridge. The red pine plantation was full of piles of discarded pine cones like this, the work of the red squirrels I frequently saw and heard in the plantation. I was surprised with the number of piles I found and the incredible bulk of some of the piles. Everywhere I turned there was a pile!
 
At the far end of the plantation the land slopes slightly downward again and there the ground was too wet to walk through. Red maples grow in the waterlogged ground and placed among them was another large roll of wire fencing. Near the red maple grove is a footpath that I have used in the past and from the foot path I saw a very familiar clearing. My exploration of the red pine plantation ended there and suddenly, at the moment when the connection between the unfamiliar and familiar was made, the forest became a bit smaller.