Slowly Unfolding

Fiddlehead

With the quick and extreme changes in weather over the past few weeks, it's hard to believe plants are even able to emerge.  Temperatures have reached the high 70's and 24 hours later, they drop low enough for two inches of snow to accumulate.

Our hike through the wetlands of the Kemil Beach trail revealed thousands of ferns unfolding, getting ready for the warmer weather.  Two types of ferns could be found here, and these were smaller and few in number.

Slow Emergence

From what I remember during hikes over the last few years, these ferns will turn into tall, thin plants with three or four fronds at the top. They grow to a height of 18 inches or so, and litter the forest floor.

The larger, more robust ferns were abundant and still in tight, round fiddleheads. Of course, just an hour after this photo was taken, it began to snow again.

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