clover valley fen contains a series of 8-10 ft high peat mounds that began building around a set of springs 11,500 years ago(!). sedge meadow and woods surround the fen mounds, and whitewater creek runs thru it all. the iced-over wetland was a maze of frozen tussocks, some a foot over the ice. the fen mounds were spectacular, with spring water still visibly running off below the ice.

a.

i stand on 11,000-

year-old peat, massive—

morning sun casts long shadow

b.

bryophytes make a frozen home

on patchwork of tawny fen

the springs give them life

c.

stilting our way

over calcium-rich waters

deer have set blazes