Tropical Storm Isaias caused surprising damage in the Northeast, long after it lost its hurricane ferocity. August 4 saw great numbers of trees broken or uprooted, and has us scratching our chins trying to figure out if a pattern existed for damage of this extent. We lost power for 6 days, had lines down and burning on Old Forge Hollow Rd., which was unpassable for a day-and-a-half.

We could not pinpoint one species of tree or any one type of location that was predominantly affected. In the middle of the woods, a tree might be broken in half, while others were just fine. Whether it was at the top of a hill or in a ravine; whether hardwood or soft; whether old or young; the picture was the same.

2020 Storm Damage: Slideshow

Blow-downs blocked all the trails that we had been managing (and one that we did not), which kept us busy well into August. This amounted to a small percentage of the actual tree damage, since many fallen and fractured trees seemed to miss the hiking trails.