This is one of the first steps in soil formation. So far, the trail has passed through a broad-leaf or deciduous forest. Starting at this point, evergreens, or conifers, such as the nearby spruce, become mixed with the broad-leafed trees. The high winds of these coastal storms have uprooted several trees in the vicinity, including the pine tree crossing the trail. The majority of these trees have fallen in the same direction, pushed by the wind.
Red spruce is able to grow as a seedling in the shade of the surrounding bigger trees.
When trees fall and a clearing such as this one is opened, the seedlings grow toward the sunlight. From this point you can see the Swift River and the Kancamagus Highway weaving through the Passaconaway Valley below. The parallel cracks before you are illustrative of this jointing. The glaciers quarried out fractured pieces of rock, exposing smooth surfaces of bedrock. This slope is exposed to the sun's rays during midday.