the beech forest that crowns the city of Larvik is one of the most popular spots for residents and visitors to take walks in any season. of course in the winter that most likely means skiing but the fall in is normally an excellent season for walking here
and indeed much of the forest looks as it usually does for this time of year
it's a mature forest with a mix of trees of different ages and heights
but there are areas that are mainly new growth
the forest stretches from the city streets to Farris Lake
and it's a good place to search for mushrooms
but earlier this month there was a hurricane that caused a lot of damage to the forest. many of the tallest trees blew down and as they fell they often took neighboring trees with them
the forest has experienced hurricanes before that did not cause so much destruction but this hurricane called Amy was from an unusual direction that the root systems of the trees were not sufficiently secured against
it's a very sad sight to see so many fallen trees
and many more have been uprooted but not fallen to the ground. they will most likely need to be cut down as well
it will take many years for the forest to recover in the areas with the most damage but luckily there are many trees remaining
even some smaller young trees blew down as well. these had managed to grow on top of the bedrock but had very shallow root systems that offered no resistance to the forces of the winds
