Last week I was hiking a segment of the Heartland State Trail, a rails-to-trails path in northern Minnesota. It passes some gorgeous scenery, like the pond above near Walker (click for fullscreen). This segment had been asphalted last year, and there was evidence of some settling:
But as I walked along I noticed some discontinuities that were too focal to be caused by settling or frost heaves, such as this little eruption:
It didn't take long to find the culprit. Just a few hundred yards further down the path...
... a group of horsetails was emerging. These had been slightly damaged by foot or bike traffic, but their identity was obvious. What impressed me was that these "living fossils" were erupting, not through a crack or other discontinuity, but right through the asphalt itself, showing the power of dividing cells.
Remember Jeff Goldblum's line from Jurassic Park? "...I'm simply saying that life, uh... finds a way."
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