ENTS,
To continue the saga of Blue Ridge Parkway
journey of Monica and me, when we arose the last day of our
Parkway excursion at Peaks of Otter Lodge in Virginia, I took an
early morning walk around the small, artificial lake that had
once been a wetland. Deer freely roamed the area adjacent to the
lake. They were oblivious to human presence and as tame as I've
seen. One came to within about 8 feet of me. I suppose most
people are happy to see so many deer browsing, but to me, deer
represents a species that is out of control throughout the East.
There are far too many for forest vegetation to handle, as Lee
Frelich often notes. Of course, population wise, we humans are
out of control far more so, with our propensity to reproduce
beyond the carrying capacity of every environment that we
inhabit, so I shouldn't be too hard on the poor deer.
A stand of tuliptrees on the
opposite side of the lake to the Lodge attracted my attention,
but once I got there, the forest termed out to have been invaded
by earthworms and so the ground vegetation was sparse. Fishing
from the banks of the lake is, no doubt, the culprit. The
tuliptrees were mature, but not old growth - nowhere near.
Circumference generally ran from 7 to 9 feet and heights from a measly
95 to 110 feet. All in all, the stand was a let down. As I
reached the mid-point of the stand, I thought of those South
Park skits with Officer Barbrady saying, "Move along folks,
nothing to see here". I moved along mumbling Eric Cartman
utterances to myself.
After a so-so breakfast, Monica
and I hit the Parkway heading north. The rest of the drive was
uneventful. There were plenty of views and some wild flowers,
but it is better to drive the Virginia part of the Parkway
first. That way the grandeur slowly builds toward Grandfather
Mountain, the Craggies and Blacks, the Pisgahs, and finally the
Balsams and Great Smokies. The Virginia portion of the Parkway
is very pleasant, to be sure, but is tame compared to the North
Carolina portion. The Parkway exit at its northern end is at
Rockfish Gap, where we turned west on I64 and joined I81 after
30 miles or so. From there, the trip was anticlimactic until we
reached Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania. I'll leave that
description for Installment #11.
It seems impossible for me
not to continuously be making comparisons. Altitudes of
mountains, heights, girths, and ages of trees, lengths of
rivers, volumes and surface areas of oceans, seas, and lakes,
the comparisons go one and on. One interest I have long had in
mountain comparisons is determining how much mountain you get
for your money's worth in given ranges. Along the Virginia part
of the Parkway, absolute altitudes are usually between 2,000 and
3,000 feet with the highest elevation being 3,950 feet on Apple
Orchard Mountain. Base to summit rises are the order of 1,500 to
2,500 feet because the distant valleys are low, seldom more than
500 or 700 feet above sea level. This change of elevation gives
a land relief that is great enough to impart a sense of fairly
large mountains. I usually think of an elevation change of
around 2,000 feet as needed to give a sense of real mountainous
terrain. A 3,000-ft difference prod uces the big mountain look
and 4,000 to 5,000, really
big mountains. You do get a kicker by adding a couple more
thousand feet, but unless you have rock faces, a jagged profile,
and snowcapped summits, it is hard for the eye to gauge added
height. If you increase the base to summit rise to something
like 10,000 to 12,000 feet, then the mountains look positively
enormous (they are), such as what you get with the Himalayas,
Andes, Alaskan Range, and isolated peaks like Kilimanjaro and
the great volcanoes of Mexico. But a 3,000-foot mountain uplift
is sufficient to provide a feeling of big mountains and you get
that at points and stretches along the Parkway, with a few
4,000-ft rises and a 5,000-ft change if you see the upsweep of
the western side of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Monica was thoroughly
smitten by the beauty of the Parkway. We will visit that gray
ribbon as many times as our time and resources will allow. The
many inviting vistas, the cool rhododendron saturated coves, the
showy heath balds, the streams and waterfalls, the exquisite
combination of meadows and forest, the high spruce and
fir-covered summits of the Blacks, Balsams, and Smokies, the
spectacular rock face on Grandfather Mountain, the depths of
Linville Gorge, the abundant wild flowers, the gentle, inviting
blue of the layered ridges, the swaths of old growth forest, the
list goes on. The Parkway is a national scenic treasure that has
been part of my life since early teens. I look forward to a more
leisurely trip next year.
As for now, Monica and I are
completing the sale of my Queen Ann Holyoke House, which has
dominated our time and attention over the past week and a half.
Can't wait to get back to the forest.
Bob
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