| Installment
#7 - Pisgah NF and the Blue Ridge Parkway |
dbhg-@comcast.net |
| Jul
19, 2007 05:52 PDT |
ENTS,
Installment #7
Monica and I arose to a cool, but not cold, Monday morning at
the Pisgah Lodge. At 4,800 feet, warm mornings seldom occur,
even in the southern mountains. While Monica showered, I went
for a short hike on a nearby nature trail and within a quarter
of a mile walked into top of the mountain old growth. I wasn’t
surprised. I had found comparable old growth on the other side
of the ridgeline back in the late 1980s. Twisted northern red
oaks are the mainstay of the old growth swath that I entered.
One encounters an occasional red spruce and yellow birch and
fairly abundant American chestnut sprouts add variety to the
mainly oak community. The red oaks are 25 to at most 50 feet
tall and protrude conspicuously through a dense understory of
leathery-leaved Catawba rhododendron and mountain azalea. The
“rhodies” top out at 10 to 15 feet with an occasional
20-footer. To our immense delight, the mountain azaleas were in
bloom and there was a scattering of flame azalea. The heady
fragrance of the mountain azalea wafted in the morning breezes.
I spotted a number of wildflowers along the well-worn path with
galax beatleweed putting on a show. I wanted amble and catalog
all the species that I recognized, but my time was limited, so I
hurried back to the Inn. Besides, my stomach was broadcasting
its emptiness, whispering in my ear: “fill me”. But after
breakfast, I definitely planned to return and share the trail
with Monica. It would be a pleasant early short walk for the two
of us. But breakfast first.
Over
the years, dinning at the Pisgah Inn has been a pleasant
experience for me. The food is generally good and on occasion
excellent and the dinning room is both rather elegant and
functional. The cuisine is slightly southern. What is most
attractive to me is that the dining room has giant picture
windows that look eastward and southward toward the far eastern
reaches of the Blue Ridge. Since the Inn is at the edge of a
fairly step ridgeline, from the picture windows, one looks
abruptly down into a mountain valley and across to another line
of peaks that are in the 4,500-ft class. Beyond are more distant
ridges that fade wave after wave into an indistinct field of
lighter shades of blue until mountains merge with sky.
The
view from the window seats in the restaurant treats the customer
to an exquisite mountain panorama. Naturally I always want to
sit by the window, which brings me to a pet peeve. The hostess
usually fills the window seats first, yet only a tiny fraction
of customers look at the view. The morning of our breakfast was
no exception. We arrived too late to get a window seat, so we
were positioned one row back. As I observed the folks in the
window seats, none, save one couple, noticed what lay on the
horizon. They were engaged in their morning chitchats, which
included little or nothing about their mountainous surroundings.
I could hear bits and pieces of their conversations from the
second row table that Monica and I had to occupy and I could see
the faces of most customers occupying the window seats. So, why
were these tuned-out folks hogging the window seats? The y may
have had a customer’s right to be there, but they dang well
did not deserve their prized window seat s. I mumbled in my
coffee, but my mood quickly became upbeat when I contemplated
what was ahead for Monica and me.
The trail into the old growth was a quest for flower species as
much as for squinting at the gnarly old growth oaks. Leather
flower, galax beatleweed, wild ginger, spiderwort, columbine,
toothwort, bowman’s root, wild geranium, pinxter flower,
mountain laurel, rhododendron, and many other wild flower
species revealed themselves to us through either flowers or
leaves. The unmistakable foliage of trillium and jack in the
pulpit present no challenges. They are two of the best example
of plants that can quickly be identified by their leaf
structures without needed to see blossoms. But there were plenty
of other wild flowers to catalog, and after a quarter of a mile,
our list had grown quite long. Monica had received her third
initiation into the plant diversity of the southern
Appalachians. Her first was in Kentucky, her second in the
Smokies, and here was her third - up close and personal. The
southern mountains exhibit a level of diversity that I took for
granted until I moved to New England and found a far simpler
inventory of flowering plants. I still miss the diversity.
Back on the Parkway, we entered a section saturated with short
mountain tunnels – out of one and into the next. The briefly
darkened corridors provide entertainment for children and adults
alike. The artfully constructed Parkway tunnels were early
favorites of mine when I traveled the Parkway as a child with my
parents. But the Parkway started a fast descent and we soon
passed through the Asheville area. But, we had time to kill, so
we headed up to Craggie Gardens in the Craggy Mountain Range.
The day was perfect and I was hoping the pink-purple blooms of
the Catawba’s would enchant Monica. The Craggy Mountains are
noted for having one of the most spectacular displays of catawba
rhododendron in the southern Appalachians – roughly 600 acres
worth. The area of bloom is large enough that you can simple
view it from a parking lot or go for a stroll. We chose the
latter.
A hike from the parking lot up to one of the Craggy’s main
peaks, 5,892-ft Craggie Pinnacle, under an umbrella of
rhododendron, is an unforgettable experience, if the bloom is an
exceptionally good one. However, this year’s bloom was off,
but the old growth yellow birch along the trail and the tunnel
of rhododendron that one walks through are sufficient if you've
never encountered a gala bloom. But for me, the best was yet to
come. The view from the Pinnacle, courtesy of a small rock
observation area, is absolutely fabulous. For appreciative
visitors, Craggie Pinnacle presents the southern Appalachians at
their flowering and scenic best. The Pinnacle offers a
360-degree scenic panorama with good views of the towering Black
Mountain Range as well as a foreground view of 6081-ft Great
Craggie Dome, highest point of the Craggies.
One the way back down, we encountered a couple of high schooled
aged boys demonstrating their athletic abilities, hoofing it.
One carried a soccer ball - a young buck without the faintest
idea of what to do with himself in what for him was an alien
environment. He brushed by us and the trail was empty again.
While on the topic of great Parkway views, I’ve already
covered Mile High off a Parkway spur road at milepost 458 with
its commanding view of the Smokies. A second great view is seen
from the 5,820-ft parking lot on 6,292-foot Waterrock Knob at
milepost 451. A short hike to the top of Waterrock Knob adds
flavor. Matthew Hannum gave us a delightful account of his trek
up Waterrock Knob in an approaching thunderstorm.
A third fabulous view can be enjoyed atop Devil’s Courthouse
Rock at milepost 422.4, which we had passed the day before, but
had no time to take the hike. The Devil’s Courthouse is a
striking 5,720-foot peak, which is topped by a precipitous rock
face. Stairs have been constructed to the top via a manageable
route where one gets another 360-degree panoramic view that
takes in the Pigeon, French Broad, and Tuckasegee River valleys.
Surrounding peaks include several 6,000-footers: Mt Hardy and
Sam’s Knob to name a couple. Other 6000-footers can be seen in
the distance. There are so many mountain s to view from the
Devil’s domain that one gets that “on the top of the world
feeling”. I highly recommend the walk up to the lookout for
anyone with the time to spare.
At Craggy Pinnacle, one gazes down into a cove dominated by the
Big Ivy River. Big Ivy includes some where between 2,000 and
3,000 acres of old growth and is the location of an
environmental battle that took place in the early 1990s. Yours
truly was heavily involved. The then production-minded Forest
Service planned to greatly expand timber harvesting in what many
environmentalists (me included) considered to be a national
natural treasure. A Forest Service botanist named Karin Hyman
(sp) created a firestorm of controversy when she wouldn’t
alter a report to fit the plans of the Forest Service’s
regional chief who wanted to downplay the significance of the
diversity and rare and endangered species. Karin went public and
was fired. They definitely fired the wrong person. Those were
dark days for the Forest Service when the view from the top
echelons was that our national forests should be managed
principally for timber extraction, with other values being
subordinate - except of cour
se in the glossy promotional folders. Before passing on, I
should mention that Walker Cove, which has been mentioned in
past ENTS emails, is in the Big Ivy watershed.
After returning from the Pinnacle, Monica and I retraced our
path back toward Asheville to the turnoff for the town of Black
Mountain, NC, where Will lives. Along the way we spotted clumps
of fire pink along the roadside. Fire pink is a brilliant red
flower that has few equals for vividness. The cardinal flower
and oswego tea are close competitors. I can't choose one over
another. I love them all.
Upon arriving at Black Mountain, we pulled into Will’s abode
and settled down with liquid refreshment. It was great to see
Will as always and we had much to discuss. We stayed with Will
until Thursday morning, participating on Tuesday in the Tsuga
Search treatment of the Usis Giant, and on Wednesday, a trip up
Big Creek. I’ve already covered that period of our trip.
Well, time to call it quits. I’ll pick up with our continued
journey along the Parkway in Installment #8. BTW, for those who
read them, if these accounts are too long, please let me know. I
can shorten them.
Bob
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