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ENTS,
Yesterday Monica and I climbed to the top of Giant Ledge in New
York's Catskills. The summit ridge has a level top as it offers
spectacular views from the ledges. The highest point of Giant Ledge
reaches 3,218 feet in altitude. From the trailhead, the hiker puts
on 1,050 feet of elevation over a rocky trail to get to the summit
in the distance of 1.6 miles. Aside from the views, the most
important fact about this hike is that fully half is in bonafide old
growth forest. The remaining half is about equally split between
partial old growth and predominantly second growth. Once one reaches
solid old growth, one can continue along the ridge crest and stay
continuously in old growth to the summit of Panther Mountain at
3,760 feet and well beyond. From the trailhead, the summit of
Panther Mountain is 3.3 miles. But whether the destination is Giant
Ledge or Panther Mountain, the path is a visual feast for the old
growth enthusiast, although really big trees are not in abundance.
I have attached 9 images. My intention was to take plenty of
photographs along the way so that I could show how the forest
appears at different points, but alas, I let droplets of rain get on
my lens - unmistakable signs of an amateur. But without further
excuses, I present for your viewing pleasure, Giant Ledge.
Image #1-YellowBirch.jpg: As many of you would guess, yellow
birch plays a prominent role in the higher Catskill forests as does
American beech and sugar maple. In places hemlock plays an important
role. At the upper elevations, yellow birch, black cherry, red
spruce, and balsam fir can dominate. The forests of Giant Ledge are
truly multi-aged to fit Lee's OG definition to the letter.
Image #2 - TwistedLimbBirch.jpg: This image is characteristic of
the old yellow birches. Their crowns and side limbs reflect an
on-going battle with the elements. Yet despite many breakages, the
birches persist for two to three centuries. Notice the rocks in the
trail. That is what you get the entire way. Oh my aching feet!
Image #3 - DeepForest.jpg: At points, eastern hemlocks establish
a presence, but don't dominate. The bright green leaves of striped
maples often make the most reflective surfaces.
Image #4-AlmostRainForest.jpg: Observe the fern growth on the
rocks. Every square inch is covered with diverse plant growth. This
part of the Catskills receive 60 to 65 inches of moisture annually.
Some spots go over 70. This amount of moisture combined with lower
evaporation rates can produce an almost rainforest luxuriance. In
addition elevations above 3,000 feet can stay in clouds for long
periods of time. I am anxious to explore more of the Catskill's
higher elevations. I just have to leave my big tree expectations at
the bottoms of the mountains.
Image #5-RocksCherry.jpg: Giant Ledge and environs are flush with
black cherry and large boulders. Both are everywhere to provide us
with a visual treat par exsalonce.
Image #6-TheView.jpg: Ah, finally a view. Woops, where did it go?
Well, it didn't show itself. We stayed in a cloud bank throughout
the hike and absorbed moisture. We had to periodically ring each
other out. The view off Giant Ledge should have revealed mountains
galore. It revealed a blanket of white - cloud white.
Image #7-SecondBreak.jpg: Well, a bit of a cloud break and a
young red spruce.
Image #8:RockSculptures.jpg: All the rocks on Giant Ledge are
artistically carved. It is a requirement of the mountain gods that
they so present themselves. Quick, Ed, what are they?
Image #9-AdelgidMischief.jpg: The clouds lifted above the base of
Giant Ledge just long enough to reveal adelgid damage. Hemlocks that
have lived for 250 to 350 years have given up the ghost. Sad. The
forest you see is as virgin as it gets in the Catskills.
Well, folks, that's it for Giant Ledge. One heck'uva place. Oh
yes, Giant Ledge was the location that I took Dave Stahle, Lynn
Rogers, and others several years ago in October. It snowed lightly,
but was fabulous, as the mountain gods will Giant Ledge to always
be.
Bob
Edward Frank wrote (August 14, 2009)
Bob,
There is a real nice overview of the geology of the Catskills
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catskill_Mountains
This is a slight reordering of the information presented there:
The Catskills contain more than thirty peaks above 3,500 feet and parts
of six important rivers. The highest mountain, Slide Mountain in
Ulster County, has an elevation of 4,180 feet (1,274 m). At the
eastern end of the range the mountains begin quite dramatically
with the Catskill Escarpment rising up suddenly from the Hudson
Valley. The western boundary is far less certain, as the
mountains gradually decline in height and grade into the rest of
the Allegheny Plateau. The Poconos, to the immediate southwest
in Pennsylvania, are technically a continuation of the Catskills
under a different name.
The Catskill Mountains are more of a dissected plateau
than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the
rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient Acadian
Mountains in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The
uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during
the Devonian and early Mississippian period (395 to 325 million
years ago). The sediments traveled westward and formed a great
delta into the sea that was in the area at that time. The
eastern escarpment of the Catskill Mountains are near the former
(landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the
northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea
level by moving rivers and the Acadian Mountains were located
roughly where the Taconics are located today (though
significantly larger). The further west you travel, the finer
the sediment that was deposited and thus the rocks change from
gravel conglomerates to sandstones and shales. Even further
west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine
sandstones and shales until the end in deeper water limestones.
Over time the sediments were buried by more sediments from other
areas until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments
were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire
area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to
begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been
completely removed, allowing the Devonian and Mississippian
rocks to be exposed.
Bob, as per your specific question, this rock deposit is a
sandstone unit that formed as part of a delta complex. On the
image section below I have marked a boundary with a red line.
This is the bottom of a channel that cut into the layer below
and later was refilled by a later sand deposit, The smaller
layers are called crossbeds and relate to how the individual
sand layers were laid down. In a dune deposit the layers are
much steeper than they are here in a river/delta deposit.
If you look at individual beds you will see that the bottom
of the curved crossbeds turn and horizontally. While the top of
the individual bed curve upward and meet the layer above them at
an angle and are truncated by the overlying bed.
Ed
Robert leverett wrote (August 15, 2009)
I am attaching more images of Giant Ledge, or the forest on Giant
ledge, I should say. The extra images are especially for Jess
Riddle. I think Jess would have a ball exploring the upper
elevations of the Catskills. There is much to study in the upper
elevation old growth that escapes most eyes. The images are
described as follows.
1. Image #1-BouldersAndTrees.jpg: Boulders are generously strewn
around. Any trek through the forest constantly brings one into areas
that look like this.
2. RockFernAndUndergrowth.jpg: A apologize for the poor quality
of this shot. I was trying to capture the rich colony of polypody
fern on the big rock in the center. Every square inch of these
upland Catskill forests is covered in rich plant growth. I am
guessing that Giant Ledge forests receive about 65 inches of
moisture annually. Because the trees are relatively small, few
people pay them much attention. However, it is these mountain-top
forests of the Catskills that I find most enchanting.
3. Lichens.jpg: Ents accustomed to the high altitude forests of
the southern Apps will recognize the rich lichen growth on trunks
and limbs of the trees.
Jess,
The species I see most commonly on the Catskill summits and
upper-level slopes include red spruce, balsam fir, hemlock, yellow
birch, beech, sugar maple, red maple, striped maple, black cherry,
white ash, mountain ash, white birch, and basswood (on occasion).
Aspen can be found especially in human disturbed areas. On the south
side of Catskill slopes oak becomes abundant to dominant as you
would expect, and there are a few pitch pine cobbles where there
have been repeated occurrence of fire. I don't see white birch in
abundance in the upper elevations, such as I see in fire
successional areas in the Berkshires. The upper elevations of the
eastern Catskills are wet, wet, wet.
Bob
Continued
at:
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/d0db160e0133dc7a?hl=en
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/fdc29a8fdc26837c?hl=en
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