| Whitewater
River in Jocassee Gorges |
Jess
Riddle |
| Dec
08, 2003 06:36 PST |
The Jocassee Gorges straddle the South Carolina-North Carolina
state and
form deep incisions in the Blue Ridge Escarpment. The gorges,
which drain
into lake Jocassee, were all owned by Duke power company. The
two eastern
gorges are now part of Gorges State Park in NC and provide
access to Windy
Falls, previously discussed on this list, and several other
cascades.
Duke Power also maintains trails and bridges allowing public
access to the
two cascades over 300' high on the Whitewater River, the
westernmost of
the four gorges.
Prior to the establishment of the state park and the involvement
of
conservation groups, the gorges were heavily logged. Major
logging began
around 1940 and continued into the 1960's. Despite this major
disturbance, a series of studies conducted in the 1960's found
unusually
high biodiversity in the gorges. That biodiversity results in
part from
the climate of the gorges. The gorges funnel warm, moist air
from lower
parts of the river system resulting in increased precipitation
and warm
winter temperatures (Gaddy 2000). In one side gorge, over a
three year
stretch, annual rainfall averaged 92" with 115" being
the most recorded.
One report indicated the Whitewater River may receive as much as
125" of
annual precipitation. Maximum summer temperatures for the
Whitewater
gorge may also be exceptionally low for the southeast.
The Whitewater River, which flows off of the Highlands Plateau,
has older
forest between the two major cascades than is found in most of
the Region.
Small flats line the west bank throughout that two mile stretch
of river
on the state line, which also includes the Coon Branch Natural
Area. The
natural area lies entirely or almost entirely in SC, and
descriptions of
the area include both the river flats and the small tributary as
old
growth. While the lower half of the tributary shows no signs of
past
cutting, evidence of a road bed and only scattered old trees are
present
on the flats. Farther upstream, flats support remnant hemlocks
slightly
over 150' tall.
However, those hemlocks probably won't be around much longer. I
saw
hemlock woolly Adelgid in the gorge on Saturday on trees
separated by over
half a mile. No twigs that I looked at were heavily infested,
and a low
proportion of twigs are infested. I have not heard about the
scourge in
the Jocassee Gorges before, and I don't know if anyone at Duke
Power is
concerned about the infestation. The infestation likely
continues onto
national forest land in NC. I'll report the infestation if I can
find out
who to contact.
Small hemlocks occupy the understory on the more open flats in
the natural
area, while rhododendron mixed with some mountain laurel covers
many of
the flats. Tuliptree, white oak, white pine, hemlock, black
birch, and
northern red oak occupy positions in the canopy. Tuliptree is
much more
abundant on some of the adjacent east-northeast facing slopes,
and
northern red oak and white ash are most common at the slope-flat
interface.
After seeing the big tuliptrees and hemlocks during my last
visit to the
river, reading about white pine being in the area, reading about
the
climate in the gorge, and seeing the flats on the map, I had
high hopes
for finding large and tall white pines. Seeing pitch pine and
red maple
over 110' on my way down to the river seemed like an encouraging
sign.
When I got into the area, the paucity of old trees and the stout
appearance of the white pines was disappointing. I roughed out
one pine
on the far side of the river that looked typical of the area to
around
130'. I eventually measured 11'1" x 144.0' and 10'5" x
148.5' fairly
young white pines on the flats. Continuing up the river, I saw
one large,
dead white pine that was 150' when alive and one pine that
looked older
and substantially larger than the rest of the pines in the area
growing
just upslope from the flat. Farther upstream where a few small
coves
intersected the flats, I started seeing well formed northern red
oaks at
the base of the slopes, and near the end of the trail well
formed white
oaks. The tallest white oak came out to 8'9.5" x 136.6'.
That
measurement was made from two positions using three triangles,
and
probably includes an error in reading the clinometer. Shooting
vertically
with the rangefinder puts the trees height at at least 140'! As
I was
rushing out of I took a few vertical shots on what appears to be
easily
the tallest of the northern red oaks in the area. Surrounded by
young
tuliptrees, the oak reaches at least the mid 140's! One tree in
the
Alexander Creek watershed in the Brevard Belt is the only
northern red oak
that I've seen that may be taller. I also stopped in the waning
light to
measure the big white pine I saw on the way in since the tree
looked over
12' cbh. A very quick roughing out of the height puts the tree
at 140.8'.
I may have been a little generous on the midslope position, but
the
circumference is a whopping 15'3"! I have not seen another
white pine in
the south east close to that diameter. The base is swollen, but
the lower
trunk does taper. The upper portion of the trunk shows
surprisingly
little taper through the lower portions of the crown. Detailed
measurements of these trees will be a top priority in January.
Jess Riddle |
|