Lowes & Cannon Creeks, GSMNP, TN   Jess Riddle   Feb 09, 2006 21:27 PST  Ents, In the Greenbrier district of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Porters Creek drains the northeast slope of Mount LeConte (6593'), the third highest peak in the Smokies. Prior to the park's formation, the flats that line the creek's lower section served as farmland, and settlers cleared the adjacent slopes. However, old-growth forest still extends down the watershed to an unusually low elevation of 2300'. In the uncut forest, Hemlock and rhododendron cloak many steep slopes as well as some streamside stretches. But rich cove forests line Porters Creek and its tributaries for miles, and the east side of some ridges in the area support an unusual forest dominated by silverbell and hemlock with an open understory. The rich soils, relatively mild climate of the low to mid-elevations, and the great sheltering afforded by Mount LeConte and the steep-sided Porters Mountain all help the drainage to host an assemblage of big trees that stands out even among the many great forests of the Smokies. The national champion alleghany serviceberry, devil's walking-stick, bitternut hickory, fraser magnolia, striped maple, and silverbell have all grown along Porters Creek or its tribuataries. Six tuliptrees over 20' cbh grow in the watershed, the most known from any watershed. And the Long Branch Hemlock, growing on a tributary of Porters Creek, is the second largest hemlock ENTS has modeled with a trunk volume of 1294 ft^3. A few weeks ago, Will Blozan and I visited Lowes Creek, a major tributary of Porters Creek, to relocate a tall hemlock Will and Michael Davie located several years earlier. The tree was originally measured as being 165.9' tall, which if correct would make the tree the tallest hemlock in Tennessee. On the way to Lowes Creek, we passed through a very shallow, northeast-facing cove between Lowes and the parallel Cannon Creek where my dad and I had previously seen an immense tuliptree. When I first saw the tree several years ago, it was a shell with an interior hollow 6.5' in diameter, so I had some question about whether the tree would still be standing. However, when Will and I returned, the tree remained standing in a sea of hemlocks and silverbells. At the base, only a narrow, vertical slit reveals the cavernous, empty interior of the tree, but higher up on one side half a dozen gaping holes spread across the length of the trunk. Similarly, at the top of the trunk, two bleached stubs of a massive fork attest to the effect of storms on the tree. However, many small branches poke out of the upper trunk providing the tree with an effective, but much reduced crown. Since we had a monocular with us, we quickly set about gathering diameters of the trunk from two sides. The 23'4" cbh reflects an odd bulge of the lower trunk; the base looks as if the uphill side had engulfed a small flat-bottomed boat. That swelling ends about 12' up the trunk; above which, the trunk assumes a columnar form for 75'. At one point, the trunk drops to slightly under five feet in diameter, but for most of the length, the trunk remains at least 5.25' in diameter. That long, untapered form gives the trunk a volume of 2200 ft^3. The sought for hemlock also continues to grow. The tree rises out of the rhododendron on the bank of Lowes Creek, and maintains a large, full crown. A careful remeasurement of the tree puts the height at 166.6', the third greatest known for a living eastern hemlock, and the cbh at 14'4". The tree quickly tapers to 12'2.5" at eight feet above ground, so the volume figure of 986 ft^3, obtained by viewing only one side with the monocular, is not surprising. Other measurements: Species Cbh Height Location Birch, Black 8'8" 108.6' Lowes Creek Birch, Black 10'1" 104.0' Lowes Creek Blackgum 12'4" 112.1' Cannon Creek Buckeye, Yellow 9'11" 145.4' Lowes Creek Buckeye, Yellow 9'0" 137.4' Lowes Creek Hemlock, Eastern 14'6" 146.5' Cannon Creek Holly, American 4'6" 106.2' Cannon Creek Magnolia, Fraser 6'5.5" 115.4' Lowes Creek Maple, Red 10'4" 126.6' Lowes Creek Maple, Red 7'0" 129.9' Porters Creek Maple, Red 10'4" 134.9' Near tuliptree Maple, Sugar 10'3" 129.8' Lowes Creek Maple, Sugar 8'7" 131.1' Lowes Creek Silverbell 5'11" 108.7' Lowes Creek Silverbell 7'7" 110.7' Lowes Creek Silverbell 4'5" 113.0' Lowes Creek Silverbell 6'9" 117.3' Near tuliptree Silverbell 7'11" 117.6' Cannon Creek Silverbell 5'9" 120.0' Near tuliptree Silverbell 7'9" 125.8' Cannon Creek Sourwood 7'6" 99.8' Near tuliptree The taller black birch represents a new Tennessee height record, and the larger diameter tree is a potential state champion. The blackgum was originally located several years ago, and has a maximum spread of 82'. The taller buckeye is the third tallest known, and grows at the lower end of an extensive stretch of rich cove forest along Lowes Creek. The holly is an anomaly. The species is uncommon in the park, and no other individuals have been reported close to that height anywhere. The tree appears young and forced to grow tall by competition with adjacent hemlocks. The previous height record was a 92' tree in Congaree National Park. The fraser magnolia is a new state height record. The 129.9' red maple grows in an old field. The previous state height record for silverbell was 117.3'. The sourwood was originally found several years ago. Jess Riddle & Will Blozan   Home