| Falls
Creek, etc. |
James
Smith |
| Jun
05, 2007 17:43 PDT |
We've just returned from a trip to the area around Sparta TN. We
hit a
number of state parks and natural areas in search of waterfalls
and old
forests.
I'm happy to say that I did locate some old-growth
forests...mainly in
Falls Creek Falls State Park. I didn't have time to really
explore
there, but I did wander into the gorge at the base of Falls
Creek Falls
and saw a lot of grand, old hemlocks and poplars. There were
even better
hemlocks in Caney Creek Gorge at the other end of the park, but
I didn't
get to do more than scan that area. None of the hemlocks I saw
at Falls
Creek Falls State Park, Burgess Falls State Natural Area, Virgin
Falls
Pocket Wilderness, or Bridgestone/Firestone Wilderness showed
any sign
whatsoever of hwa.
|
| Middle
TN: Healthy hemlock groves. |
James
Smith |
| Jun
10, 2007 09:11 PDT |
If any of you are searching for remaining large groves of
healthy
hemlocks, you can still find them in middle Tennessee in the
parks
arrayed in a vast circle around Sparta, TN.
Last week I hit Rock Island State Park, Burgess Falls State
Natural
Area, the Virgin Falls Pocket Wilderness, and Fall Creek Falls
State
Park. Each of these parks is home to varying numbers of
perfectly
healthy, uninfested groves of hemlocks. I looked at hundreds of
trees
and saw no sign whatsoever of the adelgid. The trees are all
lush and
green and full of new growth and it brought tears to my eyes to
see the
old growth groves in Fall Creek Falls State Park.
If you want to see these intact groves before it's too late, I'd
suggest
a visit as soon as possible. A ranger said that it's inevitable
and that
hwa is "headed (their) way". I asked if they were
going to try chemical
treatments, but got no definite reply.
At any rate, I don't want to get depressed talking about the
inevitable.
For the finest groves, go to Fall Creek Falls. The bottoms and
walls of
the gorge have the best trees. I took an off-trail walk into the
gorge
at the foot of Fall Creek Falls itself and was well rewarded,
seeing
many, many, many enormous hemlocks. I spotted what appeared to
be some
truly enormous hemlocks farther up the gorge at another site,
but I
didn't have time to figure out how to hike down to them. I'll
save that
for another trip.
I've posted a handful of photos and videos at Webshots if you're
inclined to look at them:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559385871cUvOzO
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559359669oIVohz
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559364771KtjapX |
| RE:
Healthy hemlock groves. |
tuce-@msn.com |
| Jun
11, 2007 06:55 PDT |
James,
Thanks for sharing that, good photos. Looks like an awesome
place! I'll
have to put those places on my sites to visit. Larry
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