Will, Awesome trip! I would have loved to have been in on this one but at over 10 milrs you might have had to have carried me out! ~Laughing~!
" Dutchman's hammock " is awesome. What a vine! James Parton On Apr 19, 2:16 pm, "Will Blozan" <[email protected]> wrote: > ENTS, > > Yesterday I made an epic 10.5 mile hiking/bushwhacking tour of Clontz > Branch, one of the last remaining unexplored coves on the south side of > Caldwell Fork. The drainage lies in the realm of the "Eastern Hemlock > Superlative Zone"- an area in Cataloochee Valley that contains the vast > majority of super-tall eastern hemlock as determined by Jess Riddle and me > during the course of the Tsuga Search Project. Aerial photos and > remote-sensed data indicated a few small but dense groves of > hemlock-dominated forest lying in the topographic and elevation ranges > conducive to tall specimens. A survey of this last cove has been nagging at > me for quite some time. > > Clontz Branch in center of map > > The day started at a cool 36 degrees but quickly warmed up into a classic > clear, spring day. I made quick time up the Caldwell Fork Trail and paused > briefly to get waypoints for some trees and inspect the four hemlock > conservation areas I was involved with treating in 2005-2006. They were > mostly dead with scant sign of hemlock life. Treatments commenced too late > and the hemlocks are now reduced to huge, standing lichen gardens. Although > dead, the hemlocks with thick draperies of lichens were quite beautiful in > the crystal air and blue sky. > > Lichen Garden hemlock snags > > I choose to cut off trail between McKee and Clontz Branch to see the lower > flats of the ridge between them. Spunky old field pines and tulips were > already nearing 130' and 9 feet in girth. I passed over a dry ridge into the > eastern side of Clontz Branch and encountered a second-growth forest of > mainly tuliptree. As I headed up the creek the western bank began to harbor > some larger trees. I crossed over since the eastern side was west facing and > dry. The soils were very rich and spring wildflowers were raging. The trees > reflected the soil quality and the older relic specimens of tulip, > cucumbertree, red oak, and buckeye were getting impressive. The first tree I > measured was a fine, "stovepipe" cucumbertree 10'6" cbh X 139' tall. > Surrounding tuliptrees were approaching 150' tall and were accompanied by > white basswood, black birch, black cherry, and scattered hemlock. One fine > birch hit 107.8' tall on a stem 5'2" in girth. > > As I ascended the west bank a small rich cove was the first uncut or > non-settled area I encountered. A huge 16'1" X 155.1' tuliptree with little > taper dominated the cove with several others 12-15' in girth nearby. Large > red oak, buckeye, and more cucumbertree shared the cove with some impressive > hemlocks. One hemlock in the center of a dense grove was the tallest I found > all day and would have surely scaled close to 1000 cubic feet. It was 13'7" > cbh X 157' tall with sloooow taper. > > 16'1" cbh X 155.1' tuliptree > > "Dutchman's Hammock" > > I was mainly on a hunt for hemlock but the soils on Clontz Branch were much > too rich for dense or extensive hemlock forests. However, the hardwoods more > than made up for the lack of hemlock and were some of the most impressive I > have seen in the valley. The upper cove of Clontz certainly has the finest > collection of yellow buckeye I have seen in Cataloochee. The largest I saw > was 14' cbh X 141' and MASSIVE. This species is unjustly underrated as a big > tree species; among the hardwoods- second only to tuliptree and perhaps red > oak. Incidentally, a nearby unnamed cove has one over 151' tall- the tallest > specimen in the valley. > > Crown of 14' cbh X 141' buckeye > > Base of 14' cbh X 141' buckeye > > Sharing the upper cove with the buckeyes was a giant black cherry that I > believe is a girth record for the valley. This giant tree stood 121.9 feet > tall on a stocky base 15'2" CBH. Just downstream from this beast grew a > massive ~900 ft3 hemlock 14' cbh X 149.4' tall. Not bad for 4000 feet > elevation. A sugar maple nearly was 9'5" cbh and 131.1' tall. > > 15'2" X 121.9' cherry > > Crown of 15'2" X 121.9' cherry > > I headed back down the stream and explored the side coves on the eastern > side. One of the other dense hemlock groves nearly hid huge tree that would > have been close to a volume superlative. The top was broken out and the > remaining trunk stood 136.3' high. The base however, was really chunky and > at 15'7" cbh enters an elite class of huge hemlocks. Taper was slow and > numerous reiterations would have put the volume in the 1,200 ft3 range. Like > every other large hemlock I saw on Clontz Branch, it was dead and oozing > black goo from the trunk flare. Wholesale HWA slaughter. > > Not far from this giant hemlock was a sourwood that looked really, really > old. It was a relic in a former chestnut dominated flat and stood among the > carcasses of its former, fallen cohorts. At 6'4" cbh and 101 feet tall it is > the largest I know of in the valley. I headed out from there and didn't > measure anything else except for a really gnarly 17'5" tuliptree that was > completely balded and scarred with bear claw scratches leading to a huge > hollow in one of the broken off branches. I could have crawled inside the > branch if I climbed up there- it was that large. > > 6'4" X 101' sourwood > > 17'5" tuliptree base > > 17'5" tuliptree crown > > Clontz Branch has a fine collection of hardwoods and is relatively easy to > traverse. The rich soils keep the rhododendron out and the wildflowers are > spectacular. BTW, I made a concerted effort to locate a specimen of > yellowwood but even though the perfect habitat was present, none were > spotted. I don't believe the species has ever been reported from Cataloochee > yet it occurs in rich coves just to the north in Big Creek and elsewhere in > the Smokies. Maybe the elevation was too high. Truly bizarre. > > Will F. Blozan > > President, Eastern Native Tree Society > > President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc. > > image001.jpg > 59KViewDownload > > image002.jpg > 104KViewDownload > > image003.jpg > 106KViewDownload > > image004.jpg > 113KViewDownload > > image005.jpg > 94KViewDownload > > image006.jpg > 94KViewDownload > > image007.jpg > 109KViewDownload > > image008.jpg > 122KViewDownload > > image009.jpg > 132KViewDownload > > image010.jpg > 104KViewDownload > > image011.jpg > 101KViewDownload > > image012.jpg > 95KViewDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
