Jess,
I have long been curious about what the Balsam Mountains have to offer. Thanks
for taking on the challenge of decoding these marvelous mountains that stand in
the Shadows of the Blacks and Smokies, but are pretty much their equals. I saw
a rainfall distribution that was established out of the University of Oregon, I
think. It listed an area of the Balsams at 112 inches, if my memory serves me
correctly. That was the highest eastern rainfall plot I had seen. Do you know
the one I refer to?
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jess Riddle" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 10:33:04 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [ENTS] Horse Cove, NC
Ents, On Saturday, at the suggestion of Josh Kelly and Will Blozan, we followed
the Davidson River west from Brevard, NC to explore Horse Cove and East Horse
Cove. Ascending to just under 6000’ elevation, the surrounding watershed drains
the steep southeastern flank of the Balsam Mountains, and features several
granitic domes, the best known of which is Looking Glass Rock
(http://tinyurl.com/yct2wqw). John Rock, one of the smaller granitic domes,
shelters Horse Cove from the west, and the steep upper slopes of Chestnut Knob
provide shade from the south/southeast. While Horse Cove is a broad cove
draining to the north with several small, steep, sub-coves coming off Chestnut
Knob, the adjacent East Horse Cove is a northeast flowing ravine. East Horse
Cove generally appears more acidic with patchy rhododendron along the stream,
although near the top of the stream spicebush dominates the understory.
Tuliptrees line the stream, but on the east facing slopes they quickly give way
to a mix of hickories and oaks. Tuliptree also forms nearly pure stands where
side coves enter into Horse Cove, and on those sites spicebush again dominates
the understory. Gentler sections of Horse Cove support a more diverse overstory
that, in addition to tuliptree, includes a mix of oaks, pignut hickory, and
beech. Throughout the cove silverbell occurs as an understory species, and a
few sugar maples, locally uncommon, grow in the midstory. The overstory is
generally mature, probably a little less than 100 years old, except for a
section of the middle of the cove that was clear cut perhaps a decade ago.
Species Cbh Height Ash, White 7’8” 136.6’ Beech 6’2.5” 130.6’ Basswood, White
5’10” 142.3’ Hickory, Mockernut 7’11” 132.9’ Hickory, Mockernut 7’4” 133.1’
Hickory, Pignut NA 143.4’ Hickory, Pignut 6’6” 152.1’ Magnolia, Cucumber NA
128.7’ Oak, Black 9’2” 125.5’ Oak, Chestnut 5’0” 128.0’ Oak, Northern Red 9’0”
129.2’ Oak, Southern Red 7’10” 119.7’ Pine, White 9’7” 149.9’ Tuliptree 6’4.5”
150.4’ Tuliptree NA 150.9’ Tuliptree 6’10” 157.5’ Tuliptree NA 159.5’ Rucker
Index 139.0’ The mockernut hickories may be state height records, and the great
height and abundance of the hickories relative to other species resembles tall
tree sites along the Blue Ridge Escarpment in SC, including Wadakoe Mountain
and Tamassee Knob. However, basswood does not reach 140 along the escarpment,
and all of the tall ash on the escarpment are var. biltmoreana not var.
americana as in Horse Cove. The southern red oak is also exceptional for the
mountains, and not surprisingly, grows on a slope outside the coves and just
above the Davidson River. We did not attempt to find the tallest tuliptree and
only explored about half of the cove, so more searching will almost certainly
raise the Rucker Index above 140’. Jess and Mike
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