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Old Growth and The Big Cliff - Eagle Mtn. April, 2021 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2021) |
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Old Growth and The Big Cliff - Eagle Mtn. April, 2021 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2021) |
| My friend "Old-growth" Cliff wanted to check out some of the big trees I had found high up in the Wilderness Area. We saw a lot of other cool stuff, too, including The Big Cliff. We were so high up that we decided to continue on up to the north summit of Eagle Mtn, making for an elevation change of 2000 feet from our starting point. |
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| Big Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) We confirmed my earlier 14 foot CBH measurement as 14 feet, 2 inches. |
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| Cliff, next to another 14 foot circumference Tulip Poplar. |
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| Here I am at the same tree I didn't photograph many large trees today, since I had shot them for my earlier March album... (Photo by Cliff Shaw) |
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| The perspective of this shot doesn't do justice to the size of this Red Oak. |
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| Ramps (Allium tricoccum), anyone??? My previous go-to site for Ramps involved a steep climb up the mountain in back of our house and then a trek into the next cove. Today we came across a population that puts my old collection site to shame. |
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| Collapsed chimney at an old homestead high on the mountain. I previously photographed this and two other homesites from the late 1800s in our cove area... (Photo by Cliff Shaw) |
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| A couple of big Buckeyes that escaped the logging of the early 20th century. (Photo by Cliff Shaw) |
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| The forest floor was covered with Bloodroots (Sanguinaria canadensis) at the higher elevations. We saw literally thousands of them in bloom... |
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| Also blooming everywhere was Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata) |
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| I typically see Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) growing around high elevation cliffs and rock outcrops. Near the top of Eagle Mountain, it was growing like a carpet over several acres. |
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| Dutchman's Breeches, or Britches (Dicentra cucullaria) |
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| Our lunch spot, along the ridge to Eagle Mtn's north summit. (Photo by Cliff Shaw) |
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| Coming down from the summit, I wanted to show Cliff an area I call "The Big Cliff". Descending the ridge into a semi "hanging valley", the area was carpeted with thousands of Spring Beauties (Claytonia caroliniana) in bloom! Photos don't do justice to the scene we saw with our eyes! |
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| Carolina Spring Beauties (Claytonia caroliniana) |
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| A pair of boulders, as we approached one of the many boulderfields high on Eagle Mountain. |
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| More boulderfield, as we neared The Big Cliff area. |
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| Looking up at another big tree... (Photo by Cliff Shaw) |
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| Rock formation, as we approached The Big Cliff It looked like The Sphinx and a Camel to me... |
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| Cliff at the base of The Big Cliff. I was backed against rhododendron and couldn't fit the whole cliff in my viewfinder. |
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| Even though it was 70 degrees, there was some ice where icicles had fallen off the cliff. |
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| Me, at another area along the base of the cliff. (Photo by Cliff Shaw) |
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| Another section of The Big Cliff. I would say this cliff rivals the one above Plott Cove below the Arkaquah Trail. |
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| Same view, from a vertical aspect, to show more of the cliff height. |
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| Mountain Spleenwort (Asplenium montanum) |
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| The classic "hiker in the hollow tree" shot |
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| Rue Anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides) Most Rue Anemone around here are white, but we saw some with very large lavender colored flowers. |
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| I have photographed this boulder a number of times. I used to think it looked like a snake or slug head, but now it's more like a turtle. |