Its still the first day of Pilgrimage and things are bound to get messed up. It is raining and there was an accident on Clingman Dome Road, which closed the road for over 5 hours. That will impact this next outing since we are supposed to set up a shuttle between Newfound Gap and Indian Gap (on Clingman Dome Rd). Thus, I arrive early and the co-leader is already in place. As Pilgrims file in to our meeting spot, there is no sign of the leaders. Everyone is here but the 2 leaders. We decide to go ahead without them and forego the shuttle, so we are underway. People join us enroute and people drop out. It is impossible to keep track of how many we are.
There are no flowers to oow and aah about, but out co-leader is an expert on Beech gaps so we hear her lecture. This particular Beech gap has a fence around it. It is a hog exclosure. It was placed here 20 or more years ago to study how this area develops without hogs. Of course, hogs or feral swine are a park menace. Wild Russian Boar were brought to this area in 1903 for a hunting preserve. The preserve fell into disrepair, the boar got loose, mated with feral pigs and now populate the park. They are very destructive creatures, foraging like rototillers.
Beech clones are in this area. We are told, Beech trees send out runners which pop up as trees. These clones can be quite large. It is possible that every tree in the photo above is the same organism. It is also possible, there are multiple individuals here. I've heard Black locust can clone also with a clone having been documented to be over a mile long. One of the threats to Beech is the Beech bark disease. Beech scale insect causes cankers to form and eventually lesions on the tree bark which can kill the tree.
This tunnel goes underneath the Clingman Dome Road. It is full of water today.
No comments:
Post a Comment