Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Spring 2024_High Knob Massif

 
13 May 2017
High Knob Massif
View of Rocky Hollow
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved

Spring is bursting forth across the mountain landscape, especially at lower-middle elevations (below 3000 feet).

With an unseasonably warm and humid weather pattern upcoming, featuring abundant showers and downpours in thunderstorms, upper elevation zones will soon follow. 

GFS Total Precipitation Forecast_Next 16 Days
Weatherbell Analytics

A recent focus of exploration and study has been at 
middle elevations. The following update highlights conditions observed between 2000 to 3000 feet elevation in the Rocky Hollow and Maple Gap sections of the High Knob Massif.

Logging and destructive road building have occurred both above and below the main corridor of Rocky Hollow, located at the Head of Powell Valley in Wise County, Virginia.

Rocky Hollow
Head of Butcher Fork of Powell River
LiDAR Terrain Image

A LiDAR image shows a mess of logging roads along Butcher Fork, which heads in Rocky Hollow (the true head near the High Knob Peak is not visible above).

Most of the following photographs were taken in a band of mostly undisturbed habitat downslope and upslope of the great calcareous cliffs (LiDAR indicated above).

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Biological Diversity In Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

 This very special place retains at least some undisturbed habitat. What remains generates 
a glimpse of its rich natural history...

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

and it is Amazing!

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
(Dicentra spp.)*
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

*Both Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) and Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) appeared to be present but were difficult to distinguish without their blooms (a few plants were in bloom).

There is a reason its called Rocky Hollow!

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Biological Diversity In Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

This was not the easiest exploration.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Rock Filled Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Rocks can be walked on for long 
distances without touching the soil.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Rock Filled Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Flora remains amazingly abundant
amid this calcareous rock haven.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Rock Filled Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Rocks and More Rocks
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
American Basswood (Tilia americana)
Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
and Magnolias (Magnolia spp.) 
are dominant canopy trees.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Biological Diversity In Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Striped Maple
(Acer pensylvanicum)

Paw Paw
(Asimina triloba)

Witch Hazel
(Hamamelis virginiana)

Spicebush
(Lindera benzoin)

Blueberry
(Vaccinium spp.)

and many sapling tree species 
dominate the woody sub-canopy.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow of High Knob Massif
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

There are sections possessing trees 
with old-growth characteristics.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Trees In Rich Biological Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Trees In Rich Biological Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Abundant Down-Dead Wood
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Yellow Buckeye is an important 
component of these woods in
Rocky Hollow.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Yellow Buckeye
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Sugar Maple is also abundant and important, with many saplings (like Yellow Buckeye) observed in the sub-canopy waiting for their opportunity to assume a dominant position.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Sugar Maple
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Old-Growth Characteristics
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Grapevine (Vitis spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Very large Grape and Dutchman's-pipe vines 
suggested a lack of local disturbance. 

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Huge Old-Age Dutchman's-pipe
or Pipevine (Isotrema macrophyllum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Rich flora was serenaded by: 

Black-throated Blue Warblers 
(Setophaga caerulescens)

Black-throated Green Warblers 
(Setophaga virens)

Hooded Warblers
(Setophaga citrina)

American Redstarts
(Setophaga ruticilla)

Pine Warblers
(Setophaga pinus)

Ovenbirds
(Seiurus aurocapilla)

Scarlet Tanagers
(Piranga olivacea)

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
(Pheucticus ludovicianus)

White-breasted Nuthatches
(Sitta carolinensis)

Pileated Woodpeckers
(Dryocopus pileatus)

Blue-headed Vireos 
(Vireo solitarius)

Northern Ravens
(Corvus corax)

to note only a few.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Solomon's-seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Herbaceous flora was a major star of this show.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Huge Trillium (Trillium spp.) and
Fernleaf Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Red Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Trilliums with characteristics of both Trillium erectum and Trillium sulcatum were observed.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Deep Red Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Great Yellow Wood-sorrel (Oxalis grandis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Both Aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis) and 
Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza claytoni) appeared 
to be present.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
(Osmorhiza spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Canada Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum canadense)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Prickley Gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

A nice diversity of ferns were observed
emerging across the forest floor.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Glade Fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpos)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Glade Fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpos)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Glade and Goldie's ferns were abundant.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Goldie's Wood Fern (Dryopteris goldieana)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Bulblet Fern (Cystopteris bulbifera)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Rattlesnake Fern (Botrypus virginianus)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Many ferns were just emerging.

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Northern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Additional Ferns observed included:

Christmas Fern
(Polystichum acrostichoides)

Silvery Spleenwort
(Deparia acrostichoides)

Evergreen Wood or Fancy Fern
(Dryopteris intermedia)

Walking Fern
(Asplenium rhizophyllum)

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Emerging Spring Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Emerging Spring Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Emerging Spring Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Giant Millipede (Narceus spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Calcareous Cliffs of Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Calcareous Cliffs of Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Great bands of limestone cliffs, of the Greenbrier and Bluefield geological formations, follow the High Knob Massif and its extended landform (Powell Valley Anticline) for more than 100 miles.

These great bands of exposed, calcareous rock generate unique habitats for many diverse species and greatly enrich the biodiversity of this amazing landform.

Rocky Hollow is a passageway or 
break in these extraordinary cliffs.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Calcareous Cliffs of Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

If the above were not sufficient, this 
area also contains significant caves
and endangered species of bats.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Cave In Calcareous Stratas
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Internally, these caves contain many 
strange life forms and endemic species.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Cave In Calcareous Stratas
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

The deepest cave system east of Montana, and north of Mexico, in North America, as well as the longest in Virginia, exists within this great and nearly continuous outcrop.

28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Cave In Calcareous Stratas
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

The deepest caves currently known in the Appalachians did not just develop here by chance, as a combination of climate and geology conspired in a glorious manner to aid their formation.

By virtue of all this above, such a landscape deserves more respect than it has been given.


Maple Gap of High Knob Massif

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
A High Cove In Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Another area with outstanding habitat and biological diversity was recently visited in a 
high cove of Cove Creek of the Clinch River.

Cove Creek of Clinch River
Powell Mountain Block of High Knob Massif
LiDAR Terrain Image

Cove Creek contains several important coves at mid-upper elevations, well upstream of its rugged gorge (an American Whitewater rated Class IV-V+ steep creek through the gorge).

Cove Creek Gorge Run

Cove Creek Gorge is one of many deep chasms in 
the long backslope of the High Knob Massif. It rests southwest of the Big Stony Creek Multi-gorge Complex, and northeast of rugged gorges carved by Stock Creek and Laurel Fork of the Clinch River.

31 March 2024
Meandering Tributary In Upper Cove
Cove Creek Basin of High Knob Massif
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

The flat floor of this particular cove contains 
the greatest abundance of Yellow Trout Lily 
ever observed in the High Knob Massif (an 
untold number blanketed the ground across 
more than an acre within this cove alone).

31 March 2024
Cove Creek Cove of High Knob Massif
Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

31 March 2024
Tributary of Cove Creek
Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary of Cove Creek
Very Large Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Small wetlands within the cove contain an array 
of sedges, rushes, mosses, and other bryophytes, beneath locally large American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) and Yellow Buckeye trees. 

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary of Cove Creek
Bark of Old-Age Yellow Buckeye Tree
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

This is a rich cove setting possessing a notable northern flavor. It features plants such as Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) and 
Hairy Woodrush (Luzula acuminata).

31 March 2024
Upper Cove of Cove Creek
Snakewort (Conocephalum salebrosum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

What a gorgeous, amazing liverwort!

31 March 2024
Cove Creek Basin of High Knob Massif
Walking Ferns (Asplenium rhizophyllum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

What a group of wonderful Walking Ferns!

31 March 2024
Upper Cove of Cove Creek
Large-leaf Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum macrophyllum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

An abundance of Fraser's Sedge, a highly localized species endemic to the southern Appalachians, was observed within the cove and its tributaries. 

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Upper Cove of Cove Creek
Fraser's Sedge (Cymophyllus fraseri)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

A few plants were actually in bloom, which seems anomalously early given I often observe blooming during June at upper elevations in the High Knob Massif (the elevation here was around 2800 feet).

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Tributaries draining into the upper cove 
have significant cliffs and boulder gardens.

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Invasive species have entered and 
spread along old logging roads.

31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

31 March 2024
Cliff with an abundance of
Shining Firmoss (Huperzia lucidula)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

What would spring in the mountains be 
without at least some snow and rime?

6 April 2024
High Knob Lookout
Spring Snow and Rime
Cody Blankenbecler Image © All Rights Reserved

A general 1" to 4" of snow accumulated during 
4-6 April 2024 at elevations above 3000 feet in 
the High Knob Massif. Gorgeous rime added
to the beauty of this final winter event(?).

*Although accumulating snow has occurred during May, this will likely close the chapter on another below average snowfall season (around 60" at the summit-level). The decade-long snow drought continues!


Big Cherry Lake Basin

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Spring is still emerging within Big Cherry 
Lake basin of the High Knob Massif.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Cold nocturnal temperatures 
are characteristic of this basin.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

The canopy is yet to close and 
spring ephemerals are blooming.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

The lowest winter temperature in the southern Appalachians was recorded back in January when the minimum dipped to -12 degrees (F) below zero. Only some clouds and mixing prevented it from becoming much colder. 

January 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Wetland Valley
Wayne Browning Climate Research

This basin contains the greatest abundance of Canada Mayflower so far observed within the 
High Knob Massif.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

They blanket many acres and 
can even be found growing on trees.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Multiple color forms of Trillium were observed.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Red Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Pale Yellow Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
White Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Painted Trillium is the most common 
species near the floor of the wetland valley.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Emerging Lily (Lilium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Beautiful Violet (Viola spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Beautiful Violet (Viola spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Yellow Mandarin (Prosartes lanuginosa)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Star Chickweed (Stellaria pubera)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Cinnamon Ferns, which will become 
huge into summer, are just getting started.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Wetland Valley
Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Fertile Interrupted Ferns were also observed.

5 May 2024
Interrupted Fern
(Claytosmunda claytoniana)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Land Snail Species
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Giant Millipede Species
Big Cherry Lake Basin
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
 Millipede (Brachoria spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

This basin contains a vast 
array of wondrous species.

5 May 2024
High Knob Massif
Big Cherry Lake Basin
 Millipede (Brachoria spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph


Black Mountain Crest Zone

12 May 2024
Harlan County, Kentucky
View of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Fifteen air miles west of the High Knob peak is the crest zone of Black Mountain, along the Virginia-Kentucky stateline.

12 May 2024
Harlan County, Kentucky
View of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

This area features rich biological diversity and 
the highest elevations in Kentucky, with the peak of Big Black Mountain rising to 4,139 feet above 
mean sea level.

12 May 2024
Harlan County, Kentucky
View From Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Famed field ecologist Lucy Braun and her sister Annette (an entomologist) made the rich biological diversity of Black Mountain famous during the 1930s and 1940s.


12 May 2024
Cumberland Mountains
Rich Flora of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

An 1800 acre area, generally above 3800 feet, 
is now owned by the state of Kentucky and is 
protected from logging and strip mining.

12 May 2024
Cumberland Mountains
Rich Flora of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

The crest zone contains Northern Hardwoods with bird and floral species similar to those observed at upper elevations in the High Knob Massif.

12 May 2024
Cumberland Mountains
Rich Flora of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Specific species of flora are luxuriant 
and exceptionally diverse in extent.

12 May 2024
Cumberland Mountains
Rich Flora of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

Many species found here occur 
nowhere else in Kentucky.

12 May 2024
Cumberland Mountains
Rich Flora of Black Mountain
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

12 May 2024
Black Mountain
False Solomon's-seal 
(Maianthemum racemosum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

One of the greatest concentrations of 
False Solomon's-seal that you will ever 
observe can be found here.

12 May 2024
Black Mountain
False Solomon's-seal 
(Maianthemum racemosum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

12 May 2024
Black Mountain
False Solomon's-seal 
(Maianthemum racemosum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

12 May 2024
Black Mountain
Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph

12 May 2024
Black Mountain
Old-Age Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph