Mountains and Meadowlands

Mountains and Meadowlands Along the

Text and photos by William A. Bake Office of Publications National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 1975 A Prologue to the Past 1

The Blue Ridge Parkway Rolling into the distance like "the great distance like breakers and swells Ocean itself," the Blue Ridge dips into a means mountains—the highest deep cove at Wildcat Rocks in Doughton frozen in time. of them mantled with trees and Park (Milepost 240), then swells toward the horizon. Their time, in fact, began long wildflowers uniquely their own. ago, even in geologic terms. The It also means meadows—some —indeed, for farming, others that beckon all the Appalachians—are an­ visitors to wander and explore. cient mountains. Rounded in This booklet introduces both form and subdued in height, the mood and substance of the they are nevertheless a rugged Parkway's highest peaks and lot whose wrinkles and crannies, sweeping meadowlands. Though Indian pipe, a small but conspicuous saphrophyte, pushes past the clover-like cliffs and gorges are often hid­ designed to be read quickly, it leaves of wood sorrel. den from easy view. remains to be re-examined when­ ever mountains and meadow- Like so many of the Earth's lands return to mind or presence. mountains, the Appalachians were created in a very complex An "Ocean of Woods swelled manner. It is sufficient to say, and depressed with a waving rather than going through the Surface like that of the great complexities, that what remains Ocean itself wrote an early is a range of mountains which visitor as he sought a way to begins in the Canadian maritime describe the Blue Ridge Moun­ provinces near the Atlantic and tains. The words were well then sweeps southwestward to chosen. Mantled in green, the . In New England and mountains roll away into the 3

again in the South, the moun­ Inspiration for a 19th-century landscape The Blue Ridge Parkway begins painter: a thunderstorm engulfs Grand­ tains reach their high points, father Mountain in a maelstrom of swirl­ boldly. The transition between topping 6,000 feet once in the ing clouds. busy highway and protected North on 's Mt. parkland is abrupt and immedi­ Washington and many times in ately obvious. Forests press in, and . crowding against the grassy bor­ der that edges the Parkway. The The Blue Ridge is a part of the road climbs relentlessly, soon Appalachians—actually a rather offering glimpses of valleys re­ substantial part. Beginning as a ceding below. The mood be­ single low ridge in southern Climbing through the Great Craggy Moun­ tains, the Parkway crosses miles of forest comes one of remoteness from , it slowly rises and that has been stunted by severe climatic conditions. the competition and guardedness divides until in North Carolina of high-speed driving. The scen­ it reaches a height of 5.938 feet ery commands the attention; ulti­ at . Along mately it becomes the essence of most of that distance, its crest is a drive on the Blue Ridge Park­ straddled by the world's greatest way. recreational motor roads: the and the Blue Ridge The transition might well be con­ Parkway. Both these roads fol­ sidered one of time as well as low the Blue Ridge Mountains place. America's natural beauty faithfully until the even higher and agricultural heritage blend Black, Great Craggy, and Bal­ harmoniously along the road. sam Mountains beckon the Park­ The land here remains as it was way southward to its conclusion before technology turned hours near the Great Smokies. into moments and before men 4

were measured in terms of eco­ A small garden fenced from rabbits and highland with much good land deer, a few weathered buildings, and the nomic endeavors alone. unending mountains—for generations of for farming. There, agriculture southern mountain people scenes like remains an important influence Two major components of the this at the Brinegar Cabin meant home. on the land. For nearly half its Blue Ridge Parkway's character are its mountains and meadow- length, the Parkway arcs across lands. Mountains are the rule; this high farming country. meadows are the exception. Two Below Crabtrec Meadows centuries or more ago, however, (Milepost 339) the mountains they were even more exceptional. become loftier, achieving the Before the coming of the white greatest heights found in the man, the Blue Ridge was cov­ entire Appalachians. Wilderness ered with that incredibly rich Shocks of oats symbolize another harvest. predominates; thick northern and varied forest of ancient, evergreen forests and cloud- quiet, and endless trees which swept summits loom above the met the horizon westward to Parkway. Man's works dwindle the Mississippi. in the face of solitude. In many places the panorama is much as Southward along the Parkway, it was in the early 1700s when the blend of mountains and that early visitor described meadowlands changes. The mountains that looked like northern quarter of the Park­ waves on the sea. way crosses a Blue Ridge that is narrow and rugged, steep and Among the Parkway's moun­ forested. Below Roanoke, Va., tains and meadowlands, there are the Blue Ridge becomes a gentle many that are typical and some J M Eden 6

few that have distinctive fea­ Mellow evening light bathes the slopes of or contemporary characteristic. Mt. Pisgah, backlighting a slender Fraser tures. The world of the highest fir. Not everything can be explored peaks, those with vegetation in so short a space—the great uniquely their own, is introduced forest covering the lower peaks in the following pages. Mead- is hardly mentioned, for ex­ owlands of several types will ample—but the essence of the be visited, each because it has Parkway, its mood and per­ some distinguishing historical sonality, is here.

Turkeybeard, a close relative of western beargrass, in bloom on Grandfather Mountain. The Mountains and their Mantle 9

To the untrained eye. the peaks Only on the heights can Fraser firs exist. much farther north covered the Near Devils Courthouse a stand of firs oc­ and their covering forests may cupies an outpost above lower-elevation southern Appalachians. seem to be endlessly repetitive. forest. As the ice retreated northward, Here and there a sharp cliff or so did the plants and animals waterfall may punctuate the that depend upon a cold climate scene, but everything seems for survival. Animals like the generally green and rounded. varying hare ("snowshoe That sameness is one of the rabbit") once must have lived major deceptions of the south­ in North Carolina and Tennes­ ern mountains. The mountains see; now they live no farther change and so do their forests. Chance encounters like this one with a roving box turtle add interest to any Park­ south than central . way visit. Like all aged mountains, the Several northern plants find Appalachians were once much their last southern outposts in higher and bolder. Their present the cold bogs of that area. But features are the result of weath­ there are also a host of northern ering—the action of the ele­ plants and animals that remain ments on the land. Within geo­ along the higher portions of the logically recent times, the climate Blue Ridge Parkway. Knowing was much colder. Great con­ what they are brings the north­ tinental glaciers covered the ern character of the Parkway's land as far south as , highest peaks into sharp relief. Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Snow heaped these mountains, and The Spruce-Fir Forest plants that today are familiar One of the most easily recog-

M Woodbndge Williams 10 11

nized features of the high peaks the Parkway or by taking the grance that it becomes an in­ were known as "balsams." The is the spruce-fir forest. Travelers spur road to Mt. Mitchell's delible part of the spruce-fir prickly red spruce, with its driving south first sec this high- summit (Milepost 355.3), the forest experience. angular 4-sided needles, was elevation forest on the slopes forest is a delight to the senses called "he-balsam," and Fraser of Grandfather Mountain, a and a lesson in natural adapta­ These high forests are remnants fir. with its soft, flat needles, mile off the Parkway at Mile- tion. The sounds of the spruce- of the ice age. As the climate was "she-balsam." The name post 306. Farther south, the fir forest are those of the far warmed after the retreat of the balsam remains as a colloquial­ road itself climbs into spruce- north and the Maine coastal ice sheet that once covered ism today and is used in the fir forest as it nears the Black forest. Northern birds make areas farther north, the red names of two mountain ranges Mountains. The Blacks, which their homes here, contributing spruce and Fraser firs retreated Fraser firs, reaching tall for sunlight, leave that have a dark mane of spruce take their name from the dark- a thicket of dead branches in their race their own echoing songs from to the cooler heights. Nowhere A victim of balsam woolly aphid infesta­ tion, a fir stands orange and lifeless near and fir. These ranges, located in appearing spruce-fir forest, are for height. high in the spruces or from else in the South do they sur­ . the area well south of Asheville, one of the highest ranges in the within dense stands of firs. The vive today. The very rigors of are the Great Balsams and the East. Most of the ridgeline wind, too, is active, nearly al­ climate that force out less Plott (a family name) Balsams. exceeds 6,000 feet, and Mt. ways producing a hushed sound rugged species provide a sanc­ The Parkway reaches its highest Mitchell, at 6.684 feet, is the as it plays through the ever­ tuary for these beautiful trees. point (6,053 feet) at Richland highest point east of the Mis­ greens—a sound not unlike far- Yet the survival of the Fraser Balsam Mountain (Milepost sissippi River. off surf. With the wind comes fir is now contested. A tiny 431.4). A self-guiding nature the fragrance of the spruce-fir insect, the balsam woolly aphid, Seen from a distance as a dark trail leads through a thick forest forest. Drifting through the is destroying the forest. No band of vegetation high on the of spruce and fir to the summit green boughs, it fills the cool effective counter-measures to mountain ridges, the forest is of this 6,410-foot peak. air with its pungent resin-scent, this infestation have yet been a mixture of Fraser fir and red then disappears only to return discovered. From within, the forest is a spruce. Approached closely in again. So pleasing is the fra­ maze of windfalls—evidence To the early settlers in these many places southward along of the violence wrought upon mountains, the spruce and firs 12

the heights by frequent storms Clouds constantly drift through the fir moist breath of clouds washing forest, playing on the imagination and acting upon trees weakened by creating a world far removed from the against the slopes. The spirit disease. Moss grows every­ lowlands. is there among the firs; feeling where, carpeting logs, slopes, its presence is only a matter of and rocks. The ground under­ knowing you are alone or of foot is likely to feel springy and hearing the wind sighing soft, a suggestion of the decay through the boughs. and moisture constantly work­ If you still doubt the spirit of ing together to build a thicker the wilderness in these moun­ veneer of soil on this rocky tains, drive to an overlook along spine of eastern . Ferns, boldly yellow in autumn, splash the Parkway some clear night. color along a forest trail. Along the trailsides and through­ Turn off your car's engine and, out the forest, ferns and wood- without any lights or sound, sorrel grow in abundance, their stand alone under the stars. fronds and clover-like leaves Behind you, unexpectedly, a creating patterns in the sunlight. slight breeze might blow a dry leaf across the pavement. Low­ If there is a southern haunt for land lights, a comfort at first, the spirit of the wilderness, it is seem far off. Sensations—un­ here within the spruce-fir forest. easy, unfamiliar—surround you. These trees seem to shun civi­ Suddenly and uncomfortably lization. Confined to the heights, vulnerable, you turn and seek they crowd the craggy places the security of your car. and take sustenance from the

Ross Chappie 15

High country "orchards" "Orchards" of northern red oaks, named are seen atop Apple Orchard because of the evenly spaced and stunted In areas not occupied by the appearance of the trees, cover several Mountain—red oak (Milepost spruce-fir forest, a northern type higher peaks, including Apple Orchard 76.5), at the Peach-Orchard— Mountain, Va., shown here. of broadleaf forest exists. Species beech, yellow birch, and yellow in this forest type, commonly buckeye (Milepost 363.6), at called the northern hardwood Fryingpan Gap—red oak (Mile­ forest, are the beech, birch, and post 409.6), and Beech Gap red oak. Beech trees can be rec­ (Milepost 423.2). ognized by their smooth, gray, lichen-encrusted trunks and The Balds Patterns and textures in the bark of a limbs. The birches—these are yellow birch create a small composition Sharing the high peaks with the yellow birches—have shiny, yel­ large in beauty. spruce-fir .forest is another dis­ lowish bark that tends to peel tinctive plant community. This in horizontal strips. The north­ is the "bald"—any treeless area ern red oak has its distinctive above 4,000 feet covered either traits, too: it often grows in with grass ("grass balds") or, groves of twisted and evenly more commonly, with broad- spaced trees. These stunted leaved shrubs ("heath balds"). groves are familiar in high Often quite large and vigorous, mountains. In the they are heaths may include mountain- known as Krummholz ("crooked laurel, rhododendron, blue­ wood"); in the South they are berries, and huckleberries. From called "orchards." Prominent mid- to late-June, the rich red­ "orchards" along the Parkway dish-purple flowers of rhodo- 16

dendron transform many of the Catawba rhododendron, pride of May and fires. The presence of and June in the southern highlands, covers balds into spectacular natural thousands of acres from to bison seen grazing upon them gardens. Alabama. and compacting the soil in fron­ tier days gives rise to the specu­ The balds are an obvious ex­ lation that they may have been ception to the forest cover dom­ sustained by those animals and inating the southern mountains. later perpetuated by cattle. Per­ Where they occur, they make haps the best explanation is that the high ridges look light green a warmer period about 2,000 and inviting from a distance— Craggy Gardens is an area of heath balds years ago eliminated spruce and an illusion if the balds are ac­ made accessible by paths winding through fir trees in many areas, creating tually thick tangles of mountain- thickets of mountain-laurel and rhodo­ dendron. conditions favorable to the laurel or rhododendron inter­ woven into impenetrable thickets formation of balds. known as "laurel slicks." The best place along the Park­ way to see heath balds is at Scientists have long been in­ Craggy Gardens (Milepost trigued by the existence of balds 364.1). Here the Great Craggy in an otherwise forest-covered Mountains dome up into a high environment. Several explana­ part of the Blue Ridge. The tions have been offered; all of forest gives way to the orchards them seem reasonable. It is of low, twisted trees just men­ thought that the balds are the tioned, and then even these are locations of former Indian agri­ gone. Except on rocky outcrop- cultural clearings, or that they pings, rhododendron and grassy result from lightning-caused 18

pathways cover the slopes. The Exposed to the full force of winds sweep­ high peaks along the Blue Ridge ing against the high ramparts of the Blue feeling is that of being just Ridge, the west slopes of Grandfather Parkway. But they are not alone below treeline. Mountain support little more than masses in distinguishing these peaks of sandmyrtle, scattered wind-flagged firs, and rhododendron. from those generally below Craggy Gardens is at its most 4,000 feet in elevation. Smaller enjoyable in mid-June. Near a plants, too, find sanctuary on small visitor center, a nature the heights. On the rocky top trail leads up a short path into of Grandfather Mountain (off acres of flowering rhododen­ the Parkway at Milepost 306) dron. The air is cool and the Visitors on Craggy Pinnacle (Milepost and the Devil's Courthouse mountains drop away into the 364.1) take in a view that slides off into (Milepost 422.4) are masses of blue distance. Many people may distant lowlands and sweeps across ranges that march to the horizon. sandmyrtle. This plant, which be wandering along the natural also grows along the Atlantic pathways, but the area seems coast, here finds the conditions uncrowded. Relief from the needed for its growth only on heat, humidity, and hurry of the the highest, rockiest peaks. A lowlands provides added incen­ combination of sandmyrtle and tive to remain here. low, sprawling, wind-flagged firs gives these summits an alpine Smaller Plants look. Found with the sandmyrtle of the High Peaks are such northern plants as Spruce-fir forest, red-oak and wood sorrel, clintonia, Canada beech orchards, and balds are mayflower, and bunchflower. the three plant communities that Along with the northern plants are noticeably unique to the on the high peaks are a variety 20

of northern birds. Blackburnian, Galax and scattered rhododendron petals It is this unusual grouping of grace the banks of Yellowstone Prong at Canada, and blackthroated blue Graveyard Fields. plant and animal life that dis­ warblers, juncos, winter wrens, tinguishes the high peaks. Rug- brown creepers, red-breasted gedness and grandeur are pres­ nuthatches, golden-crowned ent too, though not on a scale kinglets, and veeries are likely calculated to impress visitors to be heard on high peaks along familiar with higher mountains the Parkway. In the spruce-fir in the West. The beauty of the forest, the liquid, flutelike song southern mountains is in their of the veery and the bubbling accord with the ages—their The Canada warbler is a northern species quiet composure in the face of melody of the winter wren are found only on the high mountains in the the hiker's constant companions. South. eternity.

lue Ridge Parkway photo

Meadows and Man

The marks of man upon the Fresh as the new summer, tall grasses Doughton Park. Coneflowers, and lichen-covered oaks extend an offer southern mountains are many, to spend hours alone with cool breezes clover, tea, fly-poi­ but of all man's creations here, and warm sunlight. son, black-eyed susans, and fi­ the meadows are the most beau­ nally asters and goldenrod tiful. Where the mountains flat­ speckle the grasses in a proces­ ten on top to form almost level sion that matches the seasons. highlands, there are meadows Meadow birds too, take to the to meet the wind. The Parkway air and sing from fences and arcs across miles of them, green trees. Along the grassy meadow in spring and early summer, edges, bobwhites may be heard golden as the year deepens into calling one another, and dis­ Black-eyed susans add touches of beauty autumn. Breezes, upwelling on meadows near the James River. tinctively V-marked meadow- along the slopes, ripple in waves larks are seen along the road. across the meadows and cool Near dens hidden among tall the summer grasses. Huge old grasses, woodchucks sun them­ shade trees, their leaves whis­ selves lazily or feed on green pering in the wind, offer cool shoots. hours in soft, open places. One of the unusual and im­ The sky seems closer on the pressive meadowland experiences meadows; closer perhaps than along the Parkway is to watch anywhere except on the balds. a summer thunderstorm as it The landscape is larger, too, forms along the Blue Ridge crest especially on great expanses of and expands to bring rain and meadowland like those at cool wind through the grasses. 27

From your car, if there is light­ Shafts of sunlight cut into far valleys after forming mountain ranges of a thunderstorm in the Black Mountains. ning, watch the updrafts as they their own, ranges that tower reach the level where their mois­ over the Blue Ridge but soon ture condenses into clouds. The disappear in the night wind. clouds will mushroom if the During the night, water vapor day is right, billowing into cu­ in the air will collect on the mulus shapes within a short cool grasses, forming dew. time. Like eddies and currents When morning comes, the water in a giant river, the clouds swirl will begin returning to the at­ and then descend into valleys mosphere, and by afternoon the between the peaks. Black now, Water droplets cling to tiny mosses and meadows will be reflecting heat the cumuli spawn forked tracers lichens after a shower. upward, building rising cur­ of lightning. A few glimmers of rents of moist air that will con­ light and rumbles of thunder, dense into clouds and give birth and the clouds begin to expand to new rains. as huge downdrafts cascade from high within them. The Forests and Fields wind reaches you, bringing Like the clouds, the meadows freedom from heat and restor­ are temporary features on the ing the soul. Finally rain comes, face of the land. A few small achieves a sustained crescendo, meadows may always have ex­ then slowly softens into a mel­ isted naturally in the southern ody. The storm ends, perhaps mountains, resulting from soil with a shaft of sunlight cutting and slope factors not favorable into far valleys or with clouds 28 29

to tree growth. Most early forest confused with the now nearly doned, and much land was English, Scottish, Irish, and openings, however, were created extinct American chestnut) and eroded and exposed to the ele­ German ancestry, they paused by Indians for agricultural pur­ yellow-poplar remain the domi­ ments. Under the management only briefly on the eastern sea­ poses or by lightning-caused nant natural species. Beautiful of the U.S. Forest Service, sev­ board before migrating down fires. When the early settlers white pines, some of which were eral national forests were cre­ the Appalachian mountain chain came to the Blue Ridge, they planted in abandoned farm­ ated in the southern Appala­ from Pennsylvania. Farming quickly found the "old fields." lands, now grow close by the chians. Young trees began to and hunting in the region's end­ Putting them into cultivation Parkway at many places, too. grow on old fields, covering less, haze-filled coves and hol­ and pasture, they cut new open­ At first this forest fell slowly. the worn landscape with a lows, they quickly created last­ ings in the forest. Among the most beautiful of pines is mantle of green. With govern­ ing ties with their surroundings. the eastern white pine, a native variety Then, in the early 1900s, ma­ The forest that provided the planted thickly along the Parkway in ture forests by the millions of ment ownership and manage­ Boiling sorghum cane squeezings into While most Americans were many locations. ment of the land, new roads and syrup is a generations-old practice still a setting for this activity still acres were logged. Almost at part of life in these mountains. developing new attitudes and mantles the Appalachians below the same time, the American the automobile opened the adapting to changing times, the 4,000 feet. A source of wonder chestnut, a tree species of pre­ mountains to the public. In re­ mountain people continued with 200 years ago, it is today re­ dominant importance in these sponse to demands for recrea­ an isolated, subsistence way of covering well from indiscrimi­ mountains, was virtually wiped tional facilities in the moun­ living that we can in some ways nate logging and uncontrolled out by a man-introduced blight. tains, construction of the Blue envy today. fire. Dominated by thick-bodied By the 1920s, the southern Ridge Parkway was begun; to­ Few of us, however, would want oaks and yellow-poplars and mountains had extensive open day it is nearly completed. to tackle the problems the moun­ brightened by a multitude of land. tain people took for granted. flowering trees, it is one of the The Mountain People A reversal of the trend began As outsiders separated by time world's most varied and vigorous The people who witnessed these in the 1930s. By then most of and distance from the mountain forests. Along much of the Park­ changes were, in the beginning, the best timber was gone, many isolation of decades ago, we can way, chestnut oak (not to be not greatly different from many small farms had been aban­ choose the best of that culture other Americans. Of mostly Blue Ridge Parkway gholo 31

and avoid its problems. So we Powered by an overshot millwheel, Mabry at such places as Humpback Mill grinds corn and provides Parkway tend to forget that mountain visitors with a taste of hill-country history. Rocks, , Mat­ women were often old by the thews Cabin at Mabry Mill, and time they were 35 and that peo­ Puckett, Smartview, and Brine- ple tended to ruin the land and gar Cabins. The places of trade be ruined in return. Instead, we that were contemporary with remember their self-sufficiency those cabins are preserved in and artistry. We remember the the Yankee Horse logging rail­ cultural virtues of the southern road spur (extending 10 miles highlanders and we record the beginning at Milepost 34.4), the A detail of the Puckett Cabin, where a rest, hoping, perhaps that we much-loved hill country woman spent a James River and Kanawha may in some measure better life in service to others. Canal (Milepost 63.6). Polly our own lives. Woods Ordinary (Milepost 85.6) and Mabry Mill (Milepost At any rate, there is a good 176.1). sampling of history along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some of Common to all these places is the history is intentionally re­ their kinship with the land. created; the National Park Serv­ Wood, rock, and earth are the ice sees to that. The rest is there stuff and substance of the build­ because the elements haven't ings. With antique tools bearing quite obliterated it or because names like adze, maul, and froe, it has been preserved. The early the mountain farmers cut and settlers raised the rough-hewn shaped carefully selected logs, cabins which are open to visitors notched them to fit tightly against 32

one another, and built their log Wooden shingles, or "shakes," served as between hearing a dulcimer re­ roofing material for generations. With the houses. Taking stone from the passage of time, lichens encrust the spond to the gnarled hands of rocky slopes they built chim­ shakes. someone old enough to have neys, and with clay cut from the known it from childhood or hills they sealed the cracks and smelling warm cornmeal as it wed the stones. sifts from between millers' grind­ stones, and walking past mu­ Though most of the early moun­ seum exhibits is often the key tain structures have disappeared, to emotionally sensing what it their builders passed on a way was like to be in the mountains of living, and therein lies much 50 or more years ago. For many of their importance today. The Hands grown old draw ageless music from a dulcimer at Mabry Mill. of us, that is the difference that National Park Service, recog­ counts. nizing that fact, attempts to staff historical areas with employees Aside from the historical ex­ who revive the skills of the hibits and activities of the Na­ southern highlanders. Often in tional Park Service, there re­ period dress and with tools in main along the Parkway the hand, craftsmen mill grain, farms worked by the genera­ weave, forge iron implements, tions of southern mountain peo­ and otherwise re-create an ple who were either less isolated earlier scene. or more closely bound to us in time. Seen along the high coun­ The effort produces results that try on Whetstone Ridge (Mile- empty buildings could never posts 20-30) and from south of hope to achieve. The difference 34

Roanoke to near Moses H. Cone Weathered barns like this one at Whet­ traverses were maintained as stone Ridge, Va., mark the passing sea­ Memorial Park (Mileposts 292- sons along those portions of the Parkway private estates and parks. The 295), these later farms repre­ given to agriculture. Moses H. Cone and Julian Price sent the sort of rural America Memorial Parks (Mileposts 292 that succeeded in the days be­ and 295) began when wealthy fore agribusiness. interests created private edens in the hills of western North Cattle graze on high slopes, old Carolina. Julian Price, an in­ barns stand starkly against the surance company executive sky, and fence rows circle the bought the land now bearing his bluifs. Farmhouses, some aban­ Farmhouses, some now abandoned, serve as reminders of the time when genera­ name in the 1930s and 1940s. doned and now overgrown, tions lived together in a world of custom Most of the slopes in that area mark time on green hillsides. and consistency. had been logged of their once- The scene is as American as a superb forest, but Price envi­ 19th-century landscape painting, sioned a vacation retreat there and is in complete contrast to for insurance company employ­ modern homes and develop­ ees. After his death in 1946, the ments often seen near the Park­ land was donated to the Na­ way. tional Park Service. Today, Price Park is an area of open Former Parks and Estates meadowlands and second-growth Not all of the open land paral­ forests laced with streams and leling the Blue Ridge Parkway dominated by a beautiful arti­ is the legacy of the mountain ficial lake. farmer. Until the 1950s, sec­ tions of land the Parkway now Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, 36

another area of extensive open On this porch, Moses Cone, his family, the death of his widow in the and guests, spent summer hours contem­ land, dates from 1897. In that plating a private kingdom of orchards, late 1940s, the land was trans­ year, Moses H. Cone, a textile fields, and lakes. ferred to the National Park millionaire, bought the prop­ Service, Today, Moses H. Cone erty for use as a private retreat. Memorial Park is a recreation The manor house, now the Park­ area where visitors can ride way craft center, was constructed, horseback, hike, fish, or just and the land surrounding the enjoy relaxed surroundings. house was landscaped. Cone planted thousands of fruit and Graveyard Fields: ornamental trees, and carriage Manor, centerpiece of Cone Memorial Park, adds a pleasant Victorian A Legacy of Fire roads—about 20 miles of them touch to the Parkway scene. Less benevolent than landscape —were built through the alter­ planners, but unmercifully effi­ nating forest and meadowland cient in clearing the land, was of , as he named fire. Scourging thousands of his property. Two lakes were acres, fires opened the land, be­ constructed and stocked with ginning the process that con­ fish. Deer, then rare in the re­ verted forest into fields and gion, were imported and freed brushy areas. Particularly is this to roam part of the land. Nearly true at Graveyard Fields (Mile- one square mile of the estate post 418.8), a high valley and was devoted to farming. Cone mountainside that apparently died in 1908, but by that time earned its name when a severe his magnificent estate was well windstorm toppled many trees. along toward completion. With Eventually, vegetation covered 39

the logs, creating green mounds Yellowstone Prong tumbles past hillsides grandly named Yellowstone covered with rhododendron and sparse that resembled graves. forest as it crosses the Graveyard Fields. Falls, a dwarf forest of service- berry, mountain holly, and fire Until 1925, the Graveyard area cherry covered the land. Near and the high ridges beyond were the falls view at the East Fork covered with spruce, fir, and Overlook and southward past yellow birch. A great fire that Graveyard Fields, the Parkway year, however, reduced the for­ arcs through this forest. Spruce est to ashes. Forest growth is and fir have not yet begun to still spotty and stunted, the long- On Black Balsam Knob, near Milepost 420, high grasslands sweep across smooth reclaim their former domain. term result of fire so intense summits. Once covered with forest, this that it burned into the very top- area was burned in 1925. Only a few scat­ Where Yellowstone Prong me­ tered firs occupy the slopes today. soil. As vegetation returned, anders through open glades of seeds germinated on a landscape oat grass and highbush blue­ of mostly mineral soil—not the berries, the Fields have become thick organic soil of pre-fire a family place. The setting is days. right for children to explore a little, throw stones in the Laurel and rhododendron re­ water, or pick blueberries. At turned on north-facing slopes 4,900 feet, the Fields are high like those leading down into the enough to offer relief from the Graveyard Fields. Below, along heat and to encourage an hour a small, clear creek called the or so of just sitting, perhaps to Yellowstone Prong, and down­ watch for golden eagles or stream toward a small waterfall ravens high overhead. 40

The look of the Graveyard to­ Meadow flowers brighten an endless suc­ provides a close view of these cession of fields and invite close inspec­ day is not at all unpleasant. tion from those who appreciate nature's grassy ridges. Hikers can experi- Nobody would deny the lost small rewards. ance the fullness of the land by beauty of mossy spruce-fir for­ taking the where est; yet an open, high-country it intersects the side road. blueberry-and-grass glade has High, open grasslands like these its own beauty. While man are so untypical that one can­ watches, the Fields go their way not properly place their mood to forest. The decision to leave The Graveyard Fields, 50 years ago stripped of their forest by fire, have within the context of the Appa­ the scene to nature here is, after become an open, inviting place where lachians. The feeling here, at all, the best. visitors can wade in the Yellowstone Prong, pick blueberries, or just run in the least to those who have been warm, green grass. Set against the skyline just south across the , is of Graveyard Fields is a series likely to seem more western— of high ridges that was crossed perhaps like the Black Hills of by the fire as it blackened its South Dakota. With peaks look­ way over the mountains in 1925. ing remarkably like the foot­ No more than a glance is needed hills of the Rockies folded to see that here is rare country against the horizon and what for the Appalachians—miles of seems like boundless prairie high, open grasslands with only close by, one can easily imagine sparse groupings of stunted firs. a herd of bison grazing quietly At Milepost 420, a short, un- in the distance. paved side road leading to the Wilderness Area M Woodbndge W.IUams Epilogue 43

The southern mountains are Ferns and firs at Mount Pisgah speak subtly ment the scene in fine contrast of beauty and convey the sense of under­ more vital than they have been statement that so characterizes the southern to the forest. The Blue Ridge in the past 75 years. Man's ac­ highlands. Parkway, weaving together the tivities involve a degree of re­ best of forested mountains and straint today that at least per­ grassy meadows, harmonizes mits management of forest and both elements and extends the parklands. Even so, subtle envi­ reach of man appreciatively into ronmental dangers, most affect­ America's natural and rural ing not just the Blue Ridge heritage. Parkway but whole regions, are becoming evident as increasing At Mabry Mill, a millkeeper glances at the populations utilize complex building's aged beams, belts, and pulleys. technologies and ever greater amounts of energy. Ultimately nature will dominate the land; whether man will co-exist or be excluded remains to be seen.

For the moment, at least, the forest, with its trees, wildflowers, shrubs, ferns, and wildlife, has returned, enfolding the region's tumbling streams and waterfalls. Meadows, the creative contribu­ tion of man to nature, comple-

46

As the Nation's principal conser­ our fish and wildlife, preserving assure that their development is National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data vation agency, the Department the environmental and cultural in the best interests of all our Bake William A 1938 Mountains and meatlbwlands along the Blue Ridge Parkway values of our national parks and people. The Department also of the Interior has responsibil­ 1 Natural history Blue Ridge Mountains historical places, and providing has a major responsibility for 2 Blue Ridge Mountains - Description and trave ity for most of our nationally 3 Blue Ridge Parkway Description and travel I Title for the enjoyment of life through owned public lands and natural American Indian reservation QH104 5B5B34 500 9 79b 75-6541 resources. This includes foster­ outdoor recreation. The Depart­ communities and for people who -,'rGPO 1975 58/ 145/7 ing the wisest use of our land ment assesses our energy and live in Island Territories under For sale by the Superintendent of Documents. U S Government Printing and water resources, protecting mineral resources and works to U.S. administration. Office. Washington. DC 20402 STOCK NUMBER 024-005-00598-6 NPS 146