June 21-24, 2022, Judy and I celebrated our 50th anniversary staying at the Village Hotel on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. This Post offers observations, reflections, and photographs on the grand intersection of human and natural history on the Estate.

Rather than recount the full story behind the Biltmore Estate, allow me to offer a few relevant highlights. A young man of extraordinary, third-generation wealth purchased more than 100,000 acres in the southern Appalachians in the late 1880s…worn out land depleted by repeated attempted agricultural domestication, timber harvesting (not scientific forest management), and wildfire. The endgame — to create a one of a kind country retreat for the family and its rich, famous, and globally successful friends and acquaintances. The youngest of eight children born to William Henry and Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt, George Washington Vanderbilt was known from childhood for his reflective demeanor and thoughtfulness towards others. He brought three incredible generational minds to serve as the venture’s braintrust. Richard Morris Hunt, one of the most accomplished architects in the world, designed and supervised construction of the house and associated buildings. Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture, designed the grounds. Upon the advice of Olmsted, Vanderbilt hired trained forester Gifford Pinchot to direct forest operations and implement a self-sustaining stewardship of the land and its resources for years to come. Though it is hard to imagine now, portions of the lush forest surrounding Biltmore House was once overworked farmland and overcut woodland (excerpts in italics from online Biltmore Estate documents).

All the land within view (to the southwest) below right had been part of the estate in 1895 when crews completed home construction. Except for the immediate 8,000 acre current estate property, that viewscape land is part of the Pisgah National Forest, some of the vast acreage of “The Land Nobody Wanted” that became our eastern National Forests.

The estate included Mt. Pisgah (5,721′), visible in the center horizon. The original estate covered more than 150 square miles! Pinchot’s task was not insignificant.

When evaluating the task before him, Olmsted wrote: My advice would be to make a small park into which to look from your house; make a small pleasure ground and gardens; farm your river bottoms chiefly to keep and fatten livestock with a view to manure; and make the rest a forest, improving the existing roads and planting the old fields.

A man of obvious understatement, Olmsted reduced the overwhelming project of establishing the estate, its buildings, and its gardens and forests to its simplest elements.

Pleasure Ground and Garden

The pleasure grounds and gardens surround the house, from the rolling meadow at the southwest corner to the formal Italian Garden below right.

The Shrub Garden falls away to the south from the Italian Garden. Pathways wind through this feature.

I have a small river birch in my Madison, Alabama backyard. I wonder what it will look like in 2130, the equivalent duration of when Olmsted directed this tree’s planting and now. I’ve said often that nothing Nature is static, whether it be an individual tree or the transformation of an old worn out countryside to the magnificent estate grounds 0f 2022.

The ancient wisteria and trumpet vine arbor pay tribute to the genius of Vanderbilt and Olmsted. Vanderbilt died in 1914; Olmsted in 1903. How would today’s estate compare to the vision they had? I compare their works to the great European cathedrals designed by visionaries, and not completed for many generations of builders. All great human endeavors are acts of faith, investments in the future. Selfless enterprises for new generations. I am typing these thoughts just a few days before the 246th anniversary of our grand nation’s Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers’ saw the future and incorporated its assurances in the governing principles they developed in those early years. Thank God for their clear-eyed vision.

Cultivated Elegance

Scores of books offer exquisite photographs of the Estate’s gardens. I offer just three floral examples: gladiolus (left) and fall phlox.

And an anthurium.

One of my favorite shrubs we encountered is this mophead hydrangea.

Over the course of an annual cycle I am sure that the gardens of Biltmore entertain visitors with hundreds of flowering plant species. I have given you just a wee taste, which is enough to allow me to move along to where my heart and expertise lie…the wilder elements of the estate.

Farm the River Bottoms

Olmsted urged Vanderbilt to farm the river bottoms. The French Broad River transits the property. Tranquil during our visit, the river experienced a 100-year flood in 1916, resulting from a ten-inch deluge in the river’s upper basin July 16, killing six in Asheville and a total of 80 within the region. Interpretive signage at the Estate indicated that several employees of the Biltmore home lost their lives. I would most certainly been many feet below water at my riverside perch below.

Curiosity took me to The Asheville Citizen newspaper of July 18, 1916:

Last night Asheville was as a city of the dead. The floods from the heavens ceased to descend, but the city was one of utter and complete darkness. Here and there a candle or a kerosene lamp cast but feeble rays into complete darkness. The streets were almost deserted, and a sense of fear entered many a heart unaccustomed to new and strange conditions.

Because 1916 fell 116 years ago, are we now destined for yet another 100-year flood? When can we expect a 1,000-year flood? A millennial-flood? Allow me a brief run down an ancillary rabbit hole. I admit that the Asheville flood of 1916 was an extreme event (much like the eastern Kentucky deluge and flooding of late July 2022). Not a single person or so-called expert attributed the flooding to climate change or global warming…or excess atmospheric carbon dioxide. Global population stood at about 1.7 billion; the industrial age had barely gained stride. Rivers have undergone extreme flooding events since the first thunderstorms trained across the first mountains. Rivers will flood until the end of time. Yet, in this age of crises, existential threats, and deep societal anxiety triggered by pseudo-science and wild imaginings, every reported extreme weather event is just another supposed signal of the approaching end of time…the climate doom.

I urge all of my readers to calm down, take a deep breath, and read Alabama State Climatologist Dr John Christy’s A Practical Guide to Climate Change in Alabama. John’s Summary is worth contemplating among the continuous noise of alarmists intent upon eliminating our use of fossil fuels:

Upon examination of several important Alabama climate variables such as extreme summer heat, yearly rainfall, heavy rain events, droughts, snowstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes, we find no significant changes associated with the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases.

Over the past half-century, sea level has risen at variable rates along the Gulf Coast with a reasonable estimate for the Alabama portion of a continued rate-of-rise of about 1 to 1.5 inches per decade.

The latest theoretical model simulations have been unable to replicate the types of changes in climate variables that Alabama has experienced since the late 19th century and so offer little guidance for the future. 

Because we face a continuing onslaught of climate extremist rhetoric from mainstream media, many in higher education, and dominant political quarters, I include two quotes on my email signature line:

All science distills to facts. Observation prevails over perception. I recall my first autumn of residence in Fairbanks, Alaska. Early in October, I asked many long term residents, “How does the month just ended compare to the Septembers of years ago?” To a person they commented that the month used to be much colder; in fact…seasonal snow cover often came before the end of September. I had already checked the National Weather Service long term records. That September was actually the third coldest in over 100 years of record. That is the difference between observation (science) and perception (the authority of a thousand). Real science is not determined and confirmed by popular vote.

The French Broad will flood again…and again…and again. The same for Gulf Coast hurricanes, tornado outbreaks, heat waves, and other extreme weather events. Such is the Nature of our world!

Okay, back to the tale at hand. To this day, the Estate is farming the river bottoms, this area within range of our early morning stroll from where Judy and I spent our three nights.

Make the Rest a Forest

And my strongest personal and professional alignment lies with Olmsted’s final element of guidance…make the rest a forest. These magnificent white pines grow on a formerly abused pastured hilltop nearly the Biltmore House main visitor parking lots east of the courtyard. I can close my eyes and visualize the eroded, barren pastureland. I see planting crews dibbling white pine seedlings, ready to reclaim the land that during Native American times probably grew natural stands of the same species, common to these southern Appalachians. To the uninformed this stand appears to be original forest…old growth. Nature is remarkably resilient. Nothing in Nature is static.

The 1992 The Last of the Mohicans movie generated three Oscar nominations, winning one for its soundtrack, which I have playing in the background as I type this section. This epic historical drama, adopted from 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper, takes place near British Fort William Henry (at the south end of Lake George) in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. Note: my summer forestry camp (between sophomore and junior years) location was Warrensburg, NY (Pack Forest), just six miles from Lake George. The movie’s opening chase scene has key characters running through the unbroken, undisturbed Adirondack wilderness in pursuit of wild game. The untrammeled original New England forest chase scene, in fact, takes place within the Biltmore Estate on old worn out domesticated land that George Vanderbilt purchased and Olmsted and Pinchot rehabilitated and re-wilded! Nature’s healing and restorative power is unmatched. Nothing in Nature is static.

Our anniversary visit coincided with peak rhododendron flowering season at the Estate’s approximate 2,200 feet elevation. The peak season of the surrounding Pisgah would lag a week behind for each 900 feet or so of elevation gain. Spring climbs these mountains at 900 feet per week. Winter descends at the same pace.

Black cohosh also accommodated our visit, standing 3-5 feet in full flower.

Always on the lookout for tree form curiosities and oddities, I found this burled white oak in plain site adjacent to the House parking lot. I wondered how many of the daily visitors even noticed.

Sunrise of Our Departure

We arose early our final morning to roam the river bottom near our hotel. Dawn seldom disappoints, this one no exception. The Biltmore Inn sits atop the hill, above our Village Hotel, to the right in the below left photo. Our room looked out on a courtyard and the Winery.

From our near-river vantage point, the sun rose directly above the hotel. Stratocumulus clouds greeted sunrise above the hillside woods lifting from the river bottom.

What could be more fitting than my bride of 50 years backdropped by sunrise. We’ve seldom missed dawn and the rising sun across those five decades.

We both welcome each new day, a treat far exceeding any theater production, a night on the town, or a fancy dinner. It’s the Nature of our marriage!

Celebrating 50 Years

The glory of the intersection of human and natural history, culminating a 50 year journey of true love…still in progress.

Thoughts and Reflections

I offer these observations:

• These magnificent southern Appalachians came to us out of eternity…and it is our common duty to steward their rich ecosystems.
• Sometimes the grandest of Nature’s presentations can be enhanced by the genius and informed passion of man.
• The story of Biltmore and the glory of Nature lift me, soothe my soul, and fill me with peace and gratitude.
• Places such as this are best shared with my soulmate and the love of my life!

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied untold orders of magnitude:

Steve’s Three Books

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), and Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring in Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I actually do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grand kids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future

All three of my books (Nature Based Leadership; Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading; Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) present compilations of personal experiences expressing my (and co-author Dr. Wilhoit for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) deep passion for Nature. All three books offer observations and reflections on my relationship to the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any and all from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.

Every forest…nay, each stand in every forest…contains rich stories of ecosystem life and living. Plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, water, sunlight, soils…all dancing in evershifting patterns, choreographed by 3.8 billion years of evolution. The book’s type is not set, its stories and characters change minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year, decade, century, millenia, and deeper into time. The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge riparian forest welcomed a human, one woefully ignorant of most intricate facets of the Nature of this forest and its long-held secrets, yet he brimmed with curiosity the afternoon of June 18, 2022.

The gravel access road served the visitor well, leading him to parking near the canoe launch on the southwest side of Blackwell swamp. He had previously biked many miles of the Refuge’s gravel roads. Since his November 2021 shoulder replacement surgery, the rough gravel has dissuaded him from other than hiking and bushwhacking.

The Swamp

Blackwell Swamp always presents a pleasant face. This 3:07 PM view to the ESE across at least a quarter-mile of open (and vegetation-clogged) water takes advantage of the clear early summer air and mid-afternoon sun.

Never disappointed by this southern swamp just a quarter mile from the Tennessee River, fifteen miles from his Madison, Alabama home, the visitor visually consumed the aquatic vegetation, cerulean sky with cumulus puffs, abundant bird life, and swamp-edge forest. He recognized some plant species, understood the broad dynamics of the swamp, yet saw, too, so much complexity and life that he did not fully comprehend. You would think that after living as a passionate student of Nature for more than seven decades, he might know more. But alas, he has learned that the more he learns, the less he knows. Knowledge of natural systems, or for that matter, of almost anything, reminds the visitor of climbing a mountain. The broader the viewscape, the greater the mystery and secrets within the exponentially larger acreage. The more he sees, the less he knows.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity. (Albert Einstein)

The Forest

Entering the forest, he immediately felt the air temperature drop ten degrees, but the heat-relieving breeze swampside stayed topside in the canopy 90-100 feet above the forest floor. Hungry mosquitoes buzzed and whined, attempting to penetrate the netting covering his face and neck. The forest canopy captured most sunlight, permitting only flecks and dapples to touch the forest floor.

The visitor bushwhacked through a mixed pine/hardwood stand that yielded to pure hardwood-stocked lowground punctuated by higher well-drained ridges. Don’t jump to conclusions…the ridges stand just 3-7 feet above the lowground that during winter is often covered by shallow surface water. To the unacquainted the forest, just 70-90 years old, could be mistaken as old growth, taking on characteristics indicative of such:

An old-growth forest – also termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest or first-growth forest – is a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance and thereby exhibits unique ecological features and might be classified as a climax community. (Wikipedia)

Old growth characteristics include: large trees; multiple canopy layers; both seral (successional) and climax species; large standing snags; abundant dead and down woody debris; pockets of younger trees. This stand qualified. However, as the visitor rambled he found old drainage ditches dug decades earlier, when much of this forestland produced agricultural crops. He’s observed often that nothing in Nature is static. Some would have estimated that this large oak (below) stood for centuries. Not so. The visitor knew enough about forest development and Refuge history to surmise that many of these rich riverine sites had been farmed prior to TVA acquisition and that natural forest regeneration progresses rapidly, and that impressive forests emerge after just 70-90 years. He also observed that old growth stand characteristics can develop over periods of less that a century.

Life (and death) trace a story across the forest. The fallen (away from the camera) decaying tree (now a log) when alive stood at the boundary between where the lenticular, straw-hued mound stands elevated (perhaps a foot vertical) above the gray-white depression in the immediate foreground. A strong wind toppled the tree a decade or longer ago, lifting its soil-packed root ball, which with the roots decayed constitutes the mound. The depression, where the root ball lifted, is water-filled through the soil-saturated winter months, bleaching surface organic matter.

This two-foot diameter oak tells its own story. Picture the original seedling/sapling as a twin. Perhaps a deer or rabbit nipped the very young sprout, resulting in two sprouts competing in their reach skyward, creating a forked trunk. When the near-stem (probably both) had grown to a diameter the size of the opening, a natural force (wind, ice, a nearby falling tree) shattered the union, permitting decay fungi to infect the raw exposed wood. The fallen fork has long since returned to the soil. The visitor saw no trace of it. Although the still-living tree has fought valiantly to callous over the opening, alas the fungus has prevailed. The tree will forevermore remain hollow. Eventually, the laws of Nature and physics will bring the surviving fork to the ground, but not before it has produced decade after decade of acorns. The oak, when all is said and done, will have done its duty, doing everything in its power to have survived the test of time, and produced seed to assure its succession.

Fungi

The visitor, conscious of the role of fungi in the hollow oak tale, has learned to appreciate (and learn more about) the fungi kingdom of life. Rather than present a detailed narrative of the mushrooms he encountered, here is a brief recap. The peppery white milkcap appeared just once in his two-hour journey. Interestingly, this species is edible, a bit too peppery for most foragers (one reference referred to its taste as suddenly and intensely spicy or peppery). Our visitor photographed and cataloged the find, appreciating its place and sublime beauty. Below right see its fine dense gills.

Its base is thick and meaty. It forms mycorrhizal associations with trees, therefore, this species appears on the soil surface, not on woody substrate.

Another common early summer mushroom, Russula flavida is known as yellow russula. Like the peppery white milkcap, it forms mycorrhizal associations with trees, especially oaks.

This artist bracket mushroom, a wood decaying species, graced a cavity at the base of a living oak. The distinct color and varnished appearance caught the visitor’s attention.

Leaning closer to photograph the shelf mushroom, he noticed its southern leopard frog companion. So much in Nature lies hidden in plain sight.

The visitor found his first chanterelle mushrooms of the young summer season. Smooth chanterelles dotted the forest floor on the gentle slide slopes separating the upland forest from the still-saturated bottoms. Recall that the upland forest lies only 3-7 vertical feet above the bottoms. This mycorrhizal fungi is particularly common in the Southeast and widely distributed in eastern North America (Mushrooms of the Southeast).

The chanterelle (various species here in northern Alabama) foraging season extends from mid-June through September. An ample helping of sauteed chanterelles (complemented with sliced onions) rewarded the visitor that evening!

How grand that fungi 50 years ago merited their own kingdom. Their forms and functions are diverse, from the superbly edible chanterelles to the delightfully colorful yellow russula…from the tree-partner mycorrhizae to the decaying Ganoderma.

Flowers and Plants

The visitor encountered a flowering forest floor plant he did not recognize, genus Hylodesmum, a ticktrefoil. Leaves compound with three leaflets, its flower stock would not have drawn his attention had he not straddled it in passing. Upon reference checking for identification, he found that the plant’s seeds are little green packages when ripe, covered with adhesive bristles that cling to most any clothing brushing against them. The visitor nodded recognition of the seeds as beggar’s lice, displaying an ingenious method of seed dispersal, clinging tenaciously to animal fur (or human clothing), traveling along with its animal-uber until wear and friction release the passenger, with good fortune, at a suitable spot for gemination.

The black-eyed Susan has no secret hitchhiking intentions. It’s sole attractive purpose is to draw pollinators to taste its nectar, and in the act spread a bit of pollen among other flowers of its kind. In time, birds and other critter disperse its seeds.

The missouri Botanical Gardens offers a hard-to-top description of a parasitic flowering plant the visitor identified along the access road as he returned to his vehicle:

Dodder is an annual seed-bearing parasitic vine in the dodder family (formerly placed in the morning-glory family). Its thin, thread-like, yellow or orange stems grow rapidly entwining and covering their host plants. Cuscate is the most common genus and is found throughout the US and Canada. Of the 50 species that occur, most are found in tropical and warm-temperate areas but some species also occur in cooler areas including St. Louis where they can grow from seed each year and infest herbaceous and small woody plants. Since seeds can be difficult to separate from some agricultural crops dodder has been spread widely through agriculture.

Dodder seeds germinate in soil and can live on their own for 5 to 10 days until they are about a foot tall. If they have not found a suitable host by this time the seedlings will die. Seedlings that find a suitable host twine around the plant and insert haustoria (modified adventitious roots) into the tender stem. The haustoria penetrate and tap the plant’s vascular system for water, minerals and nutrients. Plants are weakly photosynthetic, but most produce very little food on their own. They rely upon their host plant for survival. As the vine taps the host plant its connection to the soil is severed. Small, white, bell-shaped flowers form in late summer and early fall and can produce copious amounts of seed. Plants are annual and are killed by frost. Plants regrow from seed each year.

Harper’s dodder is native to northeastern Alabama. However, iNaturalist verified only that this is a dodder. A number of invasive dodders are naturalised to Alabama.

Other Critters

The visitor can attest that the riparian forest is home to all manner of insects and spiders. The aforementioned leopard frog is here for a reason. Insects are his primary caloric fortune. The frog performs his magic with a sticky elongated tongue. The orb weaver spider posted at the center of his solar-illuminated webbing likewise fuels his life on insect protein. The visitor, mosquito netting secured under his ball cap and draping over his his chest and shoulders, heard the constant whine of the Dipterian, blood-sucking hordes yearning for his blood.

He characterized the mosquito-consuming arachnids as friends!

Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago, perhaps as he considered a frog’s sticky tongue or the marvels of orb weaving spiders observed:

Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.

Back to the Swamp and His Vehicle

Still regaining strength and conditioning from his November 2021, shoulder replacement and March 2022 stroke, the visitor felt the tiring exertion of two hours bushwhacking, foraging, briar-snagging, and occasional mucking in his rubber boots through standing water and brimful drainageways. He returned at 5:09 PM to once more capture Blackwell Swamp images, forest edge shadows now extending further into the swamp vegetation, the far-side forest vegetation super-illuminated by the lower angle sun rays.

The visitor recalls his early career years practicing forestry, spending long days in the forest, performing inventory, assessing standing timber, laying out access roads, inspecting logging operations, supervising site preparation and tree planting, and doing prescribed burning. He speculates as he completes his first year following his 70th birthday how many hours, if at all, he could keep pace with his younger self. He knows that he would quickly frustrate that young man, serving more as anchor than companion. However, he relishes the quantum leap he has made in understanding and appreciating the marvels of the forest and the miracles revealed within. He can see more clearly and deeply, and with greater satisfaction and reward. His younger self had never met a wild edible chanterelle and would never have seen, much less been able to identify, the Ganoderma mushroom. He would have missed the leopard frog. He seldom saw what lay hidden in plain sight. Most amazingly, the younger man thought he already knew most everything he would ever need to know. And now, although the visitor knows far more now than he did then, he accepts that his knowledge and understanding are shallow and incomplete.

Yet, he knows enough to feel the power, glory, grace, and fulfillment that derive from his love affair with Nature. He is a student and practitioner of Nature-Inspired Life and Living. Too, he is learning more and more about Nature-Inspired Aging and Healing.

The young man would not have appreciated da Vinci’s wisdom in this simple observation:

Nature is so delightful and abundant in its variations that among trees of the same kind there would not be found one which nearly resembles another, and not only the plants as a whole, but among their branches, leaves, and fruit, will not be found one which is precisely like another.

Life is Good!

Thoughts and Reflections

I offer these observations:

• Wild places reveal new secrets every time we visit; their mysteries lie hidden in plain sight.
• The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. (Einstein)
• Walking in the forest rewards far more than walking through the forest. Wander patiently…and with purpose!

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied untold orders of magnitude:

Steve’s Three Books

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), and Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring in Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I actually do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grand kids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future

All three of my books (Nature Based Leadership; Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading; Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) present compilations of personal experiences expressing my (and co-author Dr. Wilhoit for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) deep passion for Nature. All three books offer observations and reflections on my relationship to the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any and all from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.

May 27, 2022, my wife Judy and I, along with our two Alabama grandsons Jack and Sam, visited the Blackwell Swamp area of nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped to look at the January 1, 2022 tornado swath; hiked along HGH Road at the northern edge of an extensive riparian forest; and viewed the open water breadth of Blackwell Swamp.

Back to the January 1, 2022 Tornado Swath

Here’s my May 5, 2022 Post on the aftermath of the tornado: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2022/05/04/aftermath-of-january-1-2022-tornado-at-wheeler-national-wildlife-refuge/

I photographed this view mid-March from the north margin of the tornado swath looking due south. The raw scene, absent trees and debris the Refuge crews removed from the road, suggests total destruction. I wrote extensively in that Post about Nature’s alternate perspective…that the tornado prompts renewal, enabling regeneration and encouraging new forest regrowth. A seeming act of devastation, when viewed through Nature’s lens, is a force of renewal. The tornado did not wipe out a forest, but instead paused its development. Without a land use change (not likely on a National Wildlife Refuge), the forest will prevail far beyond the life and demise of individual trees.

Just two months beyond my mid-March visit, the regrowth…the renwal…dominates the scene! Green prevails. Even the sky, coincidentally, brightens the outlook. John Muir knew Nature’s healing power intimately:

Earth has no sorrow that earth can not heal.

This shattered bur oak, evidencing the violent winds, caught my eye and my lens in March. Sprouting leaves from adventitious buds along the trunk now reveal the snag’s species.

During the period (mid-1970s) when I purchased standing timber for a hardwood sawmill, I had to be a student of hardwood log defects. I could not pay veneer prices for a lower quality tree. From an online wood defects reference:

Adventitious buds are subnormal buds found at points along the stem. They arise from latent or dormant buds in the leaf axils of the young stem and persist for an indefinite number of years within the cortical-cambial zone. They retain connection back to the pith by means of a stele, a bundle of water-conducting tissues also known as a bud trace. These buds can be activated at any time during the life of the tree in response to various stimuli; such a response leads to the development of an epicormic branch.

So, while adventitiou buds can be a lumber defect, they serve an important purpose. The shattered bur oak is actively developing epicormic branches that will afford the tree a chance to compete in the new canopy. Nature doesn’t give a hoot about potential hardwood log defects. The long term evolutionary advantage goes to an individual (and its species) able to effectively rebound from disturbance.

HGH Road Adjoining a Riparian Forest

HGH Road runs east/west from its juncture with Jolly B Road just west of Blackwell Swamp. The view here is to the east. A rich riparian forest, predominantly hardwood, lies to the right, extending nearly unbroken to the Tennessee River. Pine mixes in on the uplands. The “uplands” may be no more than 5-10-feet higher than the saturated lowlands. Streams and seasonally flooded forest create species and soil variability within the forest. Sam, Judy, and Jack are pausing to examine a roadside patch of invasive bamboo.

I normally wander the forest off-road, where I deal with biting insects, face-draping spider webs, poison ivy, the presence of snake, briars, and other such inconveniences. I know better than to subject beloved family members to the riparian forest during the deep growing season.

Critters

As we entered the Refuge, I alerted the boys that we had a good chance of seeing one or more of the following: turtle, snake, frog, and more. Our mile hike did not disappoint!

We stopped and exited the SUV when we encountered a common slider crossing the road in front of us. What stronger vote of grandson reaction than Sam kneeling by the turtle signaling a thumbs-up!

Within a few hundred feet of where we eventually parked the vehicle we saw what was for me a first-of-its-kind critter situation. This garter snake with a hapless leopard frog generated first a shriek (A SNAKE!!!), then expressions of wonder and awe, and finally sympathy for the amphibian. Notice that I have no image of Sam kneeling by the duo smiling with his thumbs-up signal!

Another first for me, a red swamp crayfish seemed to fiercely guard his section of road, like a troll with his bridge. We observed from a respectable distance, worked our way around him, and continued westward. He had exited the roadway when we later returned en route to the gravel parking area.

Sam spotted a red-legged purseweb spider crossing the road. Another fierce-appearing creature. He gave no evidence of concern for us, continuing in straight-line from one side to the other.

We found a clump of moss with a false Caesar’s mushroom protruding, and a millipede enjoying the fungal delicacy (but only from a milipede’s perspective).

Woodland critters abound within the forest, where I spend most of my foraging and exploring bushwhacking. However, thick undergrowth limits my vision and my not-so-silent passage gives forest floor life a chance to shelter in-place out of view. The HGH Road hike proved perfect for maximum discovery.

Flowers

I’ll transition to flower encounters with a plant holding to an animal’s name: lizard’s tail (other names include water-dragon, dragon’s tail, swamp root. The plant’s inflorescence droops as below, turning brown after flowering, resembling its namesake lizard’s tail.

What could be more attractive than this redwing milkweed?! From a US Forest Service online publication:

This milkweed like most milkweeds produces copious amounts of nectar and is an important pollinator plant. The flowers have a sweet odor. Bees, wasps, butterflies, flies, and ants can be seen on its flowers. Redring milk is not an important food plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars, although they can be occasionally be found on the plants. The plant tends to be in low densities and in some shade and this may make it harder for monarchs to find it.

Redring milkweed is a species of moist to dry shaded roadsides, woodland, savanna and open forest. It tends to grow in light to moderate shade, but tolerates full sun. It is known from Texas north through Oklahoma and Missouri to Illinois and east to the Atlantic from Connecticut to Florida.

From an NC State University online Extension reference:

Carolina ruellia or Wild-petunia, is very common in North Carolina, found in lawns and woodlands. This native wildflower is so common that,  despite its beauty, it is sometimes considered a lawn weed. This unbranched perennial can grow to 2 to 3 feet tall. Its leaves are light green and tend to have a crowded appearance. Its purple flowers bloom in spring, summer, and fall. The unstalked flowers are in axillary clusters of three to four and usually only one or two are open on any given day. Even though wild petunia’s flowers only last for a day, its long flowering period more than compensates. It seeds readily.

I am now a big fan of both redwing milkweed and Carolina ruellia — such exquisite beauties!

However, I don’t want my biases to detract from this next flower, with which I have a lifelong affinity. Most amateur naturalists know black-eyed Susan, summer-common across the range of my own eastern US wanderings.

My iNaturalist Ap identified this roadside flower as thickleaf phlox. Once again from an NC State University online Extension reference:

Carolina Phlox, as the name suggests, is a  flower native to the southeastern US. Its native habitat includes deciduous woods, forest edges, clearings, and roadsides. Its upright growth habit may reach 2-3 feet, blooming mostly during the hottest part of the summer in full sun, although it may rebloom intermittently until frost.

The road-edge flowering jubilee continues at the Refuge through the summer. Here is my Post from a roadside floral ramble on a nearby gravel road mid-August 2020: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2020/10/07/mid-summer-life-flourish-along-a-wheeler-nwr-gravel-road/

The seasons of Nature’s beauty, magic, wonder, and awe extends year-round!

Overlooking Blackwell Swamp

We shifted our attention briefly to Blackwell Swamp. A roadside canoe launch provides a quarter-mile wide view across the swamp’s southern end. That’s lizard’s tail in the foreground, extensive flats of water lily beyond, and an edge of riparian forest on the far side.

I often see numerous ducks, great blue herons, great egrets, and other birds at this vista. A barred owl greeted me from his perch above the landing on a prior visit.

Green, blue, and white — the striking colors of Nature across our moist temperate wildlands of most of the eastern US. Although some people find our north Alabama climate too humid and rainy, I thrive in this region receiving annual rainfall at 55″. Water is Life!

I am never disappointed by my ventures into our 35,000-acre Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, whether riparian forest bushwhacking in search of forest fantasies or edible mushrooms, hiking gravel roadways with family, or marveling at the annual mid-winter migratory cranes and diverse waterfowl at the visitor center observation building.

Thoughts and Reflections

I offer these observations:

• The Refuge, and any wild place, reveals new secrets every time we visit.
• There is magic in Nature’s mundane objects, whether insects, flowers, or a hungry snake grasping a hapless frog.
• I find deep healing and renewal in my wildness wanderings and their inspired wonderings!

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied untold orders of magnitude:

Steve’s Three Books

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), and Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring in Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I actually do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grandkids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future

All three of my books (Nature Based Leadership; Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading; Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) present compilations of personal experiences expressing my (and co-author Dr. Wilhoit for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) deep passion for Nature. All three books offer observations and reflections on my relationship to the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any and all from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.

May 17, 2022, I hiked a section of the Richard Martin Rails to Trail in Limestone County Alabama with Chris Stuhlinger, fellow Board member of OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. We were doing a dry run for a hike we’ll be co-leading for OLLI June 11, 2022.

Introducing the Trail

We parked at Elkmont, Alabama (old Tennessee and Alabama depot below left), which sits midway between the trail’s southern terminus just north of Athens and its northern end at Veto, AL on the Tennessee line.

I’ve biked the entire trail (22 mile round trip) multiple times prior to my November 2021 left shoulder replacement surgery. Our recent hike took us just 1.1 miles south to the the National Historic Park site of the Civil War Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle. The trail is gravel and mostly shaded. A few benches (one with Chris) sit along the trail. The trees trailside have grown since the Tennessee and Alabama RR (TA RR) abandoned the line in 1986.

Our trek, as I recall, had just a single bend before we reached the battle site, where Chris stands below right reading National Park Service interpretive signs.

I won’t offer much explanation of the battle. The internet has lots of detail. I believe you can read the general summary below left. The actual trestle from a January 1, 1864 photo below right, just nine months before the Confederate attackers burned it to the ground.

Rather than rebuild the wooden structure, engineers constructed a limestone viaduct across the creek, and filled the crossing above it with a sound earthen and stone base to support the railbed.

I recorded this three minute video at the battle site to give you a feel for the terrain and the trail.

The Nature of the Trail

Our hike emphasized the intersection of human and natural history. The trail passes through what some would view as wild country, rich with diverse trees, plants, and critters, as well as several stream crossings, a swamp, and occasional meadows along its full eleven mile length from Athens to Veto. Even the segment Chris and I walked could be viewed as wild. However, there is a big difference between wild and wilderness, the kind that meets the 1964 US Wilderness Act definition: an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. The trail corridor is anything but untouched. Crews maintained the rail line for nearly 130 years as trains passed daily or more often, belching smoke and breaking the silence. Agricultural pursuits and timber cutting in the area changed the face of the land repeatedly. A modern country road parallels the line in places. Now, an appearance of wildness, yes. Wilderness? Not even close!

Let’s examine some of the wildness along the stretch we hiked. I’ve frequently mentioned in these Great Blue Heron Posts my fascination with forest vines. Muscadine grape vines greeted us along the trail, secure in their main canopy occupancy high above us.

I don’t often encounter red mulberry. The US Forest Service notes the principal value of this species:

The wood is of little commercial importance. The tree’s value is derived from its abundant fruits, which are eaten by people, birds, and small mammals.

An online NC State University Cooperative Extension bulletin describes the spiny formidable plant below:

Aralia spinosa, commonly called devil’s walking stick or Hercules’ club, gets its common name from the stout, sharp spines found on its leaf stalks, stems and branches. This is a large, upright, suckering, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 10-15’ tall, but infrequently grows as a small flat topped tree to as much as 35’ tall. In its native range in the eastern U.S., it is commonly found in wood margins, fields and pastures as well as a forest or natural area at the edge of woods or along streams in moist woods.

I include mention and photos only because of this species’ odd name and thorny character.

An online Penn State Extension publication says this about Japanese honeysuckle (photo below):

It was brought to the United States, along with other non-native honeysuckles as an ornamental plant. Like many invasive species, Japanese honeysuckle likes to grow along the edge of a disturbance (wood edge, path). It prefers full sun, but it can grow in shaded environments. This plant reproduces by seed or from the runners that can root at the node. Growth is aggressive, and the plant will climb over other desirable plant material. In warmer areas, it is semi-evergreen to evergreen. The white, ornate flowers appear in the spring and are very fragrant. 

I recall as a child separating the petals and tasting its sweet fragrant nectar.

The Missouri Department of Conservation describes musk thistle (photo below) in a most unflattering manner:

Musk thistle is found in waste ground, old fields and pasture, and along roads and railroads. It is a major weed in range and pasture land, a nuisance pest along rights-of-way, and a looming nightmare for lands in conservation reserve programs. It can invade native grasslands, even where existing dense prairie vegetation exists.

However, I consider its flower quite attractive. I applaud its ability to occupy and even flourish on waste ground. In effect, the immediate buffer along the abandoned rail line did qualify as incredibly abused…smoke and its associated by products; herbicide, fire, and periodic mowing to keep vegetation at bay; diesel by-products once the railroad gave up coal burning steam engines. I doff my hat to this intrepid survivor.

Sometimes a Name Speaks Volumes

Constantly alert for our friends in the fungi kingdom, I spotted this dog vomit slime mold on the cut end of a branch that had fallen across the trail. The US Fish and Wildlife Service reports:

The dog vomit slime mold, also known as scrambled egg slime, is named after its distinct appearance.

I prefer the scrambled egg moniker! I’m reminded that the orange roughy, a choice edible deep sea fish, once went by the name slimehead! So, a name means a great deal. I challenge you to find slimehead on the menu of any seafood restaurant!

So, we’ve taken a short trip along the intersection of human and natural history. I’ve said often that every wild place has its tale. I can read some elements of the story from evidence in plain sight: vegetation, landscape, and remnant human artifacts and infrastructure. Other bits and pieces emerge only with interpretive signage. I hold that imagination also helps. Every time I bike the trail, I pause at the trestle site. My mind hears echoes of the sounds of battle, senses the agony of the wounded, and feels the heat of burning trestle beams. That day of violent engagement occurred 158 years ago, a seeming long time ago.

Yet, in the vast sweep of time our Earth has occupied its third-rock position, 158 years is nothing. John McPhee’s Basin and Range reminds us of our fleeting existence:

With your arms spread wide to represent all time on Earth, look at one hand with its line of life. The Cambrian begins at the wrist, and the Permian extinction is at the end of the outer palm. All of the Cenozoic is in a fingerprint, and in a single stroke with a medium-grained nail file you could eradicate human history.

I offer that context to remind us that life and society are fleeting and fragile. A violent Civil War engagement 158 years ago (the geologic blink of an eye) was not the last chapter in the saga of human and societal development. Carl Sagan reminded us that we are alone and solely responsible for our own future:

Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. 

Our hike along the Richard Martin Trail reminded me that Nature is resilient. Are we? I don’t want dog vomit slime mold to enter a future without curious naturalists to study and, strangely enough, admire it.

Thoughts and Reflections

I offer these observations:

• The intersection of human and natural history provides a fascinating point of study and contemplation.
• Nature is a master at healing wounds.
• Every wild place tells a tale worthy of exploration.

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied untold orders of magnitude:

Steve’s Three Books

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), and Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring in Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I actually do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grand kids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future

All three of my books (Nature Based Leadership; Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading; Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) present compilations of personal experiences expressing my (and co-author Dr. Wilhoit for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) deep passion for Nature. All three books offer observations and reflections on my relationship to the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any and all from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.