Among the Ancients : Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests

282 Pages·2011·6.85 MB·English

by  Maloof

Ramsey’s Draft, Virginia

First edition published 2011 by Ruka Press, PO Box 1409, Washington, DC
20013 © 2011 Joan Maloof. All rights reserved.

All photographs used in the book are by Joan and Rick Maloof, except
those for Virginia, which are by David McDaniel. Used by permission.

The map data is from OpenStreetMap and copyright OpenStreetMap
contributors, under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
license.

See: http://www.openstreetmap.com and
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0.

The tree illustrations used on the map pages are by USDA-NRCS PLANTS
Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the
Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Copyright
free.

Directions to the parks are by the author and are offered without warranty.
Travel data, such as park hours and access, were accurate at the time of the
author’s visits but are subject to change. Contact the author at
www.amongtheancients.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010942749

ISBN 978-0-9830111-0-1

Design by Sensical Design & Communication
For everyone who has had the experience of being in an old-growth forest,
and especially for those who have shared these trails with me.
She was no longer that woman with blue eyes
who once had echoed through the poet’s poems,
no longer the wide couch’s scent and island,
nor yonder man’s possession any longer.

She was already loosened like long hair,
and given far and wide like fallen rain,
shared like a limitless supply.

She was already root.

—Rainer Maria Rilke
Table of Contents

Preface
Southern Forests

Alabama: Sipsey Wilderness, William B. Bankhead National Forest
The Tree...Being still and paying attention

Tennessee: Falls Branch, Cherokee National Forest
Muir’s footsteps...Yellow buckeye...A waterfall...Floating

North Carolina: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
Burials...Children...Tulip poplar trees...Ravenel’s Woods

South Carolina: Congaree National Park
Rain...A floodplain forest...Woodpeckers

Florida: Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park
A rare type...Poisonwood...Wood of life...Butterflies and crabwood...Paul
Ehrlich

Georgia: Moody Forest Natural Area
The song of the pines...The Moody legacy...Wildflowers and beetles...Fire
Mississippi: Bienville Pines Scenic Area, Bienville National Forest
A forest gone missing...Forest management...What could have been

Mid-Atlantic Forests

Virginia: Ramsey’s Draft, George Washington National Forest
The world has changed...Nettles...Adelgid...John Seed

West Virginia: Cathedral State Park
Arrivals...Partridge berries...Funnel-web spiders...Caterpillars...Drought

Delaware: James Branch, Trap Pond State Park
Tucker La Prade...Canoeing...The Patriarch...Dragonflies

Maryland: Swallow Falls State Park
Henry Ford...White wood-sorrel...The uses of forest...Fred Besley

New Jersey: Saddler’s Woods
An urban tract...A freed slave...Land trusts...Near miracles

Pennsylvania: Cook Forest State Park
Abundance...Chestnut blight...The family Cook...Bacteria

Central Forests

Kentucky: Blanton Forest State Nature Preserve
Dog...Fraser magnolia...The maze vs. Serra...Smooth rocktripe

Illinois: Beall Woods State Park
The Bealls...University of Trees...Pawpaw...Butterflies...Patent leather
beetles

Indiana: Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest
Sleeping...Song of the forest...Characteristics of old growth...Individuals

Ohio: Johnson Woods State Nature Preserve
Death...Whitetail deer...Mayapples and rust fungus...Lucy Braun

Wisconsin: Sand Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Balsam fir...Arranging the excursion...Safety training...Where’s the old
growth?

Michigan: Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
Bluebead lily...The yurt...Hummingbirds, warblers, and thrushes...Phoebe
nest...White pine

Northeast Forests

New York: Inwood Hill Park
Manhattoes...Gingko...Nesting hawks

Rhode Island: Oakland Forest
Infill...Perc test...Responsible forestry...Health

Connecticut: Cathedral Pines
Crows...Estimates of natural rotation...Gardens...Controls

Massachusetts: Mohawk Trail State Forest
Gypsy moth caterpillars...Ruffled grouse...Bob Leverett...Death comes to
trees and humans