13 May 2017
High Knob Massif
View of Rocky Hollow
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Spring is bursting forth across the mountain landscape, especially at lower-middle elevations (below 3000 feet).
With an unseasonably warm and humid weather pattern upcoming, featuring abundant showers and downpours in thunderstorms, upper elevation zones will soon follow.
GFS Total Precipitation Forecast_Next 16 Days
A recent focus of exploration and study has been at
middle elevations. The following update highlights conditions observed between 2000 to 3000 feet elevation in the Rocky Hollow and Maple Gap sections of the High Knob Massif.
Logging and destructive road building have occurred both above and below the main corridor of Rocky Hollow, located at the Head of Powell Valley in Wise County, Virginia.
Rocky Hollow
Head of Butcher Fork of Powell River
A LiDAR image shows a mess of logging roads along Butcher Fork, which heads in Rocky Hollow (the true head near the High Knob Peak is not visible above).
Most of the following photographs were taken in a band of mostly undisturbed habitat downslope and upslope of the great calcareous cliffs (LiDAR indicated above).
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Biological Diversity In Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
This very special place retains at least some undisturbed habitat. What remains generates
a glimpse of its rich natural history...
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
and it is Amazing!
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
(Dicentra spp.)*
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
*Both Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis) and Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) appeared to be present but were difficult to distinguish without their blooms (a few plants were in bloom).
There is a reason its called Rocky Hollow!
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Biological Diversity In Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
This was not the easiest exploration.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Rock Filled Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Rocks can be walked on for long
distances without touching the soil.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Rock Filled Rocky Hollow
Flora remains amazingly abundant
amid this calcareous rock haven.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Rock Filled Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Rocks and More Rocks
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
American Basswood (Tilia americana)
Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Tulip-tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
and Magnolias (Magnolia spp.)
are dominant canopy trees.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Biological Diversity In Rocky Hollow
Striped Maple
(Acer pensylvanicum)
Paw Paw
(Asimina triloba)
Witch Hazel
(Hamamelis virginiana)
Spicebush
(Lindera benzoin)
Blueberry
(Vaccinium spp.)
and many sapling tree species
dominate the woody sub-canopy.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow of High Knob Massif
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
There are sections possessing trees
with old-growth characteristics.
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Trees In Rich Biological Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Trees In Rich Biological Diversity
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Abundant Down-Dead Wood
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Yellow Buckeye is an important
component of these woods in
Rocky Hollow.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Yellow Buckeye
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Sugar Maple is also abundant and important, with many saplings (like Yellow Buckeye) observed in the sub-canopy waiting for their opportunity to assume a dominant position.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Sugar Maple
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Old-Growth Characteristics
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Old-Age Grapevine (Vitis spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Very large Grape and Dutchman's-pipe vines
suggested a lack of local disturbance.
Rocky Hollow
Huge Old-Age Dutchman's-pipe
or Pipevine (Isotrema macrophyllum)
28 April 2024
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Rich flora was serenaded by:
Black-throated Blue Warblers
(Setophaga caerulescens)
Black-throated Green Warblers
(Setophaga virens)
Hooded Warblers
(Setophaga citrina)
American Redstarts
(Setophaga ruticilla)
Pine Warblers
(Setophaga pinus)
Ovenbirds
(Seiurus aurocapilla)
Scarlet Tanagers
(Piranga olivacea)
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
(Pheucticus ludovicianus)
White-breasted Nuthatches
(Sitta carolinensis)
Pileated Woodpeckers
(Dryocopus pileatus)
Blue-headed Vireos
(Vireo solitarius)
Northern Ravens
(Corvus corax)
to note only a few.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Solomon's-seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Herbaceous flora was a major star of this show.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Huge Trillium (Trillium spp.) and
Fernleaf Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Red Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Trilliums with characteristics of both Trillium erectum and Trillium sulcatum were observed.
Rocky Hollow
Deep Red Trillium (Trillium spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Squirrel Corn (Dicentra canadensis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Woodland Stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Great Yellow Wood-sorrel (Oxalis grandis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Both Aniseroot (Osmorhiza longistylis) and
Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza claytoni) appeared
to be present.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
(Osmorhiza spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Canada Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum canadense)
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Prickley Gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
A nice diversity of ferns were observed
emerging across the forest floor.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Glade Fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpos)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Glade Fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpos)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Glade and Goldie's ferns were abundant.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Goldie's Wood Fern (Dryopteris goldieana)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Bulblet Fern (Cystopteris bulbifera)
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Rattlesnake Fern (Botrypus virginianus)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Many ferns were just emerging.
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Northern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Additional Ferns observed included:
Christmas Fern
(Polystichum acrostichoides)
Silvery Spleenwort
(Deparia acrostichoides)
Evergreen Wood or Fancy Fern
(Dryopteris intermedia)
Walking Fern
(Asplenium rhizophyllum)
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Emerging Spring Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Emerging Spring Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Emerging Spring Diversity
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
Rocky Hollow
Giant Millipede (Narceus spp.)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Calcareous Cliffs of Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Calcareous Cliffs of Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Great bands of limestone cliffs, of the Greenbrier and Bluefield geological formations, follow the High Knob Massif and its extended landform (Powell Valley Anticline) for more than 100 miles.
These great bands of exposed, calcareous rock generate unique habitats for many diverse species and greatly enrich the biodiversity of this amazing landform.
Rocky Hollow is a passageway or
break in these extraordinary cliffs.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Calcareous Cliffs of Rocky Hollow
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
If the above were not sufficient, this
area also contains significant caves
and endangered species of bats.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Cave In Calcareous Stratas
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Internally, these caves contain many
strange life forms and endemic species.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Cave In Calcareous Stratas
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
The deepest cave system east of Montana, and north of Mexico, in North America, as well as the longest in Virginia, exists within this great and nearly continuous outcrop.
28 April 2024
High Knob Massif
Cave In Calcareous Stratas
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
The deepest caves currently known in the Appalachians did not just develop here by chance, as a combination of climate and geology conspired in a glorious manner to aid their formation.
By virtue of all this above, such a landscape deserves more respect than it has been given.
Maple Gap of High Knob Massif
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
A High Cove In Cove Creek
Another area with outstanding habitat and biological diversity was recently visited in a
high cove of Cove Creek of the Clinch River.
LiDAR Terrain Image
Cove Creek of Clinch River
Powell Mountain Block of High Knob Massif
Cove Creek contains several important coves at mid-upper elevations, well upstream of its rugged gorge (an American Whitewater rated Class IV-V+ steep creek through the gorge).
Cove Creek Gorge Run
Cove Creek Gorge is one of many deep chasms in
the long backslope of the High Knob Massif. It rests southwest of the Big Stony Creek Multi-gorge Complex, and northeast of rugged gorges carved by Stock Creek and Laurel Fork of the Clinch River.
31 March 2024
Meandering Tributary In Upper Cove
Cove Creek Basin of High Knob Massif
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
The flat floor of this particular cove contains
the greatest abundance of Yellow Trout Lily
ever observed in the High Knob Massif (an
untold number blanketed the ground across
more than an acre within this cove alone).
31 March 2024
Cove Creek Cove of High Knob Massif
Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
31 March 2024
Tributary of Cove Creek
Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary of Cove Creek
Very Large Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Small wetlands within the cove contain an array
of sedges, rushes, mosses, and other bryophytes, beneath locally large American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) and Yellow Buckeye trees.
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary of Cove Creek
Bark of Old-Age Yellow Buckeye Tree
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
This is a rich cove setting possessing a notable northern flavor. It features plants such as Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) and
Hairy Woodrush (Luzula acuminata).
31 March 2024
Upper Cove of Cove Creek
Snakewort (Conocephalum salebrosum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
What a gorgeous, amazing liverwort!
Cove Creek Basin of High Knob Massif
Walking Ferns (Asplenium rhizophyllum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
What a group of wonderful Walking Ferns!
31 March 2024
Upper Cove of Cove Creek
Large-leaf Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum macrophyllum)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
An abundance of Fraser's Sedge, a highly localized species endemic to the southern Appalachians, was observed within the cove and its tributaries.
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Upper Cove of Cove Creek
Fraser's Sedge (Cymophyllus fraseri)
A few plants were actually in bloom, which seems anomalously early given I often observe blooming during June at upper elevations in the High Knob Massif (the elevation here was around 2800 feet).
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Tributaries draining into the upper cove
have significant cliffs and boulder gardens.
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
Invasive species have entered and
spread along old logging roads.
31 March 2024
High Knob Massif
Tributary Drainage of Cove Creek
31 March 2024
Cliff with an abundance of
Shining Firmoss (Huperzia lucidula)
Jessica Bier & Wayne Browning Photograph
What would spring in the mountains be
without at least some snow and rime?
6 April 2024
High Knob Lookout
Spring Snow and Rime
Cody Blankenbecler Image © All Rights Reserved
A general 1" to 4" of snow accumulated during
4-6 April 2024 at elevations above 3000 feet in
the High Knob Massif. Gorgeous rime added
to the beauty of this final winter event(?).
*Although accumulating snow has occurred during May, this will likely close the chapter on another below average snowfall season (around 60" at the summit-level). The decade-long snow drought continues!
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