Rainmaker

For the past several days, a center of low pressure has remained stationary over Ontario, Canada.  Its trailing cold front curved eastward through New England and the Mid Atlantic region and then westward across the Ohio River Valley and the lower watershed of the Missouri River.

Meanwhile, strong southerly winds swept copious Gulf of Mexico moisture into the Southern Plains, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Southeastern States.  Along the stationary front, this hot, moist air clashed with cool, dry air north of the front, producing pockets of torrential rain that drifted eastward along the front.  The tragic flooding in St. Louis and Eastern Kentucky represented the most extreme consequences of this atmospheric scenario.

As the central low creeps eastward across Eastern Canada, its trailing front will dip farther to the south, concentrating the heaviest rain along the Arkansas and Tennessee River Valleys.  Of course, the excessively warm water of the Gulf of Mexico has fueled these flood events and will surely feed powerful hurricanes as the season progresses.

Elk in Kentucky

This week, the New York Times reported on the success of Kentucky's elk reintroduction program.  Beginning in 1997, 1500 elk were transported to the eastern Kentucky hill country where reclaimed strip mines offered an ideal mosaic of grasslands and forest corridors.  Today, more than 13,000 elk roam that region, the largest herd east of the Mississippi River.

Funded by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, a hunting organization, this reintroduction has been hailed for its overwhelming success, returning elk to a region for the first time since the Civil War and restoring a vibrant economy where coal was once king; according to the article, tours, trails and a nature center are planned and benefits to hotels, restaurants and shops are expected to follow.  One might argue, however, that, prior to the strip mining, this heavily forested portion of the Appalachian Plateau would not have been so inviting to elk.  Furthermore, since wolves are not in the equation, man is the only predator capable of controlling the elk population; in effect, this region of eastern Kentucky will become a large hunting preserve.

Such is the problem with reintroducing large herbivores in areas where they have no natural predators.  For example, many of us believe that wolves should be reintroduced to Colorado to control both the largest herds of elk in the country and the moose that were reintroduced.  As self proclaimed stewards of the planet, our goal should be to repair damaged ecosystems not create lucrative hunting opportunities (however economically beneficial that might be).

See: Wolves in Colorado, Elk in Michigan, Moose in Colorado 

Down the Ohio Valley

Hoping to skirt the latest winter storm, which was pummeling Missouri and would soon move into northern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, we decided to take a southern route to return to Columbia.  Driving SSE from Kent, Ohio, we entered the Muskingum River watershed within a few miles; this large network of streams and rivers drains most of the Appalachian Plateau in eastern Ohio, eventually entering the Ohio River.

Nearing Columbus, where highway signs warned of the approaching winter conditions, we entered the Scioto River watershed, another major tributary of the Ohio.  Then, in southwest Ohio, we crossed the Little Miami Valley before reaching the Ohio, itself, in downtown Cincinnati.  Once in Northern Kentucky, our route paralleled the Ohio River to the southwest as we undulated across the river hills, fording the Licking and Kentucky Rivers (southern tributaries of the Ohio) before reaching Louisville.

Cold rain developed halfway between Cincinnati and Louisville but it appears that we have safely avoided the snow and ice, at least for now.  We'll spend the night in Louisville before continuing through the Ohio Valley across southern Indiana and Illinois.  Eventually, we'll have to angle northwest to St. Louis and thence westward to Columbia but, hopefully, the roads will be clear by then.

A Night on the Ohio

On our journey back from Florida to Missouri, we spent the last night in Paducah, Kentucky, at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers.  In fact, our hotel room offered a sweeping view of the Ohio, where tugboats struggled to control their barge trains.

During our brief stay, we wandered through and dined in the historic section of downtown Paducah, where old buildings are being renovated to house shops, cafes and apartments; of interest, William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, first platted this port city in 1827.  The National Quilt Museum, where we found that quilts can be fine art, is also located in Paducah.

Despite the cultural amenities of the city, the broad Ohio River was of primary interest to me.  After all, it was the river of my youth, having grown up and come of age in Cincinnati.  Rivers connect natural ecosystems and human cities; for some, they also connect us with our past.  A night on the Ohio proved to be a nostalgic experience.

For a bit of natural history, see: From Teays to Ohio

Driving toward Spring

Leaving Columbia this morning, we headed toward spring; it was cloudy and cool in central Missouri and patchy snow still covered the ground.  As we drove eastward to St. Louis and then southward through western Illinois, we encountered multiple flocks of snow geese and greater white-fronted geese, vanguards of the coming season.

When we crossed the swollen Ohio River, we were greeted by sunshine and warm conditions but a brown, wintry landscape still stretched along the highway.  A large flock of American white pelicans, also a harbinger of spring, graced Lake Barkley, southeast of Paducah and green fields finally appeared in southern Kentucky.

Throughout Tennessee and into northern Alabama, mild, sunny weather persisted but convincing signs of spring remained elusive.  After dipping through the Tennessee River Valley and then knifing into the southern end of the Appalachian Chain, we stopped for the night near Birmingham.  Spring still lies farther south (stay tuned).

Birding on the Road

As we left Columbia, Missouri, this morning, on our way to Longboat Key, Florida, I decided to count the number of bird species that I observed along the highways; after all, one needs something to make a long drive through familiar terrain more interesting.  Cloudy weather, with intermittent fog and drizzle, didn't help nor did a massive traffic jam in Nashville, Tennessee; the latter assured that the remaining portion of today's journey (ending in Chattanooga) would occur in darkness.

As one might expect, open-country species accounted for most of the observations; these included Canada geese, American crows, mourning doves, red-tailed hawks, American kestrels, ring-billed gulls and turkey vultures, among others.  Two bald eagles were observed (in eastern Missouri and western Illinois) and two flocks of American white pelicans were unexpectedly encountered; these tardy migrants were on Rend Lake, in southern Illinois, and on Lake Barkley, in northwestern Kentucky.

After a night in Chattanooga, we should complete our trip to Longboat Key by tomorrow evening (weather and traffic permitting).  Hopefully, bird sightings will increase as we travel through more southern latitudes and I will include the total species count (for the entire journey) on my next post.

The Cumberland River

Forming just north of Harlan, Kentucky, from three headwater forks that rise in the Appalachian Plateau of that State, the Cumberland River begins its tortuous, 690-mile journey to the Ohio River.  After snaking westward and passing through the Pine Mountain ridge at Pine Mountain State Resort Park (Kentucky's oldest), the river angles to the NNW, where its spectacular falls (known for its seasonal moonbows) is protected within Cumberland Falls State Resort Park.

Winding westward once again, the river receives flow from its Big South Fork (which is surrounded by a National Recreation Area) and soon enters Lake Cumberland (home to another Kentucky State Park) before turning south just west of Dale Hollow Lake and entering Tennessee.  Curving to the southwest, it leaves the Appalachian Plateau (known locally as the Cumberland Plateau) at Carthage and flows westward into Old Hickory Lake, just south and east of Hendersonville.  The Cumberland River then curves through Metro Nashville before angling to the northwest, entering Cheatham Lake and then passing Clarksville, Tennessee.

Crossing the karst plain of western Kentucky, the Cumberland then enters Lake Barkley, which forms the eastern edge of Kentucky's Land Between the Lakes, before joining the Ohio River a couple miles east of the mouth of the Tennessee River.  Few Eastern U.S. rivers connect so many well-known parks and recreation areas as they sculpt our landscape; of course, the dams that created some of these human playgrounds have significantly altered the river's ecology.

Greater Cincinnati's New Museum

Returning to my home town for a few days, I learned that Greater Cincinnati has a new museum.  Billboards advertising The Creation Museum began to appear near Indianapolis and rose at intervals along Interstate 74; illustrated with cartoonish dinosaurs (no doubt designed to attract the attention of children), the signs indicated that the facility is on Interstate 275.  Indeed, the Museum, which opened in late May, is in Northern Kentucky, west of the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport.

While I will not have time to visit the Museum (and have no interest in doing so), I understand that it presents a Genesis-based history of life on Earth, spanning some 6000 years.  According to their literal interpretation of the Bible, early humans and dinosaurs coexisted; ignoring scientific evidence that dinosaurs inhabited our planet from 225 to 65 million years ago and that humans have walked the Earth for at least 130,000 years, the museum curators prefer to rely on clues from Scripture.

An appropriate companion to The Ark (also in Northern Kentucky), this Museum seeks to attract Christian Fundamentalists from across the country, fostering the long war between religion and science.  Unfortunately, man has yet to evolve beyond the influence of mysticism.

An Inspiring Day in Appalachia

It was during our drive across the horse country of Kentucky, a probable domain of Conservative Republicans, that I listened to President Obama's speech regarding the expansion of gun purchase background checks and the implementation of gun safety measures; his comments and actions were inspiring if only a few years late.

I was also inspired by the clear, cold air, the blue, cloudless sky and the scenery of Appalachia.  Just east of the Licking River, we climbed onto the Appalachian Plateau, a landscape of wooded ridges, deep valleys and secluded hamlets.  Always a bit claustrophobic for me, the province offered few wildlife sightings, the most remarkable of which was a fair number of pileated woodpeckers.  Nearing Charleston, West Virginia, we dropped into the Kanawha River Valley; this river is a remnant of the Teays, a massive river system that drained the west flank of the Appalachians before Pleistocene Glaciers blocked its flow and molded the Ohio River channel (see From Teays to Ohio).

As we approached Bluefield, at the southern border of West Virginia, we reached the crest of the Allegheny Front (3200 feet), descended from the Appalachian Plateau and entered the Ridge and Valley Province of Virginia, which, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful landscapes in America.  As the setting sun ignited the ridgetops, we pulled into Wytheville for the night, ending the second day of our journey.

An Outlier of Appalachia

Driving southwest on I-65 from Louisville, Kentucky, one soon climbs from the Devonian sediments of  Greater Louisville into the early Mississippian limestones that underlie most of central and western Kentucky; this rather steep ascent, known as the Muldraugh's Hill Escarpment, yields an elevation gain of 600 feet.  Leveling out near Elizabethtown, the highway continues southwestward to Bowling Green; along this segment, one notices hills to the west that, composed of upper Mississippian limestones, comprise the Dripping Springs Escarpment.  Mammoth Cave, perhaps the most extensive network of caves and underground streams on the planet, courses through this limestone.

This layer of upper Mississippian limestone curves northwestward at Bowling Green and continues into southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana, bisected by the Ohio River.  Interior to this broad shield of limestone is a less extensive cap of Pennsylvanian sandstone, bordered by its Pottsville Escarpment.  Streams throughout this unglaciated Tristate plateau (known as the Shawnee Hills, especially in Illinois) have sculpted the Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) sediments into a maze of ridges and valleys, typical of the Appalachian Plateau to the east.  Indeed, the component rock formations of the two plateaus are identical, suggesting that they were once connected.

Today, the Glaciated Plain of eastern Indiana and western Ohio, the Lexington Peneplain of northern Kentucky and the Highland Rim of central Kentucky stretch between the Shawnee Hills Province and the Appalachian Plateau.  These intervening regions consist of older, horizontal marine sediments, exposed by glacial and stream erosion; the exposed rocks of Greater Cincinnati and the Lexington Peneplain are of Ordovician age, rimmed by Silurian deposits in eastern Indiana and western Ohio, Devonian sediments in central Ohio and Greater Louisville and lower Mississippian limestones in central Kentucky.  In the distant past, the upper Mississippian limestones and Pennsylvanian sandstone of the two plateaus likely covered these older geologic deposits (i.e., the Appalachian and Shawnee Hills Plateaus were contiguous).

Cumberland Gap

Cumberland Gap, once traversed by the Indian Warrior Path, became a famous conduit for the Wilderness Road when Daniel Boone and his party entered Kentucky in 1769. Today, protected within a National Historic Park, this deep notch in Cumberland Mountain is the centerpiece of a natural area that offers a pleasing mix of history, scenery and outdoor recreation.

Nine hundred feet deep, the Gap was once thought to have been created by wind. We now know that it was carved by a stream that flowed southward to join the Powell River; in more recent times, this stream was "captured" by Yellow Creek, diverting its flow northward to the Cumberland River. Cumberland Mountain, which parallels Pine Mountain to its north, represents the barrier between the Appalachian Plateau (to its northwest) and the Ridge and Valley Province (to its southeast); the crest of this long, narrow ridge forms the border between Kentucky and Virginia northeast of the Gap.

A visitor center, in Middlesboro, Kentucky, introduces visitors to the natural and human history of the region and provides maps for hiking trails that climb onto Cumberland Mountain or run atop its summit; one of these leads to the Tristate Pavilion, at the junction of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Those less inclined or unable to hike the trails can take a short drive up to Pinnacle Overlook, just northeast of the Gap, which provides a spectacular panorama of the surrounding landscape.

Pine Mountain

In southeastern Kentucky, two high ridges, separated by the Cumberland River Valley, parallel the Virginia border. These prominent spines are part of the Cumberland Mountains, the southeast edge of the Appalachian Plateau and the westward extension of the Allegheny Front. The more southern ridge is Cumberland Mountain which harbors the famous Cumberland Gap, just outside of Middlesboro, Kentucky.

The northern ridge, extending from Whitesburg, Kentucky southwestward into Tennessee, is known as Pine Mountain; after flowing along the south side of this ridge, the Cumberland River cuts through to its north side at Pineville and continues westward to Cumberland Falls and Lake Cumberland. Pine Mountain State Resort Park, just west of Pineville, is an excellent place to explore the ridge; it is the oldest Park in what is arguably the finest State Park system in the country. Numerous trails lead across the south face and atop the high spine of Pine Mountain, passing waterfalls, a natural bridge and scenic rock formations; "chained rock," reached by a short walk or a long hike, yields a spectacular view of the nearby mountains and valleys.

Further east, via KY 1254 off U.S. 119, Kingdom Come State Park sits atop Pine Mountain; at an elevation of 2800 feet, it is the highest of Kentucky's State Parks. Centered on Raven Rock, a giant outcrop of sandstone, the Park is accessed by a fine network of trails which lead across the mountain slopes and out to several overlooks. The Little Shepherd Trail, which follows the crest of Pine Mountain for 38 miles (from U.S. 421 to U.S. 119), crosses through the Park.

Even further east, the Bad Branch State Nature Preserve spreads up the south face of Pine Mountain. Reached via KY 932 (off U.S. 119, 7 miles southwest of Whitesburg), the refuge is renowned for Bad Branch Falls, a 60 foot cascade. Energetic and conditioned hikers may also want to set their sights on High Rock, atop the Pine Mountain ridge.

Kentucky's Knob Belt

Most of eastern Kentucky is covered by the Appalachian Plateau, its western edge angling from the northeast to the southwest and running just east of Maysville, Berea and Somerset. Capped by the Pottsville Escarpment of Pennsylvanian sandstone, this edge rises up to 500 feet above the Lexington Peneplain (the Bluegrass Region), which covers the north-central part of the State.

The boundary of the Peneplain and the Plateau is characterized by a chain of "knobs," dissected from the Plateau by stream erosion; these topographic remnants, which comprise the Knob Belt, parallel the margin of the Appalachian Plateau from Maysville to Berea, producing scenic vistas for the traveller and regional diversity for the naturalist.

Perhaps the best place to explore this Edge of Appalachia is at the Berea College Forest, off Kentucky Route 21, 3 miles east of Berea. Over 19 miles of hiking trails lead up and along the narrow ridgetops of the preserve, offering spectacular views into the adjacent valleys and out across the Lexington Peneplain. One interesting feature is the Devil's Kitchen, a large recessed cave on the eastern edge of Indian Fort Mountain.