Jones Mountain: Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park encompasses a long stretch of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The ridge here is high and relatively flat-topped, with steep sides that rise several thousand feet from the fertile lowlands immediately on their east and west flank. The ridge reaches as high as 4,000 feet in a few places, while the valleys are below 1,000 feet.
A section of the Crystalline Appalachian Mountains, the Blue Ridge has many rugged outcrops of ancient gneiss bedrock on its slopes and summits.
The upland area surrounding the main ridgeline varies in thickness from a few miles to about 15 miles. In general, the farther from the ridgeline, the steeper the slopes. Jones Mountain, where we were camping, is a long offshoot, trailing off to the east towards Graves Mill, VA. It rises steeply from the valleys to Bear Church Rock (3,000 ft) and Bluff Mountain (3,500 ft), and then mellows out into a wide rounded ridge that connects to the central ridgeline at Hazeltop (3,800 ft). Bear Church Rock boasts a complex of tall north-facing ledges with great views. Bluff Mountain has a steep summit strewn with giant boulders, and several ledges to get views from, including an especially nice perch just below the ridge a bit north of the summit.
The predominant forest cover of Jones Mountain, and probably most ridges in the park, is Chestnut Oak. Mountain Laurel is common in the understory, forming massive thickets in places. Plenty of American Chestunt root sprouts, some as tall as 15 feet testify to this species' prior dominance before the Chestnut Blight. Red Oak, White Pine and Hickories are also prominent. Higher on the ridge there were actually some Eastern Hemlocks. I noticed a beautiful stand of Sugar Maples at the triple divide where Bluff Mountain splits off.
In early May, when we visited, the herbaceous layer was lush. Pink and white Trillium flowers formed huge fields, especially on Bluff Mountain. Violets were everywhere in the wetter areas. We noticed that underneath the Mountain Laurel, however, there was hardly any herbaceous growth.
To the north of Jones Mountain, in a valley separating it from another long ridge called Fork Mountain, flows the Staunton River. This is a steep, continually cascading stream which, like the mountains, is boulder-strewn. It makes a lot of noise, which can be heard from the top of the mountain. The main forest cover on the lower slopes is Tulip Poplar. The valley, despite its ruggedness, was settled up until the 1930's, and some of the stands of Tulip Poplar have an early successional vibe to them. There is an exotic species, Royal Paulownia, with large purple flowers, mixed in at these types of sites. Along the stream, and even on some of the moister slopes, is quite a bit of Yellow Birch, which I was surprised to see in the South. At the head of the valley, just below a pass called The Sag, is a wetlands full of huge ghostly standing dead Hemlocks. Birch is succeeding them. On the lower slopes we saw flowering Dogwood and Azalea, which were beautiful. Not a single Rhodedendron, though. Towards the very bottom of the valley, where the Staunton River joins the Rapidan River, we saw Cucumber Magnolias (unforutunately not flowering) and American Beech. I'm not sure why the Beeches were only towards the bottom, and I suspect anthropogenic reasons.
The herbaceous vegetation in the stream valley is diverse. We saw an orchid-like plant with bunches of deep pink flowers. Also we noticed Jack in the Pulpit. I don't know enough to tell you about all of them unfortunately.
The weather was warm, sometimes even hot. Especially in the afternoons, there was a haze over the valley that made it seem far away. There was always a mix of sun and clouds coming over the mountains.
A section of the Crystalline Appalachian Mountains, the Blue Ridge has many rugged outcrops of ancient gneiss bedrock on its slopes and summits.
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| Jones Mountain ridge seen from Bluff Mountain |
The upland area surrounding the main ridgeline varies in thickness from a few miles to about 15 miles. In general, the farther from the ridgeline, the steeper the slopes. Jones Mountain, where we were camping, is a long offshoot, trailing off to the east towards Graves Mill, VA. It rises steeply from the valleys to Bear Church Rock (3,000 ft) and Bluff Mountain (3,500 ft), and then mellows out into a wide rounded ridge that connects to the central ridgeline at Hazeltop (3,800 ft). Bear Church Rock boasts a complex of tall north-facing ledges with great views. Bluff Mountain has a steep summit strewn with giant boulders, and several ledges to get views from, including an especially nice perch just below the ridge a bit north of the summit.
The predominant forest cover of Jones Mountain, and probably most ridges in the park, is Chestnut Oak. Mountain Laurel is common in the understory, forming massive thickets in places. Plenty of American Chestunt root sprouts, some as tall as 15 feet testify to this species' prior dominance before the Chestnut Blight. Red Oak, White Pine and Hickories are also prominent. Higher on the ridge there were actually some Eastern Hemlocks. I noticed a beautiful stand of Sugar Maples at the triple divide where Bluff Mountain splits off.
In early May, when we visited, the herbaceous layer was lush. Pink and white Trillium flowers formed huge fields, especially on Bluff Mountain. Violets were everywhere in the wetter areas. We noticed that underneath the Mountain Laurel, however, there was hardly any herbaceous growth.To the north of Jones Mountain, in a valley separating it from another long ridge called Fork Mountain, flows the Staunton River. This is a steep, continually cascading stream which, like the mountains, is boulder-strewn. It makes a lot of noise, which can be heard from the top of the mountain. The main forest cover on the lower slopes is Tulip Poplar. The valley, despite its ruggedness, was settled up until the 1930's, and some of the stands of Tulip Poplar have an early successional vibe to them. There is an exotic species, Royal Paulownia, with large purple flowers, mixed in at these types of sites. Along the stream, and even on some of the moister slopes, is quite a bit of Yellow Birch, which I was surprised to see in the South. At the head of the valley, just below a pass called The Sag, is a wetlands full of huge ghostly standing dead Hemlocks. Birch is succeeding them. On the lower slopes we saw flowering Dogwood and Azalea, which were beautiful. Not a single Rhodedendron, though. Towards the very bottom of the valley, where the Staunton River joins the Rapidan River, we saw Cucumber Magnolias (unforutunately not flowering) and American Beech. I'm not sure why the Beeches were only towards the bottom, and I suspect anthropogenic reasons.
The herbaceous vegetation in the stream valley is diverse. We saw an orchid-like plant with bunches of deep pink flowers. Also we noticed Jack in the Pulpit. I don't know enough to tell you about all of them unfortunately.
The weather was warm, sometimes even hot. Especially in the afternoons, there was a haze over the valley that made it seem far away. There was always a mix of sun and clouds coming over the mountains.
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