They might not get the fanfare of their western cousins, the redwoods or the sequoias, but over 25 trees in Congaree National Park can crow that they are champion trees, the tallest individuals of their species in the country. The video at the park's Visitors Center shows footage of an arborist roped into a harness and perched at the very tip of a tree's canopy as he measures it from top to bottom, not a task I would want to try given my aversion to heights. But isn't it praiseworthy that someone did?
With the average of its trees over 130 feet tall, Congaree National Park is one of the tallest deciduous forests in the world. And that's just the tip of the iceberg since many of its tallest trees are still waiting to be numbered.
The best I might do is to run a tape measure along a downed tree, but even then I'm not sure I have a tape in my tool belt that would reach 160 feet, the tallest height found in the park.
The Congaree River that flows through the park gets its name from the Congaree Indians, one of the region's early inhabitants. One translation of "Congaree" means "dragging the bottom of the boat" which is an appropriate description of the Congaree River's depth most of the time.
However, its floodplain may rise and fall as much as 12 feet during the rainy season.
This bottomland forest has sheltered not only Tim and I but also Hernando DeSoto's 1539-1543 expedition, the "Swamp Fox" (Francis Marion) and his Revolutionary War rebels, runaway slaves intent on gaining their freedom, and loggers who tried to clear cut the land. Thankfully, the efforts of that last group proved unprofitable, in large part, because the giant cypress trees were too heavy to float downriver to buyers. One group of people who did find the isolation of Congaree lucrative were the moonshiners who hid their distilling operations there during Prohibition.
Congaree National Park gained its official designation in 2003 after a grassroots campaign begun in 1969. Harry Hampton, writer and editor for The State newspaper, carried on a virtually one-man crusade to preserve the Congaree River floodplain. An avid outdoorsman, Hampton spent many hours fishing, hunting and hiking in the floodplain of the Congaree River and fought to save the area so all Americans could do the same.
After checking the mosquito monitor in the visitors center--mild at this time of year but summer's war zone is a different story--Tim and I decided it was safe to venture forth.
Our first objective was to hike the boardwalk, the park's most accessible trail that twists and turns 2.4 miles before it loops back to the visitors center.
Equipped with the informative self-guided boardwalk tour brochure, we watched for
 |
| Bald Cypress |
 |
| Tupelo Trees |
 |
| Loblolly Pines |
 |
| Yellow Butterweed |
 |
| Ferns |
 |
| Mushrooms |
Wildlife such as beavers, raccoons, deer, feral pigs, freshwater turtles and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker were too shy to make their presence known to us. Yet how thankful I was that we did not cross paths with the venomous snakes that may be found in the park, the cottonmouths or water moccasin snakes.
The elevated boardwalk kept us out of the mud known as Dorovan muck which is eight feet deep, a natural filter for the water that flows through this floodplain. But later when we veered off the boardwalk to hike around the Weston Lake, we found mud puddles somewhat difficult to avoid.
However, it was totally worth it to reach this overlook of the lake.
"A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." ~ Henry David Thoreau
What good are the knees of bald cypress trees?
No one really knows the function of these although several theories have been floated. Do they aid the exchange of air and bring oxygen to the tree's roots? Do they somehow anchor the tree to keep it upright in high winds? I'm not sure scientists will ever get to the heart of this matter because research on these swampy denizens is difficult and funds to pursue the answer are not easily obtained.
Until that day comes, I'll be charmed with hearts carved by nature.
And I'll wonder if those carved by lovers have stayed true.
At least, there's no doubt about these champion trees. They are the superstars of their species.
No comments:
Post a Comment