THE MOUNT MITCHELL TRAIL 



97 



however, for each man to provide him- 

 self with suihcient food for the trip. 



Off to the north of Mitchell, the con- 

 tinuing range of Black Mountains 

 comprise the Black Brothers, 6,690 and 

 6,620 feet, respectivelv, Balsam Cone 

 6,645 feet. Cat Tail Peak 6,609 feet. 

 Potato Hill, 6,487 feet, and so on to 

 the northeast to the Toe River valley. 



These Black Mountains lying west 

 of the Blue Ridge are a series of short 

 ridges and form the watershed of the 

 Toe River, Cane River, and with the 

 Pinnacle of the Blue Ridge, Gray 

 Beard, etc., the north fork of the 

 Swannanoa River. 



In President Roosevelt's message to 

 Congress transmitting the message of 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, appears the 

 following: "The Southern Appalachian 

 region embraces the highest peaks and 

 largest mountains east of the Rockies. 

 It is the great physiographic feature 

 of the eastern half of the continent, 

 and no such lofty mountains are covered 

 with hardwood forests in all North 

 America." 



Along the southeastern margin of this 

 southern mountain belt is the Blue 

 Ridge proper, which, as it crosses North 

 Carolina, is a fairly well-defined moun- 

 tain range standing more than 3,000 

 feet above the sea and rising in four 

 peaks to more than 5,000 feet, and in 

 one (the Grandfather) to practicallv 

 6,000 feet. 



Bordering this region on the north- 

 west are the Unaka Mountains (or 

 Smoky Mountains). Extending out 

 from the two great mountain borders, 

 the Blue Ridge and the Unakas, into 

 the elevated region between them, and 

 connecting them in places, are a series 

 of more or less interrupted cross ridges 

 which have altitudes comparable to, 

 and in the case of the Black Brothers 

 greater than those of, the Blue Ridge 

 or the Unakas. 



Some of these peaks are sharp, rugged 

 and rocky; others like the "Bald Moun- 

 tains" are rounded domes covered with 

 grass and rhododendron; while still 

 others, like Blackstock, Potato Knob 

 and Mitchell, are heavily forest covered. 



The haziness of the atmosphere which 

 has found expression in the name 



"Blue Ridge " and " Smoky Mountains," 

 often limits the distance of vision, but 

 combines with the forest cover to soften 

 the details and to render this southern 

 Appalachian region attractive beyond 

 compare. 



In ascending any of the higher 

 mountains, as Alount Mitchell, which, 

 with its elevation of 6,711 feet, is the 

 loftiest of them all, one may penetrate 

 in the rich and fertile coves about its 

 base, a forest of oaks, hickories, maples, 

 chestnuts and tulip poplars, some of 

 them large enough to be suggestive of 

 the giant trees on the Pacific Coast. 

 Higher up, one rides through forests of 

 great hemlocks, chestnut oaks, beeches 

 and birches, and higher yet through 

 groves of spruce and balsam. Covering 

 the soil between these trees is a spongy 

 mass of humus sometimes a foot and 

 more in thickness, and over this in turn 

 a luxuriant growth of shrubs and 

 flowers and ferns. At last as the top 

 is reached, even the balsams become 

 dwarfed, and there give place largely 

 to clusters of rhododendron and many 

 of them such as are commonly seen about 

 the hills and valleys of New England and 

 southern Canada. 



In such an ascent one passes through, 

 as it were, the changing of the seasons. 

 Half way up the slopes one may see, 

 with fruit just ripening, the shrubs and 

 plants, the matured fruit of which was 

 seen two or three weeks before on the 

 Piedmont Plateau, 3,000 feet below, 

 while 2,000 feet higher up the same 

 species have now just opened wide 

 their flowers. Fully a month divides 

 the seasons above and below, separated 

 by this nearly 6,000 feet of altitude. 



Mt. Mitchell is not only the pride of 

 North Carolina, but of the entire East 

 inasmuch as it is the monarch of 

 eastern mountain peaks. Its sides are 

 covered with a great forest of magnifi- 

 cent balsam — great forest giants, 

 straight as an arrow, and in many 

 instances nearly 100 feet to the first 

 limb. About two years ago a develop- 

 ment, so called by financial interests, 

 of this magnificent forest area of about 

 9,000 acres was begun. As a result 

 erosion of this mountain peak has 

 alreadv started to a considerable extent. 



