West Virginia Mountain Momma

Tomorrow, starts a journey across Wild and Wonderful West Virgina, to observe the history of rail and lumber across the state. Preview this blog for updates as I take a journey with other Cabell County teachers to observe the majestic beauty of WV ecosystems. As I take this journey I will be taking pictures and collecting data for board foot, water quality, soil quality, and tree identification. So that you can follow along i have created a page that contains pictures, water quality data, board feet of tree data, and map of my travels.


View Forest & Rail Trip in a larger map

 The first stop for tomorrows trip is Cathedral State Park, where we will view some of the last remaining virgin timber in West Virginia and probably the United States. The majority of the trees located in this forest are called eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadenesis), but there are some hardwoods (e.g. black cherry, yellow birch, red oak, sugar maple, and so on). The tallest hemlock (123 ft) in WV is behind the park's superintendent house, this tree was discovered in 1787, but it has been living long before Columbus discovered America. If it was not for the insight from Brandon Hass in 1922, the site in which Cathedral Sate Park eventually acquired would have lost the virgin trees. The WVU extension office offers insight to the history of the land and park. Click here to visit the document.