Weekend at Mountain Lake Station, Part I

Yellow pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys)

VNPS had announced a weekend at UVA's Mountain Lake Biological Station in southwestern Virginia at the end of July but the excursion was limited to a baker's dozen in number. Not sure that I'd be able to get one of those slots or keep up with their strenuous hiking schedule, I reserved accommodations for myself the weekend before. I figured that the orchid I was hoping to see, the Coral Root Orchid (Corallorhiza maculata) would be in bloom then, as well as other interesting plants. Being by myself, I would have time to sketch and set my own pace.

This remote mountain area is noted for its rich diversity of flora and fauna, some quite unique. The lake itself,  Mountain Lake, also called Salt Pond, is most unusual: unchanged for the most part of last century, a hotel resort had been built on its shore (the 1980's movie Dirty Dancing was filmed here in part). The spring-fed lake's water level began to drop precipitously in the early 2000's and drained completely. Fissures in the bedrock were found, and geological studies revealed that the lake actually has drained periodically, and fills up again. The lake has now returned to about half its volume.

I left on Friday at mid-morning for the three and a half hour drive down the scenic Shenandoah Valley. I was timing my arrival at the station for the afternoon check-in. This would allow enough time to stop along the way at near-by Pandapas Pond, a place I'd read about where another plant I was seeking could be found. Yellow pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys,) a member of the fascinating Monotropa family that I'd never seen, blooms at this time of the year, and I hoped to get photos for my illustrations.

Pandapas Pond

It was about one o'clock when I took the exit towards Blacksburg. The sign for Pandapas Pond was so inconspicuous that I almost missed the turn, but just managed to make the quick left. I parked towards the end of the last lot, and sat on a bench to enjoy my lunch in the company of a goldfinch browsing some thistles.

After putting my trash back in the car I was weighing which of the two trails to take when another car pulled up. An older lady with a mesh bag in her hand got out and was starting up the forest trail when I asked her what she intended to collect. Judging by her accent, she was local, and she was looking for edible mushrooms, something she called "swamp mushrooms." She told me she didn't have much time before her church service. I asked if she'd ever seen pinesap in the area and she responded no, but that I should look at the site of fallen trees, particularly pines.

I followed her at a respectful distance until she vanished from sight. I came across some Indian pipe and encouraged by this, went off-trail to look for pinesap. I didn't find any and continued up the trail which ended at a beautiful flower garden. The terrain here didn't look particularly promising, so I turned back to try the pond trail. On the way back I saw the old lady deep in the woods, bending over something--she must have found what she was looking for.

Fungi on the pond trail

The pond trail wound around a small hill covered with old pine trees; I climbed up the steep bank to look under them and saw the ground was covered with fungi and mosses, but no pinesap. I went back down and scouted around the pond, but the sandy soil there was not particularly promising either. I was almost back at parking lot, about to give up my search, when I happened to glance up at the steep bank now on my right. There it was--a tiny shoot of Yellow pinesap emerging from the mossy ground! I scurried up and discovered several more pristine stalks to photograph.

Yellow Pinesap.

Having accomplished one goal, I continued on my journey. Heading west the hills became steeper and traffic thinner. At the turn-off for Mountain Lake Lodge the two-lane road went through an area of rural properties and then started climbing steadily, becoming steeper and steeper with every curve.

Power lines at Mountain Lake

The forest canopy was thick until I reached this point where overhead power lines cut through. I couldn't resist the amazing vista that opened up, and pulled over to take this photo. The freshness of the mountain air took my breath away as much as the panorama--it was perceptibly cooler here than on the valley floor. This had to be at around 3,000 feet elevation.

I reached the lodge and asked some hotel attendants at the parking lot where the road to the Biological Station continued. They directed me to the left of the lodge, past the pool and some outbuildings. The paving ended a few miles later and the road became gravel. A few deep ruts here and there gave an indication of what the downpours in these mountains must be like.

After a few more miles the sign for the Biological Station appeared--I drove past some rustic cottages and buildings and parked at the main lot, looking for the building with the registration office. I was directed to Lewis, a two-story stone building to my left. I checked in at the office and received my information packet--I talked briefly with the young lady there about my pursuits and Jamie marked the locations of several stands of Coral Root and other orchids on the station map. One stand was right outside of this building. Another hand-out showed the trails around the station, and she marked those for me as well.

I'd been assigned one of the cottages, Burns, which turned out to have a small fenced-in garden surrounding it. I was cautioned to never leave the gate open, as the deer here were extremely voracious. After getting my gear and settling in, I went out with my camera to explore my surroundings.

The Burns Cottage and garden.

The cottage garden had been lovingly landscaped with all sorts of native plants in a charming arrangement, and conveniently labeled. There were Turk's cap lilies (Lilium superbum) and red and white bee balm (Monarda) blooming. A number of ferns, among them a huge variety of Osmunda (Osmunda spectabilis) which I had never seen before, and a rare trillium, Trillium sulcatum, with a peculiar maroon fruit (my photo of this didn't turn out well).

Turk's Cap Lily (Lilium superbum)

Osmunda spectabilis.

Burns Cottage garden.

After that, I went out to explore the rest of the station. The campus consisted of a series of small cottages and a few larger building arranged around an open grassy area, with the dining hall at one end and Lewis at the other end, and a pond and the large new lab building to the south.

There were three Coral root orchids by Lewis, three small flowering stalks under the oak trees, the flowers not yet open. I walked down the green towards the other area where Jamie had indicated more of these, and found two huge clumps near another cottage. These were better developed but the stalks seemed older, with some flowers clearly past their prime. Still, very exciting to see so many of them!

Coral Root Orchid (Corallorhiza maculata)

I checked out the purple fringed orchids by another cottage; they had been fertilized and were developing seed pods. Looking for other orchids, I entered an area where an old swimming pool had been--pieces of concrete slabs and piers remained in place. The ground here was spongy, lushly covered with several varieties of mosses, among them on that looked like miniature fern fronds. Here was Indian pipe and farther down, another orchid, Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) with several flowering stalks.

Beautiful fern moss (Thuidium delicatum?)

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens)

What great finds! This would help me plan where to start sketching tomorrow morning.

The first dinner bell rang out as I was heading back to my cabin. I dropped off my camera quickly and headed back to the dining hall--I'd been warned the hungry hordes would claim every bite if one was late. There was a small kitchenette in my cabin with a refrigerator, but since I didn't know that in advance, I hadn't thought to bring any snacks, only some wine and my favorite teas.

After dinner I walked around again, enjoying the cool evening and the last of the light lingering on the pond. I came across a gentleman on a cottage deck readying some plant specimens for pressing and talked to him for a bit. Dr. Mark Whitten told me he and his assistant, a young Chinese man by the endearing name of Miao, were here to collect specimens for a project comparing the DNA of eastern North American plants with their counterparts in northeastern China. It's believed that these plants share a common ancestry from a time before the continents began to drift apart, and this project may add valuable information to prevailing theories.

After that it was time for an evening read, and then to bed. I'd brought a light wool blanket with all my linens, since MLBS warns that the night temperatures can drop into the upper fifties even in summer, but even then I wasn't prepared for just how cold it got. I couldn't get to sleep, and wished I'd brought an extra blanket. After closing all the windows and putting a sweater on, I was still too cold to sleep. Eventually I spread all the extra clothes I had with me over the blanket and managed to get warm enough to drift off, but it was one AM by then.

Next: Sketching Orchids, a hike to Bear Cliffs and more.