...The North Carolina Chapter purchased this land from a local landowner, Sterling Carroll, who used the funds from the transaction to purchase a large ranch in eastern Montana through a tax-free exchange. The North Carolina State Parks, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, NC Plant Conservation Program and three local land trusts (High Country Land Trust, National Committee for the New River, and the Blue Ridge Land Trust) all play a role in protecting the New River Headwaters project. It’s encouraging to realize that we can creatively work together to protect places like Elk Knob.

After a quick sandwich, we head up the trail to the top of Elk Knob, adults taking it slow, 13-year-olds well in the lead. I glance up through the open forest, noticing that few rhododendrons are present. An integral part of anyone’s bushwhacking experience in the Smokies or Pisgah National Forest, these shrubs stay mainly on the edge of the forest up here because of the soil type. This area is characterized by the underlying amphibolite rock, which has a higher pH: it’s “sweeter” in layperson’s terms. This also explains the unique grouping of plants in this place, like Gray’s lily and large purple-fringed orchid. The hardwood forest around us is dominated by Northern red oak, yellow birch, and sugar maple. Black bear make themselves at home in this large block of unfragmented forest, and many species of neotropical migratory songbirds, such as the chestnut-sided warbler and scarlet tanager, nest here.

The mountain top offers us a breathtaking panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. Elk Knob drops off dramatically to the north, with stunted windswept trees revealing the harsh northern winds that race down on this range in winter. I can almost see back in time to the Ice Ages, when Elk Knob was surrounded by boreal forest and tundra and animals such as the elk for which it is named grazed in abundant herds. While the herds are now gone, there is hope that elk may one day be reintroduced here.

A cool breeze and a few drops of rain from low-hanging clouds bring me back to the present and warn of a shift in the weather. So after taking in the view one more time, we turn and head back down the mountain, content that this view and all it contains will be preserved for future generations. If we are successful, perhaps they'll see elk here too.

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