House Mountain

House Mountain (topo). In is within Knox County, so is quick to get to, however, I was the only person there. Numerous wild flowers where in bloom including Virginia spiderwort, wild hydrangea, and this familiar looking yellow flower I couldn't name. I also saw several box turtles high up on the mountain's slope.

The mountain has several nice views, however, the haze decreased the range of visibility. I also ran into a rusting shack near several concrete supports with nothing on top of them. According to the topo map, this was a lookout tower (the tower must have been taken down).

Perhaps the most interesting thing on House Mountain was the results of a forest fire from earlier this year. The fire killed most plants less than 5-10 ft in height, but the taller trees survived. There were a large number of tree seedlings (mostly black locust and chestnut oak) and numerous herbaceous plants.