Posted by Chris M Saturday, June 16, 2007

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.
 Virginia spiderwort  wild hydrangea Yellow Flower Eastern Box Turtle

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).
View from House Mountain 1 View from House Mountain 2 Shack

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.
Forest Fire Rebrith 1 Forest Fire Rebrith 2