Big Tree

Big Tree, Summit, Iroquois,  Olmsted Parks and Parkways

In 1891 Frederick Law Olmsted collaborated with the City of Louisville to establish the city park system.  Eighteen city parks and six parkways were created.  A rail transportation system brought passengers out to the Iroquois Park using one of the parkways.  This tree has a branch that exceeds many of the park's tree trunks.  The size you see is the size of the branch; it's diameter exceeds two feet.  The rope has been added to make climbing to the branch easier. 

The landscape of Iroquois Park continues although we take it's presence for granted.

In print advertisements there is a simple statement about Louisville: It's possible here.

City by the River

Louisville, Kentucky

A street view of  Louisville; the Louisville Gas and Electric/KU Building may be seen in the background.  This is Seventh Street in Louisville.

The City that grew because of the Falls of the Ohio

A tow passes under the Big Four Bridge, heading North

A view of the Louisville central business district
 with twin spires of Churhill Downs in the foreground

The beauty of the architecture of St. Louis Bertrand Church
in the morning light



The Big Four Bridge connects the Louisville waterfront with a historic neighborhood in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Walkers are rewarded with the views of the moving river, the barges and river boats.  At one time citizens could take the train over the Big Four Bridge to visit over the Ohio River.  Now citizens can walk or bike and enjoy a similar journey.  The central business area of Louisville is highlighted by the Aegon Center, the tallest building in the city. The Kentucky Derby Museum is on the property of the Churchill Downs facility at Taylor Boulevard and Central Avenue. The architecture of St. Louis Bertrand Church on Sixth Street south of Broadway attracts one's eyes.  Banners along the Louisville streets describe the city as Possibility City.  

Olmsted Park - Iroquois Park

Iroquois Park Grassland at Sunset

Old tree - Iroquois Park

Frederick Law Olmsted said Iroquois was the nature preservation park of the park system.  The park has grasslands at the summit area.  Recently the park system has been presenting the park as the home of the "ten thousand year old forest."  Perhaps these mature trees on the uplands are hundreds of years old.  Sounds like it would be a good study for some of the eastern Native Tree Society members to try to measure the age of these trees.

Manmade Places

Cave Run Lake - Rowen County Kentucky

Natural lakes are unique; most lakes are made from human intervention.  In Kentucky Metropolis Lake is a natural lake.  Though manmade lakes were altered from the natural landscape they still offer a scenic beauty.  The rustic stairs built in the woods by the CCC artisans are much appreciated constructions.  Perhaps some of the scenic lakes can be viewed with the same appreciation.  These lakes were built and the result became something to be appreciated.

Only in Kentucky

Overlook view - Mammoth Cave NP

Trail signs - Mammoth Cave NP
 

A National Park Service publication included the following:  "The National Park Service cares for
special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage."  When walking
in the forest in the Mammoth Cave National Park one finds the place to be a special place.  There is only one place; this unique place.  The River Styx flows in the subsurface and the surface.  Its water is a foundation to the life of its corridor.  Special places.  Some of Kentucky's tallest trees are found in Mammoth Cave National Park. 
Light and green places.

Mammoth Cave Limestone

Cave Walkway - Mammoth Cave Entryway

Most visitors to the National Park choose to take an underground cave tour.  People who don't like dark places or being underground don't choose to take a cave tour.  Cave tours are not for everyone. The size of the domes in the rock above the paths and the size of the pits in the rock beneath the paths is so large as be breathtaking.  One must see the size of the underground features to believe the size of the underground features.  Some sections of the cave were being made with walkways and railings when World War II interupted the progress.  These sections could potentially be completed and opened for visitors to experience.

Looking skyward

Giant tree - Mammoth Cave NP

 

 

Trees work in associaton with fungi in their roots. They can send resources to their neighboring trees using the root network. They work quietly but work nonetheless. Their noble life can be an appreciation for our life. Some of Kentucky's tallest trees are found in Mammoth Cave NP. This is a beautiful park and its trees are especially appealing. 

 

"I sat on a little stool between my father's knees in the two-wheeled chaise he always drove. To my mind the whole earth spread out before me. My father pointed out the most striking trees as we passed them and told me how to distinguish their varieties. I do not think I ever afterward failed to know one forest tree from another . . . what struck me, perhaps most of all, he stopped his horse on top of a steep hill, bade me notice how the water there flowed in different directions, and told me such a point was called a watershed. I never forgot that word, or any part of my father's talk that day."

George Perkins Marsh

Near to the heart of the world

Towering Tree Growing in Mammoth Cave National Park

As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can. - John Muir

The land of Kentucky was once under the sea as evidenced by fossils present in Kentucky.  Natural Kentucky is filled with the sounds of winds and birds and water.

Beauty in West Kentucky

    



The Rustic National Park Sign

 

My journey took me to Middle Tennessee and West Kentucky. The Welcome Center on the Southbound side of I-65 in Portland, Tennessee is an inviting building. The windows look like a fort from a bygone era.  There was much rain and dark clouds and I was enjoying my time anyway.

In Franklin, Kentucky there is a store with various old household items. The collection of the previously owned items collected from estates and similar sources is an interesting collection. If anyone wants a group of buttons in a Mason jar they have the jars. No two buttons are the same so if you are looking for five buttons of the same design you are stymied.

One of the largest features in Mammoth Cave National Park is the Green River. If you are exploring the surface you will eventually see the Green River. If you have seen the Cumberland River or the Rockcastle River the Green River will be a disappointment. The Green River looks thick with silt in the water. The look is not an appealing look.

Turn a corner on one of the trails in Mammoth Cave National Park and you will see a tree that is so tall you can scarcely tilt your head up enough to see the crown. Some of Kentucky's tallest trees are found in this beautiful park.

Though the Mammoth Cave area is hilly there is nothing that could be thought of as mountains. Though going there is not going to the mountains going there is going to a wild profusion of living plants.

When John Muir was 13 he lived in rural Wisconsin. He went from an obscure farm life to become an explorer, an essayist and one of America's best read writers. The following passage from John Muir fits this special Kentucky place.

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life."

Trees Gone

Cut Trees - Kentucky Road Southbound

Trees in Kentucky of more than one meter diameter should be considered special natural resources and kept from harm.  Ronald Jones writes this in Plant Life of Kentucky and explains the importance of protecting these mature trees to our environment.   The trees harvested and placed on this truck are large and some of them may exceed the diameter standard. 

John Muir wrote, "Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed -- chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones..."