Between here and BLUE.69, I passed through a cove draw similar to BLUE.69 and another hemlock-oak forest similar to BLUE.70. Above this plot is an Oak spp.- white pine - hickory forest. Up the ridge spur above the plot, right around the NPS boundary is a stand of very large timber 90cm+DBH (Quercus prinus, Q. rubra, Fraxinus americana). Did not explore long , but the stand may be as big as 2000m squared (see aerial imagery).;Steep shaley ground. The top of the plot is located near a few large bedrock sandstone boulders. The plot is almost too steep to stand. Exposed red shale covers the ground with a diverse looking herbaceous layer. The slope seems hot and dry. No stumps are located in the stand. The trees here have the classic lean of the trees growing out over steep slopes "hill creep". The T2 trees are rather small in both the DBH and height . The area feels very isolated. The only sounds in the plot are that of the river below and birds singing.
Representativeness
This is a small patch forest community which is most likely our matrix acid oak-hickory forest. The plot was placed here trying to contrast our Southeast facing calcareous oak forest.
