Up slope SW ca. 150 m is a steep cliff break. Roughly 30 m high. This is likely where the large boulders in this community and the 2 below us (GARI.40 & 41) came from. There is an impressive stand of Hemlock ca. 40 m below this plot on the toeslope. The diversity was much lower there so I pushed the plot upslope. The lower forest would also make a nice plot. For more context, see GARI 40 & 41. Away from the river there is virtually no sign of people. Hemlock occurs throughout this slope w/ and w/o Rhodo. The Rhodo areas havea more Red Oak dom where as the forb areas have Tilia;Nice patch of mixed-mesophytic forest on lower gorge slope. Tall overstory trees with a dense canopy. Large amounts of old, large moss covered and more recently downed trees. Creating large1/5 plot sized canopy gaps with lush herb layers. The slope here is a mosaic of these lush openings and denser oak canopied areas w/ S1 Rhododendron maximum. Our plot is biased to one of the more lush areas. The forest floor is a big colluvial rock bar covered with decaying woody and leafy debris. The forest floor feels old here w/ natural wind throw gaps. All the down trees are still here rotting on the forest floor. The forest may not be old growth, but it is definitely old and undisturbed by man.
Representativeness
Large patch of a mid to late successional mixed mesophytic forest. Likely similar to those sampled at NERI. Also similar to rich hemlock slopes at BLUE except here there is a bounty of Rhododendron. Old Matrix forest w/ circumneutral Tilia/Laportea mos
