While botanists have been exploring the Cumberland Gap for decades, some areas remain seldom visited. Martin’s Fork, a boggy tributary to the Cumberland River which originates in the higher elevations of the park, is one such area. It is remote and challenging to access, with high levels of bear activity and only one established trail. During a 2021 survey of the area, SGI’s Southern Appalachian Grasslands Coordinator, Zach Irick, made an exciting discovery: a population of the federally endangered white fringeless orchid (Platanthera integrilabia). This discovery inspired a subsequent trip this season to survey the area more intensively with staff from SGI, the National Park Service, and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP). We dubbed this group trip the “Bog Bioblitz.”

As SGI’s new Central Appalachian Grasslands Coordinator, I have been exploring the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park since May in search of rare plants. Our late summer expedition to Martin’s Fork was something I had eagerly anticipated for months. Originally from Tennessee, I spent the last three years in Fort Collins, Colorado completing my Master’s thesis on the conservation genetics of a rare grassland plant (Clematis fremontii). Amid seemingly endless lab work, a global pandemic, and record-breaking wildfire seasons, I found myself trapped indoors with a powerful homesickness for the Southeast’s lush greenness. Working with SGI again (I was one of SGI’s earliest interns back when I was an undergraduate at UT Chattanooga) has allowed me to come home and return to the work I love most—field botany.

Day 1

Our journey to the Martin’s Fork bogs involved multiple legs. First, coming from Chattanooga, Roanoke, and central Kentucky, our group convened in the Cumberland Gap at park headquarters. We piled the week’s gear into pickup trucks and headed off on the long and winding drive up to Hensley Settlement, a preserved 1900s mountain-top community located within the park. From here, we somehow managed to fit all of our gear into the back of three all-terrain vehicles, donned our (somewhat embarrassing) helmets, and descended into the Martin’s Fork watershed via a rocky, rutted trail. Eventually we made it to the bottom, where we lugged all of our things down to a shady hemlock grove and established our sprawling campsite. We hurried out to spend the remaining daylight conducting a formal survey of the white fringeless orchid population. We were excited to find hundreds of individuals, many of which were in perfect flower, their petals luminous in the dark thicket of head-high ferns.

Day 2

After a damp and chilly breakfast, the group headed out to survey another small bog (or “boglet,” a term we learned from our OKNP friends) known to host a population of tawny cottongrass (Eriophorum virginicum). Once again, we counted every individual, which amounted to a couple hundred. Many of these individuals were not in flower, and based on past surveys by OKNP, this particular boglet appeared to be shrinking. Due to the loss of significant beaver activity in the area as well as human-induced climate change, many formerly open bogs are slowly succumbing to dense growth that isn’t well suited for species such as cottongrass. 

After our count, we split into two groups to cover more ground. My team (me, Zach Irick, plus park interns Paul Boudreau and Drew Crespo) decided to continue downstream, walking directly through the creek channel. Eventually, we noticed what appeared to be a flat, rocky area capping the hill beside us. We quickly scrambled up to it, hoping for an overlook. We were ecstatic to find a large, crescent-shaped bog directly below us, lining the base of the bluff. We quickly made our way down for a closer look.

This spectacular bog was open and graminoid-dominated (full of grasses and sedges), unlike some of the other more fern and pine-dense bogs we had visited prior. The small spring feeding it formed a deep, but narrow stream undercutting the base of the bluff. Just below the bog, the stream opened up into a wide, beaver-dammed pool. Experiencing this site was the highlight of the trip for me.

Day 3

We spent our final full day exploring several other high-quality bogs and boglets throughout the area. Highlights included finding multiple large patches of shingle moss (Neckera pennata), a rare species of moss that primarily occurs on the trunks of very old trees, nearly stepping on a rattlesnake coiled between two fallen trees, and spotting a young, pink, sweet pinesap plant (Monotropsis odorata). We made several collections of interesting looking plants that were unknown to us, which will keep me busy at my microscope during the off-season.

On our final day, emerging into the open, sunny fields of Hensley Settlement felt deeply refreshing after a rainy week of camping down in the hemlock shadows. On the drive home, I reflected on the necessity of grasslands, both ecologically and for the human spirit. Whether a boglet or an expansive prairie, open spaces like these have a way of quieting the mind. In places like these I can feel myself shift away from the whirlwind of inner thoughts to a peaceful state of receiving and quiet observation–I become more grounded in the present. It is a hard sensation to define, but one I’m sure all of us at SGI have experienced. As the field season comes to a close and I spend more of my days indoors, I will try my best to remember the feeling of careful footsteps across spongy mats of sphagnum, the joy of seeing white fringeless orchids for the first time, and the thrill of looking down at Boggy Bluff.

ALAINA KRAKOWIAK, CENTRAL APPALACHIAN GRASSLANDS COORDINATOR

Alaina serves as the Central Appalachian Grasslands Coordinator based in Roanoke, Virginia. Alaina works with a variety of partners to study, restore, and advocate for the conservation of grasslands throughout her region.