Dec 2, 2020
Thinking Citizen Blog — Mountains of the World (VI): The Appalachians — Pangea, the Cumberland gap, the Trail, the Music
Thinking Citizen Blog — Wednesday is Climate Change, the Environment, and Sustainability Day
Today’s Topic — Mountains of the World (VI): The Appalachians — Pangea, the Cumberland gap, the Trail, the Music
Once as high as the Alps, the 480 million year old Appalachians were also once at the center of the supercontinent Pangea and linked to what is now the Little Atlas mountain range in Morocco! The Appalachian trail passes through fourteen states. The Cumberland Gap was the most famous of the mountain passes through which settlers in the late 18th and early 19th reached the West. The highest peaks are much lower than those of the Rockies (eg. Mt. Mitchell at 6684 ft versus Mt. Elbert at 14,433 ft.) The southern half of the region has an extremely rich musical tradition. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
FROM ALABAMA TO NEWFOUNDLAND AND NEW BRUNSWICK
1. The southern terminus is the Talladega range in Alabama. The northern terminus: Belle Isle, an uninhabited island off the coast of Labrador.
2. In between are the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Green Mountains of Vermont, the Berkshires of Massachusetts, the Catskills of New York, the Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia,and Virginia, the Smokies of Tennessee and North Carolina.
3. Technically, the Adirondacks are not included as they are part of the Laurentian Range in Canada.
NB: “The cultural region of Appalachia typically refers only to the central and southern portions of the range from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains.”
CHIEF SUMMITS BY STATE
1. Mt. Washington (New Hampshire, 6288 ft.), Mt. Mansfield (Vermont, 4393 ft.) Mt. Katahdin (Maine, 5267 ft.),
2. Mt. Greylock (Massachusetts, 3487), Spruce Knob (West Virginia, 4861 ft.) Mt. Mitchell (North Carolina, 6684 ft.)
3. Mt. Marcy, the highest point in New York is part of the Adirondacks.
THE CUMBERLAND GAP, THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL, THE MUSIC
1. Crossing the Appalachians was no mean feat for pioneers and settlers. Above the depiction of Daniel Boone leading settlers across the Cumberland Gap. “It is estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 European-American settlers passed through the gap on their way into Kentucky and the Ohio Valley before 1810.”
2. Have you hiked the Appalachian Trail? Portions of it? 2200 miles long passing through 14 states. Over 2 million hike a portion of it per year. “Thru-hikers” number about 800 per year with about 700 north bound and 100 south bound.
3. The triple crown of hiking in the US consists of the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail.
NB: Appalachia has a rich musical tradition. Two coal mining songs by Merle Travis are “Sixteen Tons” and “Dark as a Dungeon.” Two great Carter Family hits: “Wildwood Flower” and “Wabash Cannonball.” “Shenandoah” (which has a very complicated history) is among my all time favorite folk songs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Gap
Shenandoah — Peter Hollens (A Cappella)
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YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to climate change or the environment. Or the coolest, most important thing you learned in your life related to climate change that the rest of us may have missed. Your favorite chart or table perhaps…
This is your chance to make some one’s day. Or to cement in your own mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
