Named for large, micaceous rock outcroppings of milky, white
quartzite, Shining Rock became one of the original components of
the National Wilderness Preservation System in September 1964, a
few months after garnering designation as a Wild area. [In case you
haven't yet looked up the definition of micaceous, micaceous
crystals form thin, flat sheets with one direction of cleavage.
This means that they separate like a sheaf of paper.] It is now the
largest Wilderness in North Carolina (18,483 acres), separated by
only a road from Middle Prong Wilderness to the southwest. Standing
at an elevation of more than 5,000 feet and boasting five peaks
exceeding 6,000 feet (three within the Wilderness boundaries),
Shining Rock Ledge forms the backbone of this area.
Here in this series of high ridges on the north slopes of Pisgah
Ridge, you'll find extremely steep and rugged terrain ranging in
elevation from 3,200 feet on the banks of the West Fork of Pigeon
River, a major tributary of the Tennessee River, to 6,030 feet on
Cold Mountain. Streams abound, cutting narrow passages through the
mountains on their way to either the East or West Forks of the
Pigeon River. Loggers cut down the forest between 1906 and 1926 and
fires raged through the area in 1925 and 1942. These two factors
account for Shining Rock's grassy "balds" and unique vegetation.
The geology lesson begins 390 million years ago, according to “A
Geologic Adventure Along the Blue Ridge Parkway In North Carolina,”
by North Carolina Geological Survey. Magma deep within the Earth
cooled and crystallized to form several different types of granite.
This granite has been uplifted through the earth’s crust, weathered
and eroded over the past 90 million years. As the top layers of
rock weathered away, the removal of their weight allowed the
granite below to rise. The granite fractured along concentric
lines, similar to the layers of an onion. Additional fractures
perpendicular to those layers create individual plates or flakes.
Those plates wore off in a process called exfoliation, which
continues to this day.
Cleavage, in
mineralogy, is the tendency of crystalline materials to split
along definite crystallographic structural planes. These
planes of relative weakness are a result of the regular
locations of atoms and ions in the crystal, which create
smooth repeating surfaces that are visible both in the
microscope and to the naked eye.
This Earthcache is NOT located at Shining Rock but a few miles
to the south and just off of the Mountain-to-Sea trail. The listed
coordinates should bring you to a number of large, micaceous rock
outcroppings of milky, white quartzite that are similar to those
found at Shining Rock. The hike from the listed trailhead
coordinates is less than one mile round-trip.
In order to fulfill the requirements of this Earthcache you
must:
1. Load a photo of you and/or your group in the middle of the
"shining rocks" and with at least one GPSr showing.
2. Email to me the approximate number of "shining rocks" you can
see within 20 yards of the largest "shining rock".
3. Email me a description of the "shining rocks" when viewed from
close-up.
4. Email me an explanation of the cleavage you see on any of the
rocks. You might have to do a little extra reading in order answer
this part.
Enjoy your time here! A trailmap for the Shining Rock Wilderness
can be found
here.
For more information on EarthCaches please click
here.
FTF HONORS GO TO
wildteach!!!
