Hiking in the Smokies

Last week, April 8, 7 of us decided to hike the West Prong/Bote Mt/Finley Cane/Turkey Pen Ridge loop, coming out at Schoolhouse Gap. I thought that since the hike was mostly between 1500-2000 feet that we would see a lot of spring wildflowers. We did see a good variety on Finley Cane trail (see photo album), but little on the others. Most of the early bloomers were evident: rue anemone, bloodroot (almost finished), hepatica (almost finished), wood anemone (just beginning), yellow trillium, a few little brown jug plants, pennywort, a few Bishop's cap, and blue cohosh just beginning to bloom. We saw little else but a few violets just starting to bloom. All in all, it was a pretty disappointing wildflower hike, but it was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm, and we had a great hike.