Hiking in the Smokies

Frozen Head State Park, in the Cumberlands, was well past its peak for wildflowers when we hiked it on April 28. Although we counted 36 species of wildflowers in bloom along the way as we hiked up Panther Branch and North Old Mac trails, there just wasn't much of anything blooming in any one spot. The highlight of the hike was the one large yellow ladyslipper (Cypripedium pubescens) we saw along the trail. Virtually all of the trilliums were finished, as was the spotted mandarin (Disporum maculatum), found primarily in the Cumberlands, but occasionally in the Smokies (I found it once on Little Greenbrier trail in the Smokies). We saw just two pink ladyslippers (Cypripedium acaule).

There was a lot of water running in all the streams, and the waterfalls were full and beautiful. See the photo album for Frozen Head for pictures of some of the wildflowers we did see.