Hiking in the Smokies

Five of us started at Davenport Gap, on the Appalachian Trail (AT) at 10 AM Wednesday, May 20. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, full sun, and blue skies without a cloud. We hiked at a fairly steady pace, but going in this direction, you climb 3000 ft in 6 miles, so we tended to stop frequently. It was a very enjoyable,although strenuous, hike. We saw a few new wildflowers that we hadn't seen on previous hikes this spring, including bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis) and the speckled wood lily, or white Clintonia (we had seen just a few of these latter hiking to Charlies Bunion a few weeks earlier). A new flower to me was puttyroot - I just spotted 2 stalks of purplish brown flowers several feet off the trail, and managed to zoom in on them for a not so hot photo (see photo album for this hike).

There were just a few Mountain laurel in bloom, but no rhododendrons yet. We were hoping to see some flame azalea, but were diappointed.

There were many, many spent Vaseys trilliums at the lower elevations, and just a few Trillium erectum still blooming up near Mt Cammerer. We saw a lot of large Solomons seal still blooming, as well as some huge Solomons plume, a few big clumps of foamflower in bloom, and a couple of trailing arbutus with blooms (these were on really shady banks).

We were surprised to pass quite a few through hikers on the AT, perhaps as many as 10 all told, as well as several other people section hiking. They are getting a late start, as most seem to pass through the Smokies mid- to late April.

We were rewarded for the climb to Cammerer and the tower, as the clear skies held, and the views were spectacular. On the way down from the peak, we were startled by a huge black rattlesnake that must have been sunning on a rock. Luckily, we heard his rattle, and he slithered off into the woods before we got too close.

We had a leisurely lunch and rest stop, and headed back down the trail at 3 PM. A late start, but we made good time going down, and got down in just over 2 1/2 hours. A great day to be hiking.