Saturday, 25. April 2009, 01:30:09
Shuttleworth's ginger, Piney River Trail, wildflowers, Cumberland Mountains
We did this hike last year on April 23, and it was one of the best wildflower hikes we've done. This year, however, there was not the variety or quantity of flowers we saw last year. It seemed to be a little early for the gaywings - although we saw hundreds, they just weren't as abundant as in 2008. There seemed to be many still in bud, and they are so small, that perhaps they just weren't obvious. We also saw only a few blooming buckeyes (yellow and red) compared to 2008. The photo album for Piney River 2009 shows photos of a few of the flowers we saw this past week. You can also look at the album for Piney River 2008 for more pictures.
The Trillium sulcatum was in full bloom, and gorgeous; T. grandiflorum were abundant, but almost finished. I did see several Shuttleworth's ginger, a plant I had never seen before. Spring beauty and rue anemone were still in bloom, enforcing my thoughts that it was still a little early in the Cumberlands
There was a lot of water in Piney River, and the falls and cascades were full of water and beautiful. A map of the Piney River trail can be found at:
http://www.cumberlandtrail.org/piney.html
Thursday, 8. May 2008, 22:36:57
Piney River Trail, Smoky Mountains, Cumberland Mountains, wildflowers
By this late in April, my friends and I had seen most of the common wildflowers in the Smoky Mountains, so we decided to hike in the Cumberlands. The wildflower seasons in the Cumberlands generally seem to be about 10-14 days behind the Smokies, so we hoped to get early spring wildflowers all over again. We were quite surprised at the quantity of flowers and different species that we saw on the Piney River Trail. We counted over 50 flowering plants and shrubs in about a 4-mile distance on the trail.
The Piney River Trail can be reached by taking I-40 east from Nashville or west from Knoxville and turning south on U.S. Highway 27 to Spring City. In Spring City, you turn west onto TN Highway 68 and park at the Piney River picnic area, just a mile or so out of town. The trail is 10 miles long, and ends at Newby Forest Camp. If you want to start at the far end of the trail, you drive past the picnic area, and turn left on Shut-In Gap Road and follow it to the Newby Branch Forest Camp.
We chose to begin at the picnic area, and after 3 miles, walked across a 102' suspension bridge (pictured above) and two more bridges that cross the Piney River. The trail follows the river, and is in very good condition. About a mile later, after the two smaller bridges, we hiked uphill to a fork in the trail, and took the right fork to see a huge cliff house (see photo above). Along this side trail we were thrilled to see one yellow ladyslipper. Photos from this hike can be seen by clicking on the "photos" link at the top of the page.
WIDGETIZE