Hiking in the Smokies

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