Liz Etnier

Posts tagged with "flame azalea"

Davenport Gap to Mt Cammerer - May 20, 2009

Thursday, 21. May 2009, 23:55:04

puttyroot, Mt Cammerer, rhododendron, flame azalea ...

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.

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Hiking Roundtop Trail in the Smokies

Sunday, 3. June 2007, 10:49:23

Smoky Mountains, rosebud orchid, hiking, wildflowers ...

My last spring hike in the Smoky Mountains this year was Roundtop Trail, located just off Wears Gap Road near Metcalf Bottoms. There were 13 of us hiking on April 25. The trail is 7.6 miles long, and ends up at the Little River. Unless you want to hike back to your car, you have to wade Little River at the end. We have had very little rain this spring, so the river was quite low, and fairly easy to get across. We had left some cars at the Townsend "Y," the point where we came out, so we could drive back to the cars we'd left in Wears Valley. Details on finding the trailhead, parking, and implementing the car shuttle are found in my Day Hiker's Guide

It was an easy hike, and we kept a good pace, so got through in a little over 3 hours, with a good stop for lunch. The pink ladyslippers were finished, and not much else was still blooming, but we were thrilled to see one rosebud orchid (I had seen it several years before on this trail, and am sure it is the same one). The mountain laurel was in full bloom, and we walked through miles of it overhead and in the surrounding woods. We also saw one flame azalea in full bloom. Photos of the wildflowers we did see are posted in the photo gallery.

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