Smoky Mountain Wildflowers--Now's the Time

If you can find ANY time to make your way to the Smokies in the next couple weeks, just do it! The wildflowers are blooming prolifically and you will be thrilled that you made it a priority. These often tiny spring ephemerals decorate the trails and roadsides almost anywhere you go, but there are some locations that will "knock your hat in the creek!"

Trails or sites I can personally recommend are:

• Chestnut Top Trail
• White Oak Sinks (off of Schoolhouse Gap Trail)
• Cove Hardwood Nature Trail (at the Chimneys Picnic Area)
• Porters Creek Trail
• Baskin's Creek Trail

There are many more, but these are my favorites. I took a quick trip up on Sunday to Chestnut Top Trail and took these shots in just an hour or so with my trusty point and shoot Fuji XP. Imagine what a real photographer could do with such beautiful subjects, but more importantly, imagine what you'll be missing if you don't go!

Sweet White Trillium

Purple Phacelia

Star Chickweed

Yellow Trillium

Long-spurred Violet

Posted with Blogsy

Wildflowers in White Oak Sinks

Yellow Lady's Slipper

Spicebush Swallowtail

This was an incredible day!  Today, my daughter, Kacey, and I hiked up from Schoolhouse Gap Trailhead to White Oak Sinks in search of the annual showing of blue phlox, trillium, and purple phacelia.  We were NOT disappointed!  The showing included everything from Foamflower and Bishop's Cap to both Yellow and Pink Lady's Slippers in a stunning display.  The valley floor of White Oak Sinks was simply carpeted with lovely wildflowers.  Shooting Stars surprised us, and butterflies visited from flower to flower, daring you to capture their never-still wings on camera.  I was blessed to be revisiting this beautiful place after an absence of about six years (except for a premature visit about two weeks ago when very little was in bloom).  At that earlier time, Kacey and I were in a group of hikers taking a guided tour during the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  There we learned the names of many of the flowers that we again saw today and that we have come to know so well in the years since.  I remember the thrill of entering that exquisite valley for the first time, awestruck with the beauty that this special place holds.  It was almost as thrilling again today!