Winter fights to stay.
Sweet Spring always wins her way.
Flowers bloomed today!
~Patricia Cisco
April 11, 2021
Carvers Gap, NC to Iron Mountain Gap, TN
Trail miles: 15.4 miles
Ascent: 3729′
Descent: 4728′
Weather: gusty, high 50’s, and wonderfully sunny
High points: some great views and wonderful wildflowers
It absolutely poured last night. It deluged. It torrented! And I was so very thankful that I had arranged to have my first night in a hostel last night, so I was warm and dry.
This morning was still gray and cloudy, and between the fog and the pine trees I felt like I was hiking in Maine!
I passed a mysterious chimney right in the middle of the path.
And the wind seemed to blow away the clouds and suddenly I had sunshine and some views!
Today I walked by probably the most oddly named place so far – – I crossed Greasy Creek! The wildflowers were abundant. I felt like I was walking through a planted wildflower garden, but this garden is planted by God! The light was just right and I managed to take a picture that catches the sheer abundance of the flowers. The green strip along either side of the path is of course grass, but the lighter green to either side is all flowers! The actual leaves of the spring beauties are grass colored, but there’s so many flowers that it lightens the whole area. When you look at the spring beauty is against the foliage it literally looks like the Milky Way, except obviously the white flowers are against a green backdrop. There are just so many of those tiny flowers!
The shadows of the clouds show up interestingly on the landscape!
I saw three new flowers today – bleeding heart, Dutchman’s breeches, and a really interesting orange flower that faces downward and has very mottled leaves. Some kind of Lily I think.
Bleeding heart 
Dutchman’s breeches 
Lily?
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!
Hi, Gwen – Love following your posts and seeing the pictures. I believe the yellow flower you have marked as lily is Erythronium americanum, commonly called trout lily (trout because of the leaves). I have these in my yard and they are getting ready to bloom. Apparently they are a native plant widespread through the eastern US.
Thanks for the ID! That was helpful!
I believe the yellow lily is Erythronium americanum aka trout lily, so called because of the appearance of the leaves. It is a native plant found throughout the eastern US. I have some in my garden and they are getting close to blooming.
(Apologies if this gets posted twice – I tried to post earlier but it doesn’t seem to have saved it.)