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Missing the honeybees.
Garlic mustard- arghhh!!! If you can't beat it eat it!
Double white blazes mean there is something coming
up that could easily cause a screw up, like a crossing,
so be careful! Staggered are less common, and maybe
emphasizes the need to pay attention...that means YOU
Doofus!
Bear Berry
500 miles in Grayson Highlands!
Fiddles on the trail!
The AMAZING ponies!!
Scene of the day
Hiker's tan with the white areas being where the hiking
pole straps cover
Gaywings or Fringed Polygala. "Polygala" means much
milk. It used to be thought that animals that consumed it
produced more milk!
Another butterfly added to the collection- a Black
Swallowtail
Just another Manic Monday beard on 4/18
Wild Bleeding Hearts
American Oil Beetle. The first picture, it is undisturbed
walking along the trail. In the second, I had touched its
head, and note that it excreted an orange liquid from its
leg joints. This contains catharidin which causes blisters
and is sometimes used in medicine to treat warts.
Frasier's Sedge, a rare plant of southern Appalachia
Who scratched that into the wooden shelter...hmmmm.
Partridge Berry
Azure Bluets
Dwarf Larkspur
Scene of the day where I stopped for a bite to eat yesterday 4/14
Karaoke Jonny in the background!
Have finished North Carolina and Tennessee and now
in Virginia for the next 500 or so miles.
These are Red Admirals. The one directly above is from 7/8/2015
at the land when it landed on my watch! The other from today 4/15.
Eastern Comma seen 4/15 near Damascus.
Scene of the day- Laurel Falls
T Rev, the guy whose fleece jacket I found
Tuesday 4/12 at a nice waterfall.
All of the following bird pictures are from iBird Pro
Last one for now- a Tufted Titmouse heard
saying, "Peter, Peter, Peter!"
Another bird heard prominently saying, "Teakettle,
teakettle, teakettle!" A Carolina Wren.
Eastern Towhee heard frequently saying, "drink
your tea......" Interestingly there is a guy with the
trail name Teatime.
Black Throated Green Warbler now has taken over
as the most common bird heard: "zee zee zee zoo
zee!"
Yellow Throated Vireo, one of the most common along
the trail, saying "ee oh way".
My home for the night in the wind
Another beautiful trillium
Ramps, like we harvest on our land in Wisconsin. Very
delicious sautéed in olive oil or butter!
Beard at week 4
So long Yoda!!
A shelter called Curley Mountain Gap Shelter just
north of Erwin
View of the day above Erwin with the Nolichucky River
Yoda's last day on the trail a few miles from Erwin
A yellow birch, a familiar sight on our land in Wisconsin
and a reminder of Maple Syrup Season missed for the
first time since 2004.
View of the day from High Rocks with a rainbow! Remember
David, the 90 year old, saying, "just around the corner, there's
a rainbow in the sky."? He was right!
Following the guiding white
Dutchmen's Breeches- note the difference compared
to the Squirrel Corn below. These have the pantaloons
that give it the name.
Dwarf Iris
Fire Pink, pollinated by the ruby throated hummingbird.
State threatened in Wisconsin.
Scruffier by the week
Our place of rest on Monday 4/4
Squirrel corn which resembles Dutchmen's breeches
Trail Magic extraordinaire!
Jumping for joy on Max Patch Bald 4/3
A Mayapple in April
A rhododendron leaf used to produce a nice stream
of water to be collected and filtered for drinking
Ann leaves for home
Bob joins the hike for 2 weeks
Cut Leaf Toothwort
Purple Phacelia
Ann leaves today and the most welcome site at the
end of a few days in the woods will be missing- the
little red Prius with my Sweetie ready to whisk me back
to a bed, shower, and restaurants! The Reckoning is here!
White Fringed Phacelia with feathery petals, sometimes
called scorpion weed.
View of the day
Jack in the Pulpit
A beautiful trillium
Wild Geranium
View of the day
One guy said it really looked cool the way the light
outlined me and convinced me to walk back up the
hill to get this picture taken just before Newfound Gap
Derrick Knob Shelter after most had cleared out in
the morning.
Week two of AT beard. Ready to hit the Smokies!
Chess at the Fontana Hilton
The Fontana Hilton
Another hiking dog with pack
Trout Lily
Cinquefoil
Purple trilliums
Yellow Trillium
Bloodroot
Spring Beauties added to the list of wildflowers.
This is the view of the Nantahala Gorge that I looked
at before returning to the trail and going the wrong way.
Immersing my swollen ankle in the cold water of the
Nantahala River.
Nantahala River near the Outdoor Center
Hepatica acutiloba
Star Chickweed
Halberdleaf Yellow Violet
Early buttercup
Rue Anemone, another familiar spring ephemeral
View of the day before descent to Nantahala Outdoor
Center
A view from Wayah Bald. Clingman's Dome is one of
the hills furthest away. Wayah means wolf in Cherokee.
The stone tower on Wayah Bald
Still some snow along trails on northern slopes today
3/22.
One week with an itchy beard
View of the day
Getting ready for 21 miles and cold!
First border crossing!
Scene of the day off of Tray Mountain
This is Boomer who is doing a thru hike with his owner
whose trail name is Whisper. Notice how he is carrying
his own food, as well as Whisper's sleeping pad
This little Pekingese was very impressive climbing
Tray Mountain with some day hikers- his short little
legs kept him moving fast!
Follow the white blazes, not blue!
A final farewell to Helen
A welcome sight in the middle of the trail- a little Golden Ratio at play
in the hills of northern Georgia?
Walking through a tunnel of rhododendrons.
A postcard of Helen
Boots in the tree at Neel's Gap, discarded by hikers
who found them too heavy and uncomfortable!
A few trillium popping through the brown leaves on
the forest floor, this one a Relict trillium seen 3/17 with
a flower about to pop.
My friend the butterfly again. This time it let me get
close for a nice picture with the iPhone. An Eastern
Tiger Swallowtail.
One of the many views from a high point.
One of the shelters, this one in Blood Mountain
Khalil from Venezuela who we met at Hiker Hostel
who is fulfilling his "life dream" doing a thru hike.
Josh and Leigh, owners of Hiker Hostel, a wonderful
place to start the AT journey.
A little gem seen on 3/16 along the trail- bloodroot,
a spring ephemeral which also grows in Wisconsin
and is one of the first to show up in the spring.
Many years ago I stood by this sign with my Dad and
brothers during a visit to Springer Mtn
Two plaques at Springer
Signed the official log at Springer- watch out for the Big Rig!
Tree hugging at its best on Springer!
Thanks for the send off book club buddies!
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