Tuesday, April 17, 2012

April 8 Porters Creek Trail


One of the premier wildflower sights in the Smokys is Porter Flats along Porters Creek. The main attraction is Fringed Phacelia. Is was past its bloom today. We saw a dozen or so flowers. We did see tremendous displays of Bishops Cap, Trillium and Wild Geranium. 


Here I am below Fern Branch Falls. It was a great spot to take a break and listen to the water.


Bear Corn is just popping through the leaf litter and we saw this great display. It looks so nice in this state but deteriorates into a dark hulk of vegetation. 


Wild Geranium and a little Foam Flower and a beautiful girl. Nice Poplar Tree there too. As accessible as Porters Creek appears to be, it looks as if it was never logged. The trees have that old growth look and we saw a considerable quantity of Fraser's Sedge which prefers unlogged areas.


Great displays of Trillium were on the upper portion of this trail between Fern Branch Falls and Campsite 31.


You won't see this flower unless you know where to look. It appears at the base of Wild Ginger. Most of the time you have to remove some leaf litter to see.

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Apr 24 Riles Creek Paddle

  Riles Creek drains into Tuckertown Reservoir. Today's paddle was organized by Crystal and most of these Photos were taken with her zoo...