April 12 Sunset Stroll around Pilot Knob

This evening, Pilot Mountain State Park Superintendent Matt Windsor led a group of members of Friends of Sauratown Mountains, around Pilot Knob just about sunset. The stroll began with a look at one of the new interpretive displays at the park. A vandal-proof display board of the Blue Ridge ridgeline, naming most peaks is a real nice addition to the park. We spent a considerable amount of time identifying the various peaks which included Grandfather Mtn, Three Top, Mt Rogers and others.

Matt spoke of the history and geology of the park and how it differed from the Blue Ridge. Pilot Mountain is sedimentary rock, having been created by the pressure of an ancient sea. The rock may have been 8-10,000 feet below the surface. Most of the surrounding rock has eroded away, leaving Pilot and a few neighboring mountains. The Blue Ridge is volcanic rock which was pushed up by a tectonic event, the collision of the North American and African continents.   

It grew darker as we worked our way around the knob. The lights in the distance became brighter. With binoculars I was able to make out Mt Shepherd just to the right of Winston Salem

April 10 Baskins Creek Falls

Just steps from Roaring Fork Road, this cemetery lies in tranquil forest. Obviously many folks populated this area for a cemetery this size to exist.

Once we attained the ridge we were treated to lone Flame Azalea. Pretty early for azalea I thought. However, this ridge seemed to a bit further along than the surrounding area. It looked like it got all day sun.

This is where I chose to leave some of my Dad's ashes. We walked to the falls, found a Trillium growing in the spray area and that is where he'll be, listening to the falls.

Family of seven (Galax) is within sight of Baskins Creek Falls.

April 9 Grapeyard Ridge Trail

I had never walked all of this trail before. It is connected to trails leading from the concessionaire horse stables near Greenbrier. So, a good portion of the trail has been impacted by horse traffic and thus is not best suited for hiking. I saw looks of rutted areas and miry spots. Otherwise, the trail would be a fine hiking trail. I started at the Bales homestead on Roaring Fork Road and walked to camp 32 and back. I saw some nice Dwarf Crested Iris as above.

This trail does some up and down by is all low elevation. There was considerable development back in the pioneer days. I passed many rock piles, stone walls, fence lines and this spot above which looks like it could have been a bridge or maybe a mill.

It is early April but May Apples are blooming. You have to look under the big main leaf to see the bloom. Looks like a Trillium with a little extra.

Hikes aren't complete with the requisite pink lady.

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.

April 7 White Oak Sinks in Bloom

Long a mecca for wildflower watchers, White Oak Sinks isn't even on an official park trail. It is easy enough to get to and this Saturday morning the parking areas for the trailhead were jammed packed. It would be a small city in the confines of the sinks. We decided to take a spin around Cades Cove prior to hiking. It was early enough for the wildflower folks to jam a parking lot, but the Cades Cove motorists hadn't shown up yet, so we had a nice pressure free drive around the loop. Having that out of the way, now we could concentrate on the sinks.

The first thing to look for are the pink ladies. They are Nanci's favorite and we saw enough to satiate her. As a special treat, I thought we might see the yellow. We did. I was half surprised no one had dug it up yet.

Next stop is the waterfall to nowhere. I've heard it called Rainbow Falls and have even seen a rainbow in its mist. Its attraction is it falls into a sink and just disappears underground. There was quite a nice display of Canadian Violets and Bishops Cap among others. The Phlox was in bloom but not as abundant as I have previously witnessed. We made our way out to the Shooting Star hole and saw a meteor shower as seen below. The Bluebells or Harebells were blooming too but another muted display. We kept seeing pink ladies the rest of the day.

We took the manway by the barred cave out of the area. This manway is is great shape. It ends at a summer home along Scott Mtn Trail. From there we had a leisurely hour long walk back to the parking area.

April 3 New River trail - Pulaski to Galax

The first thing I realized this morning, I rode an extra 4 miles I did not have to yesterday. That doesn't sound like much but it was already a 56 mile day. Another 4 miles is tough. So it was a nice start to get on the trail and off the roads quicker anticipated. Still, it was a chilly start, perhaps 40 degrees but headed to 75.

Here I am in the early morning with sunrise warming the hills in the background. That is Draper Mtn I believe. The next really fun thing is coasting downhill for a couple miles just outside Draper. You have to get down to Lake Craytor level. This is one of my favorite sections as there is no development for some way.

The flowers were brilliant as they were yesterday. These Colombine are enjoying the sunshine.

The Hiawasee Trestle is one of the highlights of the trail. It is rusting away but hopefully will accommodate bicyclists for a long time.

There were a few more folks on the trail today. I'm going to guess I saw less than 10 bicyclists yesterday but about 20 today. Not much in my opinion for such a wonderful trail.

This is a waterfall on Chestnut Creek. I was pretty spent at this point but managed to struggle the last 20 miles into Galax just as the rain started.

April 2 New River Trail - Galax to Pulaski

I've bicycled this trail before but never in one outing. Planning a roundtrip took some investigating. There are motels in Galax but nowhere else on the trail. Looking at a google map, I noted there were 4 motels outside Pulaski where I-84 has an interchange between Pulaski and Dublin. It looked like a short ride on the map, so that became the plan.

It began as a dreary day with some light rain but that all gave way to sunshine in the afternoon. Starting at 10:11am was going to make it a long day. 

The trail from Galax follows Chestnut Creek, a fast moving creek with many cascades and a few waterfalls. At about the 12 mile point, it enters the New River at Fries Junction. The trail crosses the new at theis point. It crosses 3 more times before Pulaski, making for long trestles with nice views.

The rock faces sported colonies of Columbine and Bellwort. I saw the occasional Squirrel Corn, Fire pink, and the other usual suspects. Many trees were blooming to add to the color.

Approaching Pulaski late in the afternoon, I foolishly took the Dora Trail to downtown Pulaski. The city is trying to become more of a trail town. The downtown connection is nice but there isn't much in the way of visitor amenities there. Without lodging, there is not much a through rider will want to experience. Now I had to find my way back to the route to Dublin. Those last 4 miles of long rolling hills with virtually no shoulder took a toll on me. I felt slightly faint after arriving at a Comfort Inn. There was only one restaurant in walking distance, so I had an evening meal at Shoney's.

More Photos of this ride