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.
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