Little River Trail and More Antiques

(Here is my write about about our trip from last week.)

Click here for pictures.

We got up early and headed to Elkmont Campground. Before the campground, we turned to go to the Little River Trailhead. We got on the trail at 7:30 am and hiked for about 5.5 miles round trip. We saw lots of interesting flowers along the way. We finished hiking as it got very hot and sunny. On the way out of Elkmont, a coyote ran out in front of our car! Then we headed back to Sevierville to Arby’s and the antique stores. Don shopped for 3 hours and found lots of treasures. I was able to sit on the bench and knit while listening to podcasts. I met a family from Lincolnton, NC who knew people from Fountain Inn that we knew. We met another couple from Clemson and the man talked with us about his wonderful hearing aids that he bought from Sam’s Club.

Things we saw:

• Maidenhair fern
• Jewelweed
• Silvery Glade fern
• Wild Ginger
• Mushrooms
• Jack in the Pulpit berries
• Doll’s eyes (White baneberry)
• Cardinal flower
• Bee balm
• Goldenrod
• Phlox
• Butterfly (Swallowtail)
• Coyote

Original Photo by Pat Hensley

Laurel Falls and the Smokies

(Here is my write about about our trip from last week.)

Click here for pictures. 

This morning we had breakfast at our condo and then hiked the Laurel Falls Trail. It is a 2.5-mile round-trip hike and it is uphill all the way to the falls. We talked with a nice couple from Wisconsin when we got to the falls. After the hike, we stopped at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. It was sad that they took out the movie theater that showed the movie about how the park began. After that, we went up to Clingman’s Dome and then did the Spruce-Fir Nature Trail. After that, we went to the Chimney’s picnic area and played in the river. For dinner, we had pasta and sauce at the condo. I had to call the main office to inform them that the refrigerator/freezer wasn’t working. 

Today we saw: 

Ironweed

• Indian Pink

• Thimbleweed

• Evening Primrose

• Mushrooms

• Rattlesnake root

• Goldenrod

• Spiders

• Mountain Angelica

• Wood Aster

• Wood Nettle

• Wood fern

• Hobblebush

• Big Shaggy Moss

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Porter’s Creek Trail

(Here is my write about about our trip from last week.)

Click here for pictures.

On the way to breakfast, a bear ran out in front of our car (that makes 4 in two days!) We went to breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House and had the special for $11.25 each. It came with eggs, 2 pancakes, bacon, and a drink. I noticed the lunch specials have gone up to $11.95 from the $9.95 from two years ago.

Then we went back to our townhouse and prepped for our hike. We ended up at Porter’s Creek Trail at 9:15 am. We hiked for about 2.5 miles and it was uphill all the way. We finished around noon and then stopped at a place to put our feed in the river. After relaxing for a little while, we went to Food Lion to pick up some red sausages and sauerkraut for lunch.

We saw some flora and fauna along the way.

Things we saw:

• Maidenhair Fern
• Christmas Fern
• New York fern
• Southern Lady fern
• America Spikenard (close relative to wild sasparilla)
• American Jumpseed (aka Virginia Knotweed)
• Cardinal Flower
• Beechdrops
• Solomon’s seal
• Indian Cucumber
• Southern Harebell
• Jewelweed (orange and yellow)
• mushrooms
• Caterpillars
• Millipedes
• Squirrels
• Mayfly larva

Our lunch was delicious! We relaxed around the townhouse after lunch.

In the afternoon, we went to the pool and relaxed. The hot tub was nice and hot which relaxed our muscles. The pool was cold when you first got in it but then it was okay. In the evening we watched movies (Days of Thunder, Top Gun, and Guardians of the Galaxy).

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Carrick Creek Trail

I have been wanting to go hiking for several weeks but something always got in the way. We had things to do, the weather was too hot or it was raining. Sometimes the mind was willing but the body wasn’t.

Well, yesterday was the day that everything worked out and we got up early to eat breakfast at Waffle House. Then we headed to Table Rock State Park to do a short hike.

It felt wonderful to be outdoors and experience nature. We looked for flowers and listened for animals. It was nice to see God’s world and appreciate all that he has created! We saw the flowers of a cranefly orchid which was great because normally we only find the red leaves. We also saw some white bergamot. I heard birds and we found a snail.

Gnicky the gnome hitched a ride with us and rode on the back of my pack. He got a picture with the water cascading behind him. At one trail crossing, he pointed the direction that we needed to go.

By the time we left, it was starting to get hot and more crowded. We found out that the parking lots were being monitored and when they filled up, the gates were closed for an hour or two so I’m glad we went early.

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Nice Day at Lake Conestee

This morning after breakfast, we went to Lake Conestee Nature Park and did a 2 mile hike. It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people on the trails. I was glad to see lots of children enjoying nature too. We looked for wildflowers and animals. We saw a bird-watching group and one of the watchers told me what they were looking at. I think we found a whole big group of box elder bugs. At first I thought they were tiny seeds until they started moving. The water flowers were lovely and we even saw some turtles. 

Carrick Creek Hike

For more pictures, click here.

Last week my family and I hiked along Carrick Creek at Table Rock State Park in South Carolina. I really wanted to see some wildflowers and I wasn’t disappointed. The weather was overcast while we hiked and it was a beautiful day!

I used 3 free apps on my phone that you might find useful and fun.

Gaia GPS - I use the free version that maps out our route as we hike. It would help if we got lost and it is fun to look at when we end our hike. I start the app and I hit record. Then at the end, I end the recording and it shows the outline on a topo map of where we hiked.

Seek - a free app that helps me identify what plants, amphibians, and insects I’m seeing. It doesn’t always work for every plant but most of them. I sometimes have to adjust where I’m aiming my phone camera to get a better angle for identification.

Merlin Bird ID - another free app. I can put in some info about the birds I see and it will give me some images to match which could help identify the birds. But what I like the most is that sound ID. I hit the record button and it hears the bird sounds and will list the different birds that I hear. I can then hit each selection and hear that bird’s call. When I listen to my recording and I can pick out all the birds that I hear.

We hiked about 3 miles I saw:

• A corn snake
• Violets
• Spotted wintergreen
• Dwarf crested irises
• Robin’s plantain
• Jack in the Pulpit
• Doghobble
• Sweetshrub
• Bloodroot
• Hooked buttercup
• Solomon’s plume
• Christmas fern
• Broadbeech fern
• New York fern
• Little Brown Jug
• Yellow Star Grass
• Rattlesnakeweed
• Bellwort
• Dogwood
• Cinquefoil
• Salamander
• Wild azalea
• Rhododendron
• Mountain Laurel
• Squawroot
• Buffalo nut

It is good to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Bringing students outside and showing them how to use these 3 apps would be a fun activity. I think students would be able to use them outside the classroom and learn more about what they are seeing in nature.

Do you use any of these apps? How do you like them? Please share.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

The Oconee Bell

Last week we attended the Upstate Master Naturalist meeting at Devil’s Fork State Park. Kay Wade gave a presentation on “The Oconee Bell and the Fascinating History of the Men who Found It." 

The Oconee Bell:

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Tracheophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Ericales

Family: Diapensiaceae

Genus: Shortia

Shortia grows in Southeast Asia (Japan, China, Vietnam)  and Southeast US (NC and SC). Both areas have  temperate climate, similar elevations and abundant rainfall.

Before 1970, Oconee bells grew throughout Jocassee Valley.

Andre Michaux discovered and collected it but didn’t name it or describe it.

In 1839, Asa Gray visited Paris and found a specimen of the plant in Michaux’s herbarium. Gray seized the opportunity to name the plant for Kentucky botanist Charles W. Short. Gray searched the Southern Appalachians but never found the plant.

It was rediscovered by Mordecai Hyams in 1877. Hyams was the manager of Wallace Brothers’ “botanic depot,” a warehouse in Statesville. Hyams had a group of mountain people who collected herbs in the forests, then traded them to local shopkeepers, who then shipped the plants to Statesville in return for wholesale goods such as salt and kerosene from the Wallace Brothers’ other businesses.  

Asa Gray, John Redfield, and Charles Sargent visited the site of Hyam’s Shortia discovery in 1878. Sargent found it growing the Jocassee Gorges area in 1888.

Shortia Galacifolia was planted on Gray’s grave after he died.

Margaret Mills who lived in Walhalla, transcribed Michaux’s journal into English.

Charlie Williams went to Paris in 2004 to find Michaux’s Shortia specimen.

Amy and Chris Blackwell, and Patrick McMillan are photographing herbarium specimens for the world to study.

This was a great presentation and I really enjoyed learning about the Oconee Bell. Hearing the history of how it was found, lost, rediscovered was very interesting! If you get a chance around March each year, go to Devil’s Fork State Park and look for the Oconee Bell.

The Slipper Orchids

The slipper orchids are my husband’s favorite flowers. He likes the pink and the yellow lady’s slipper, so I thought I would share some information about them. We saw them in April in the Smoky Mountains National Park and in May here in the upstate. They grow in acidic soil, so we usually see them where we find pine trees. I don’t think it is easy to grow in my own yard because there is some relationship between the soil and a fungus that is in the soil to help it grow. When transplanted into a person’s garden, it usually isn’t very successfully transplanted. I wish people would just leave them in the forest so other people could enjoy them instead of digging them up and trying to bring them home.

I think it is important to teach students some of the wildflowers that they might come across in nature and also how important it is to leave them for others to enjoy.

The Pink Lady's Slipper’s Latin name is Cypripedium acaule.  The pink flower is about 3 inches long. It has 2 opposite basal leaves and a large flower at the end of a stalk. It grows about 6 to 15 inches tall.

The Yellow Lady’s Slipper’s Latin name is Cypripedium parviflorum. It has a large yellow flower which sometimes has reddish spots on the interior. It can grow up to 2 feet tall.

Lady slippers are perennials.

The carpenter bee is one of the pollinators because it fits into the small exit hole.

Vocabulary: perennial, basal, anther, pistil, interior, pollinator

Topics to teach: pollination, wildflowers, soil pH, carpenter bees, pine forests.

What wildflowers do you think would interest students? Please share.