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Kenny and I went to Big South Fork yesterday. We went to an area where we hadn't hiked before when we went to Slave Falls (left)
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and Needle Arch. We wanted to go to the park before the leaves obscured the views of the arches. Big South Fork is on the TN / KY border located on the Cumberland Plateau, it is a great hiking, biking, horse, ATV recreation area. Not all of those activities take place on the same trails of course! :)
We were a bit ear
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ly for the wildflowers, all I saw in the park were a few Trailing Arbutus and a single Bluet.
Trailing Arbutus (left) is a very early bloomer. It loves acidic soil and is often found with Mountain Laurel, blueberry and Wintergreen plants. The flowers are quite fragrant and are
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often hidden under the leaves.
As we were driving up to the park (near Huntsville, TN) I remembered having seen
Coltsfoot (right) leaves on a bank along the highway years ago. It too, is a very bloomer so I had always missed the flowers. Fortunately, I spotted some little yellow flowers on a bank. We turned the car around so I could get some photos (I have a very patient husband!). The flowers look a bit like dandelions without any leaves.
Since there weren't many wildflowers, I had to turn my attention elsewhere. There were lots of i
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nteresting lichens growing on the rocks, trees, and ground. I have always liked the British Soldier Lichen since I learned about it in Girl Scouts many years ago. I didn't realize how many diffe
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rent kinds there are until I got my
Lichens of North America book! This one is
Gritty British Soldier Lichen. I noticed some funny marks on a tree that looked somewhat like a giant chromosome! It was the mark of where a snail or slug had eaten the white lichen on the bark. That critter had been very busy! I enjoy looking for signs of animals when we hike, it is a real challenge!
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