Standing Stone State Park Camping Trip Day 3 : Lookout Tower, Wet Weather Cascades & Wildflowers

Large Flowered Bellwort in bloom at Standing Stone

Standing Stone State Park Camping Trip --Day 3

Lookout Tower, Wet Weather Cascades & Wildflowers 

Dana Koogler 

Monday April 8, 2019

Photos are here starting with frame 230

    The forecast called for one serious day of rain, and that was Monday morning.  It would be my first day solo at Standing Stone.    I slept in a little while.   I woke rested and took my time getting my day going since it was indeed raining.   Around 9:45 a.m. I could not stand being indoors anymore.
I  gathered my gear, put on my rain coat and headed out despite the rain.  The rain let up about the time I went outdoors!  I was pleased. I figured the only thing for it was to try to make the best of the day.   I went round toward Jackson Swamp at the back of the state park.   It is the area where the first cabins were located as well as the old reservoir and swimming lake.   It is truly a swamp now.  Jackson Swamp is a wildlife management area for hunting and fishing.     I drove some of the old gravel roads very briefly to get myself oriented.  I had recollections of our former trip, and I was trying to put the things I recalled into context.    It did not take long for me to sort it all out.

   Above: One of the streams emptying into the main lake.  It is muddy and swollen from the rain.
Below: Someone took off their foot wear to wade the creek yesterday and didn't bother picking it back up!

Above: Prairie trillium blooming on the stream bank.  It is still wet with rain.

I stopped by the old reservoir/swimming lake and walked around taking photos.  It was a tiny bit drizzly still.   I got a better idea of what the swimming area was like.   I am sure back in the day it was quite something, but looking at it now makes me think I'd not want to swim in it.   Now there are a number of beaver dams and it looks snakey.


Above: What is left of the life guard's chair at the swimming area. You can see rain drops on the water surface.

Above: This is a photo taken from the back corner of what was the swimming area.  A line of posts goes across its outer edge and must have had a cable through it back in the day to help define it.


Above: One of three beaver dams at the back of the reservoir.  There was also a beaver lodge.  One day I saw a nice fat beaver, but wasn't quick enough to get a photo.

   
Redbuds in peak bloom along Walnut Mountain Road in Standing Stone State Forest.


Above: a scene of pale Spring green buds and pink blooms along Walnut Mountain Road.

Above: Fire pinks and a few violets along the Beach Road near Overton Lodge.

   I decided to visit the Lookout Tower today.   During the week the road is gated and I was not going to crawl up that power line easement again.  I drove out Hwy 136 and took the turn off road for the tower.  It is a forestry service headquaters and is still kept in top shape and used now and then.   I believe it is one of the most fit for duty lookouts I've visited.  Though the rain had stopped and I saw many trucks and open doors at forestry headquarters I never saw or heard a soul stir up there. I climbed the tower all the way to the top. I found the cab pad locked so that was as far as I could go.
I did sit on the steps and take in the view for awhile.   It was pretty, but cloudy.  I could not recall if we climbed the tower on our last visit or not. I never have been able to recollect.

Standing Stone Lookout Tower shown above

  
Above: the view of the ridge from the tower on an overcast day.


Above: at forestry headquarters next to the tower are lots of buildings.  They constructed an interesting three sided picnic table and put in a grill.

    I decided I'd go back down and photograph some of the wet weather falls around the state park while they were flowing really well.   The rainfall on some of them needs to be recent as well as heavy in order to make them worth seeing.  I stopped at the dam on the way back to the park to see how the spillway looked with all this water.  It was quite pretty.



Above: Water coming over all parts of the spillway.  The dam is at the top of this. Highway 136 crosses it single file!    I saw very few people all day.  A couple folks were fishing.  One lady was down at the picnic area with her toddler.   I had the run of the place for the most part.  I saw no other hikers all day or for the next couple days!  The campground had exactly two occupants. Myself and one other lady down from me.   Quite a switch from the bustle of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for me.

 
One of many un-named wet weather cascades in the park.



  

Yet another


and another..... The terrain here is steep sided hills with rocky drainages down across them and between them.   I remember our first visit here seeing these areas, but they were mere trickles compared to now. 

Above: splash dam on Bryans Fork before it ever gets to the dam. Here is where the road used to run from Rock Quarry Road, cross country, and it crossed Bryans Fork here on some sort of bridge I am sure.   Not sure why the spillway was constructed.  My first visit here years ago I was able to walk across the top of this splash dam and stay dry!   

  I hiked part of the Lake Trail today just for exercise and to do something different.  It was not too thrilling, but it was pretty and I had it to myself.   

Below is one nice spot where a cascade comes down to the trail. It is an easy rock hop though.

Below:  Lake trail past the cascade

  I was not seeing many flowers along the trail. Instead they were on the slopes below the trail.  I climbed down the bank to walk among them.   The flooded bottomland near the stream was thick with Virginia bluebells.  I had to be careful walking here since it was soft and marshy.   I got a good view of the bluebells, wood poppies, jacobs ladder, and purple phacelia.    I also saw jack in the pulpit , twinleaf and blue cohosh.  

Above: flood plain near Bryans Fork is covered in Virginia bluebells.

Closeup of bluebells above

Below:  Twin leaf leaves.. not bloomed out, yellow wood poppies, and purple dwarf larkspur

Below:  bright green jack in the pulpit

I also saw a sweet betsy trillium or two.  One I photographed below had a very odd color pattern. 

Green and maroon!  Different than I'd ever seen before.

Sweet Betsy trillium with an odd coloring.

Below: A cluster of foam flowers on the banks of the old reservoir

  I had wanted to walk up the stream to take a photo and video of Morgan Cascade from the base.
The stream was too deep and fast flowing today to attempt it safely. I would try again tomorrow.
I had wandered enough for one day.  I went back to the camper to relax.  I spent some time preparing a meal and reading and drawing.   I kept a journal each day and drew pictures of the days highlights. 
   I did a little thinking on what I was going to get into the next day and just wasn't sure.  I would decide in the morning and it would depend on the forecast.   Sometimes it feels good to just wing it.

Below is a short video clip of one of the myriad of wet weather falls.