Cumberland Gal: Chasing After a Second Spring -- Camping Trip to the High Elevations Part 1

Large White Flowered Trillium at Mile High Overlook

Chasing After a Second Spring

Camping Trip to the High Elevations Part 1

Friday May 14, through Sunday May 16, 2021

Dana & Kenny Koogler

Alarka Laurel Photos Here

Photos are from multiple trips. Cued up to the current batch.

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Two or three years ago Kenny and I visited Heintooga almost as soon as they opened the spur road off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a lot of fun. It was very satisfying to get a second run at Spring wildflowers since I had been tied down with grandkid duties. It really blessed us both. I liked it so much I planned on going back in 2020. The corona virus pandemic hit and closed down pretty much everything so that did not happen. We did visit, but not until Autumn.

We planned a camping trip to coincide with the opening of the Balsam Mountain Spur Road on May 14. I looked back at my past trip reports and realized it had been six or seven years since I visited Alarka. Shame on me. I decided it was time to revisit. We made arrangements to stay in a campground on the Qualla Boundary that lay between the two points. We visited Mount Noble in Summer several years back , and really enjoyed it. It had delightful Summer wildflowers blooming. I thought it would be good to check and see what the mountain was like in Spring?

We could not check in until noon so we did not get in a hurry. We arrived around 11:45 a.m. We got the camper set up. We went and grabbed some lunch at the local Wendy's. It was very good though the dining room remains closed. I did not care as long as it wasn't like the Madisonville Wendy's. They hustled pretty good in Cherokee.

We only had about half day to do anything so we opted to visit Alarka first. It was closer. Neither of us was interested in going to the falls today. We wanted to hike the Walton trail. It had been around ten years since I visited the red spruce bog. We went over through Whittier to the top of the mountain. The forestry service for the Nantahala National Forest began closing the road in Winter seven years ago. It has made a lot of difference in protecting and improving the condition of the road. We found it to be in far better shape than previous trips.

It is a winding mountain road with lots of "kiss your butt" turns. You can look down from one part of the road and see the next levels. "Looks like a whole lotta Z's and W's strung together." to quote C.W. McCall from Black Bear Road.

I wasn't sure how good this trip was going to be wildflower wise.

The lower elevations of the mountain on the way up were pretty, but not much left. I saw one Vasey's trillium. I saw some wild geranium. That was about it.

Above: Vasey's Trillium blooming at the lower elevations of Alarka Laurel.

We didn't have any trouble getting to the top of the mountain. Once we got to Wesser Gap we slowed down and really began to watch along the sides of the road. It is pretty, but Spring lacks the astonishing display of wildflowers found in Summer. We were driving along and I was surprised when all at once I was overcome by emotion. I'm not sure where it came from, but it was a feeling of joy that remained with me the entire time I was there. It was like coming home or meeting an old friend. We parked at the Pigpen Flats trailhead for Walton Trail to begin our hike. I prefer this end since it is prettiest.

Above: What you see when you park at this end of the Walton Trail

Above: The beginning of Walton Trail that loops around and through the red spruce bog.

Below: info kiosk for the hike is just out of sight of the parking area

It tells what is special about the area. It also gives an idea of neat flowering plants and trees to look for. It tells about how the forest has three different types. You can really tell when you are hiking along because the woods change! Goes from one type to the next.

Below is a map I drew that illustrates how the trail system is on the Walton Trail. You'll have to enlarge it to see it well. It is also included in the photo album. Or click HERE

I had almost forgotten how beautiful this trail and this forest is. I was delighted to be back. We were seeing one painted trillium after another. Some of them still that pretty mocha colored foliage. They were growing everywhere. Many of them out in the midst of running cedar, club moss and pine needles and leaves. Even the forest floor is pretty here.

Below is one such example.

Below: Painted trillium with the mocha brown foliage. They look like some begonias that are commercially available. The Maker is Great!

Below: another look at the forest floor

Above: a particularly pretty section of the trail. It looks like a tunnel.

Below: A nice cluster of showy orchis.. one of our native orchids. First ones I've seen this year.

Below: Red Spruce Bog boardwalk. This is the southern most red spruce bog in the United States and probably the world.

I noticed something here that I had not previously paid attention to... there is a spring to the left of this boardwalk if you stand facing this direction. It was flowing nicely when we were there. It is under the rhododendron and laurel.

Below is a photo of it. It is hard to tell what it is. Looks like a bunch of vegetation. It was the spring that drew my attention.

The red spruce bog today seems different. I can tell that the vantage point afforded by the boardwalk is becoming overgrown. Some of the trees have died. Others have grown blocking the view. I need to come back out and hike this in Summer very carefully. Jordan Mitchell hiked it one August and got into yellow jackets. That I can do without, but I'd like to see what blooms here in high Summer. I have never checked.

Above: Kenny is just ahead of me coming to the point on Walton Trail where it meets the trail that comes from Wesser Gap. It is all easy. Not very long and not difficult at all. It amazed me that as long as it has been between visits I still remembered what bloomed where and it was accurate! Mamaw's memory isn't completely shot.

Below is a pretty mayapple bloom and if you look closely it has a white moth in it. I looked it up and it is a slant line moth. No kidding. That is the name of it!

I did not see the moth until I got home and looked at the photos up close on the computer.

Above: Red maple leaves emerging.. these are part of what gives Spring in the south its unique colors

Mountain bellwort. We saw too many of these to count! Cowee Mountain is a sea of them!

Above: Red oak leaves emerging.. another contributor to the colors of Spring

Above: Lots of Canada Mayflowers

Above: Though the American Lily of the Valley was just getting started blooming at least I got to see some. When it is blooming there will be a sea of it and I bet it will smell so good!

Part of the Walton Trail goes onward in the direction of what I call Top of the Falls Trail. I have never hiked it all the way through, but I have gone far enough out and back that I have an idea which way it goes. I believe it comes out on the trail from the right about 3/4 of a mile in on Top of the Falls Trail. I have seen a very overgrown road coming out there and that is probably it. I would not dare attempt it except in very early Spring. The start of it is in great shape, but if that is where it comes out it would claw you to pieces. Briars and brambles and snakey as the dickens. No thanks! Today we only hiked it in this direction far enough to make the loop hike. It puts you back on the main trail.

Above: Walton Trail makes a loop here and you turn left if you are hiking it counter clockwise. If you go straight ahead I believe that old trail/logging road takes you along the ridge and brings you out on the Top of the Falls Trail

Above: We found a huge cluster of perfect pink lady slippers!

Once we had completed our hike of the Walton Trail we loaded up and continued in the direction of Cowee Bald. The stream must be forded by driving through it twice. Today the first ford was normal, but the second one was as deep as I've ever seen it! It was very pretty too.

The Lincoln Town Car Turn

(or how I got fussed at by Waterfall Rich)

We did not see much along the road today in the way of flowers. Once again this road is packed with pretties in Summer. We came to the ole Lincoln Town Car Turn... and we were in Kenny's truck. You have to pull up into a hole and back up.. then make the turn. How did it get the name Lincoln Towncar Turn? Thanks to the evil nature of Yours Truly. Back in the day .. when I first began going to visit Alarka.... someone on the internet message board asked me if they could manage to drive it in a ?? some type passenger car. To which I responded "shoot.. you could take a Lincoln Town Car up there if you wanted to" Rich Stevenson saw my answer and stepped on my tail. He made me tell them the truth. He has more scruples than I do. Every time I think about it I get tickled. My guilty sin is schadenfreude... and sometimes I like to help that along. 😇😈 (Hal Wilson says I have the soul of a convict)

We got up to Cowee Bald and found there were lots of flowers, but lots of the same things. Sea of Mountain Bellwort. Few painted trilliums. Few white wake robin trilliums. Violets. blue cohosh. Nothing we hadn't already seen today. Up that high it was rather bleak. I don't think I've ever been up there when it looked this bare.

Above: the bare trees afforded us a partial view from Cowee Mountain

Mountain bellwort was the flower of the hour up there today!

Above: a look at one of the knobs of Cowee Mountain. Bleak! Trees have yet to leaf out.

Not finding much up top we headed back toward Pigpen Flats. I wanted to hike a little of the Top of the Falls trail. I had seen some good wildflowers out there in the past. I just wanted to go a short distance. We never planned on visiting the falls today from either top or bottom. We found the parking spot for that trail a muddy mess. Someone has been using it as a mud bog. The forest service closed off the road to you fools and eliminated your other mud bog so you had to find another one, eh? We parked over across the road at the apple tree and I saw a nice clump of white wake robin trilliums.

Above: large patch of white wake robin where we parked

Above: Pigpen Flats

Above: the parking spot at Pigpen Flats for trail 86 E is a muddy mess

Below I am including another hand drawn map that illustrates the lay of the land.

It is easier to see if enlarged so click HERE

We hiked out to the red dirt spot. The forest service or someone has done some controlled burning. It also appears they are working on something else there. Whatever they are doing disturbed an area where Indian Paintbrush used to bloom so that was gone. I did see birdsfoot violet, but not much else.

Birdsfoot violet

Above: Kenny hiking out the Top of the Falls trail

Pretty colors along the way.. oranges of Spring in the south!

Above: Sphagnum bog portion of the trail.

Trail 86 E is very pretty. I loved all the different facets of it. It is taiga like in part of it. Reindeer moss, sphagnum are thick. Ground pine. We hiked out so far, but when we got to the sphagnum bog part the trail was so soft and muddy we decided this was a bad idea. It was too pretty to tear it up. We can come back another time. We turned and hiked back. When you love a place you want what is best for it just like for a person.

Below: reindeer moss is thick here

Back at the truck we loaded up and headed back down the mountain. We headed toward the campground. We had a good day out exploring and getting reacquainted with an old friend... Alarka. Big Laurel. If Springtime in Alarka were a person it would be a beautiful Cherokee girl wearing a tribal t shirt with the Great Seal of the ECBI on it.. a plaid shirt rolled up at the sleeves, jeans and a pink tutu with mocassins. She would be gleeful, but she would kick your ass if you trifle with her. I drew her picture in my sketch book, but I will have to scan it in to show it off. I was pleased the road was in better shape. There was far less trash. Matter of fact I saw only a tiny bit.

Goals for Alarka This Year Going Forward

Kenny and I want to come back over and camp at Timberlake Campground in late July early August. We want to come over and bring a rented DR string trimmer and clear out the trail going to the top of the falls if it needs it. It had needed it badly before. I have the blessing of the forest service already. Just need to do it.
I want to hike the Walton Trail in Summer and not get stung.. and see what blooms there during that time of year.
I think I have found another waterfall nearby that I want to investigate.
It is out the road toward Franklin/Cowee. It is on the left below the road.
If someone gets there before me.. I won't cry over it. 35.312841,-83.370376
Hike to the falls up and down.
We found a nice cascade down Connelly's Creek Road.. it is below Connelly's Creek Cascade and the huge boulder that it flows under. I believe it is on Grassy Branch where it empties into Connellys Creek.
It is within sight of the pull off where folks have been dumping trash illegally.
I hope to check that out at some point. It may be too snaky in Summer. It was pretty bad already in Spring.

Back at the camper we had a nice relaxing evening. We stayed at Happy Holiday RV Park. It was great! Soco Creek flows right through it. Would definitely go back. They have a marvelous professional staff and are extremely welcoming. The young man who guided Kenny in when parking the camper was spot on!

I fixed smokehouse maple salmon, steamed green beans, and garlic/olive oil pasta for supper. It was delicious.

Above are three views of Happy Holiday RV Village where we stayed.

Photo with Kenny in it is of course.. the Koog Mobile.

Day Two-- Heintooga and Blue Ridge Parkway

We woke on Saturday and it was chilly! We had a nice breakfast and coffee and did not have to get in a hurry. We packed us a lunch and got our gear ready to go.

I was excited anticipating what we might see today. I had a feeling it was going to be good. Traffic in town wasn't bad and though there were people out on the parkway it was not a great number of folks. It seemed like no time until we were turning onto Balsam Mountain Road. On the way to Balsam Mountain I thought of all the visits here over the years and how special each one has been. We always seem to have a good time here.

We began seeing trilliums in the woods on the drive up the parkway once we got into the higher elevations. We drove out the Heintooga Road and the first place we pulled over was Mile High Overlook. The view was clear, blue and bigger than life. I took that in and then let my eyes drift down to the shorn vegetation along the slope. White trilliums were emerging in the stubble! I also saw some purple wake robin trilliums. I have never noticed this before! It is interesting to note that if you stand facing this overlook to your right is a small path heading into the edge of the woods on the knoll next to you. I once noticed a couple posts standing there with no apparent purpose. I asked a ranger what they were for? He replied that at one time there was a nature trail that made a small loop over there, but someone kept vandalizing the signs at this spot and at other spots along the spur road. Finally they just stopped replacing it and let it go.

Above: first purple wake robins of the day at Mile High

Great white flowered trilliums growing at Mile High in the brush

Above and below-- two views from Mile High Overlook

Next we went across the road to the Maggie Valley Overlook which is always pretty. It certainly was this clear, cool morning. Golden alexanders were beginning to bloom in the brush at the edge of the overlook.

Above: Maggie Valley Overlook in Spring from the Heintooga Spur road

Above: golden alexander bloom

Next up was the nearby Lake Junaluska Overlook which was also beautiful.

Above and below: Two looks at Lake Junaluska Overlook from the spur road

Above: star chickweed and some type of fern unfolding at this overlook. I think I enjoy the various textures of flowers and plants as much as I do the colors. It is real eye candy.

I spotted some nice wildflowers directly across the road from the Lake Junaluska Overlook. I told Kenny I wanted to go over there and explore a few minutes. He did not want to join me, but relaxed and played a game while I checked out the woods and flowers for about five minutes or so. I noticed something I had not paid attention to previously. There is a section of old road here! It cuts back into the woods. It was probably a spot they parked equipment back in the days when this road was being built. It had lots of nice wildflowers. I saw cream wake robin, the first hybrid wake robins of the day, and purple wake robin. I also saw some fringed phacelia. I am not sure it hasn't mingled with miami mist as some of it had pale lavender tint to it.

above: Kenny's pretty truck against blue skies and puffy clouds.

Above: looking first one way on the old section of road... mayapples

and looking the other. It made a big sweeping curve through this little hollow.

Above: first hybrid wake robin of the day

above: notice the maroon striping through the leaves? phytoplasma infection

Above: cream wake robin trillium

Above: Lots of blue cohosh today.

This must be Miami Mist phacelia

We continued our drive down the spur road. We did not see any elk out here thus far today. Next we stopped at the Masonic Marker at Black Camp Gap. I had never visited this spot in Spring so I wanted to see what was here. It was pretty, but not a lot of wildflowers.

Masonic Marker

Fringed phacelia.. pure white!

Elk track?

Saxifrage growing in what I call Rainbow Spring

Pretty roadside spring.

Above is the view from directly across from the parking area for the Masonic marker

We continued out the spur road to the end and parked. Kenny did not want to hike along Flat Creek Trail today at the first trailhead. We weren't going to the falls and we had just been there in Autumn. I was okay with leaving that off.

We did hike part of it from the picnic area. I was walking along when I spotted trilliums that from the back... were different. I found a swarm of eight hybrid wake robins. The babies of cream or white and red wake robins. Parental units close by. Down from that was another pair of hybrids. All of them so pretty.

Witch hobble blooming at Flat Creek picnic area

Picnic area open for business.

Above and below: large swarm of hybrid wake robin trilliums

parent trilliums nearby

Looking up the slope toward the picnic grounds

Above: view from Heintooga Overlook

Below: benches to sit and enjoy the view at Heintooga. The word means hiding place or refuge from what I have read. It is in the Cherokee language.

We walked around the Flat Creek Trail. We saw more of the same sorts of flowers we'd been seeing. Nothing new so far. We came toward the front of the picnic area I began noticing lots of trout lilies. Only a few were still blooming and most of those were played out.