Yellow lady slipper near the TN/KY line
Gobey Wildflower Camping Trip Day 2
Primroy and Holding on for Dear Life
Sunday April 16, 2023
Kenny & Dana Koogler
Primroy Trip Pix Here
Sunday morning we woke and had breakfast. We had decided the night before to go toward Tackett Creek and Primroy. I knew a yellow lady slipper spot that was in the direction of Primroy. It did not take a long time to reach it. We figured we could run by there and see if yellow lady slippers were out? Knowing the status would help us plan for the next parts of our day. We both really wanted to see some different stuff. I wanted to run by my hybrid trillium patch up in this direction. We figured we'd get those two items checked off the list and solid up plans from there. We are developing a pattern of flying by the seat of our pants. I know. It is part of having contingencies when the weather is fickle.
We set off with the best of intentions. We had us an adventure we sho nuff did!
We parked at Red's Store. You can park all day for $5 in a safe place. Worth it for the peace of mind. From there we headed toward Clairfield and Primroy. It's worth mentioning here that a parking spot we have used a couple times in the past is now roped off by the property owners on both sides of the road! They had parked a nasty looking RV there. No matter. Red's Store is just down the road and is inexpensive and readily available. You just fill out a slip and put your $5 in the deposit box out front.
* Note to self-- the slopes on the right of Hwy 90 heading to Clairfield are loaded with trilliums and interesting wildflowers. This would be an excellent place to explore more deeply in the future.
We motored on until we came to the spot where I hoped to see yellow lady slippers. Initially I began to believe they were not out. We found them though. They were not out quite as well as the previous year. I was a few days early. Only three in bloom with another five or six to come. This mean that up high in the spot I know at Tackett Creek they'd probably be out, but still early and maybe not great.
Above and below: yellow lady slippers
Above: Clear Fork .. a beautiful hole of water.
Above: Looking back upstream on Clear Fork. Clairfield TN
Primroy Trilliums
The next stop of the day was my hybrid trillium patch at Primroy. It was in fine form today. I saw something that alarmed me. There have been no less than two landslides on this narrow road. The bank slid off and down over the already narrow road over a steep bluff. It has been resolved and the road is open, but they did not do much to try to prevent further erosion. I am thankful to have got to observe this beautiful bunch of trilliums for several years. If anymore landslides happen it is possible the whole bunch will be gone. I sure hope not. There is no shoulder on the road so Kenny drops me off and lets me walk and he goes on. It is a scary thing to meet someone on this road coming the opposite way. There are very few spots to pull over to let the other person pass. A one lane road for sure. If I ever come up here to do this solo I will park at the base of the hill and walk it. I'll wear neon orange vest or something eye catching to cut down on the chances of getting hit.
I was not disappointed in the trillium patch up here today. They were out in peak and I saw colors I have NEVER seen before here or elsewhere. God is a supreme being and artist/Creator. I am grateful not only these lovelies exist, but he put in me the appreciation for them. I am grateful to be able to get out and see them. I am also happy to know He put in me a bit of His own creativity.
What a gift.
Below: White Trillium sulcatum parent
Below: This is the hybrid offspring of the above pair. It is about what you might expect ... a lovely blending of a red and white pattern. White edged in red!
Below: Lipstick pink trillium hybrid. These two show the great variation and reset of the Master Switch with the formation of hybrids.
Above: a very large, healthy, typical Trillium sulcatum with no signs of hybridization
Above: a patch of white parents and a side grouping of hybrid offspring. This patch of pink hybrids is large enough and the color pattern stable enough they are probably all offspring of two original pink hybrids. They have now doubled.
Above: A very strange patterned Trillium sulcatum hybrid. If you note the sepal shape on the bottom it is curved in a way I've never seen. Possibly because of hybridization.
I spent ample time rooting around in this flower patch, but since this isn't the hybrid trillium write up I am going to move on to other subject matter.
Bottle Rock and Beyond
We rambled on toward Kentucky. I told Kenny I did not want to fool with seeing the arches in this area. I wanted to see Bottle Rock and move on to something new. He agreed and I should have known by the gleam in his eyes to prepare myself for what was to come.
We got to Bottle Rock easily enough. It is a cool little eroded, rounded rock in the middle of nowhere. It sits by a small stream in a remote area. It has some carvings into it and some graffiti of course. It is a pretty spot. I had only been here once before. I thought I knew the area, but I was wrong.
Below is a video of the Bottle Rock and the area. Kenny is talking to me in the background. I wish I had been paying attention. He was trying to warn me about what was next. 😂
Above: Bottle Rock
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| Above: a slope of ferns and trilliums |
Below: a photo that shows the relation of Bottle Rock to the stream and other large boulder better.
Once we checked out Bottle Rock we proceeded past it. If you look closely at the last photo in this series above you can see the trail fords the creek and keeps going. It is so pretty back there. It goes along for awhile and then makes a left. It fords the stream again. It goes past Great Wall of China type stone structures covered in leisegang formations and moss. Rhododendron shrubs and trees grow atop them. It then turns steep. The machine climbed almost straight up the side of the mountain. Once up top we turned right (north) and got on the spine of a five mile long ridge. It was narrow and about to get narrower. It had rocks on it in places making it seem like trying to drive along the back of a stegosaurus. So you can see easily from one side to the other. Knife edge thin in most places with a precipitous drop off to either side. Add to that having to negotiate across massive boulders sticking up in the middle of this. It was a white knuckle trip for me the entire time. Kenny had done this before, but never alone. He'd always had Jody or Buck along. So now I am atop something like Waldens Ridge which I never wanted to do. It was not quite that bad, but a close second. I did not shoot a single photo or video because I was so petrified.
It was beautiful and exciting, but in kind of a bad way. We saw a mountain hare and lots of birds up here. The trees were beautiful. Saw some flame azaleas. Mostly I just wanted this part to be over with. I wanted DOWN off the ridge. I wanted safety. Kenny used the winch a lot on parts I knew were dangerous, but it was mostly just for my reassurance. I appreciated that. I was praying the whole time. I prayed for God to let Buck whisper in my ear the way to run this ridge. It must have worked because eventually I calmed down some. It worked because on some of the hairy parts when Kenny was struggling to recall how they had pulled off a given move... I had knowledge of it that I should not have had. I told him a couple times.. one in particular.. Do This! Keep the tires up on the shoulder to the far right.. it is a drop off, but it will land okay. He did it and it went great. It began to rain on us to make matters worse. It started off as a light drizzle. It intensified to harder rain. We donned our rain gear. We kept going and I watched the track on Lifetime maps. I was relieved to see we were drawing near the end. We finally dropped off that ridge trail onto a country road in Kentucky. Somewhere. I don't know exactly where. I was thrilled to be safely off that thing. It was now pouring rain and it was horizontal. Even with a roof and windshield we were getting drowned. I can survive a thorough drenching. What I cannot survive is falling off a mountain.
We went the shortest, most direct route back south into Tennessee. We came out in the community of Eagan eventually. In between the two points we passed some of the worst looking, trashiest homes I've ever run across. Hands down worst. People just do not care.
We got back to Tackett Creek and rode out it a short distance. I finally just said. "I'm done and I want to go back to the camper". I was cold and wet and dirty.
Sorry for no videos or photos. It was thrilling for sure. I am including here a video of Waldens Ridge that will illustrate a bit of how narrow it was. I won't bother saying I'll never do it again, because I know better. I'll end up there again or in a similar situation. But maybe next go round I won't be so scared. That was a first for me.
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