Gobey Wildflower Camping Trip Day 3--Frozen Head and Devonia

Gobey Wildflower Camping Trip Day 3

Frozen Head and Devonia 

Monday April 17, 2023

Dana Koogler solo

Frozen Head Pix  are Here 

Devonia Pix Here 

   Kenny left and went home after supper Sunday evening.   He had to work in the morning.  Monday was my first day on my own.  I was keen to do some high elevation hiking at Frozen Head.  Depending upon how that went I might do some more.  I also wanted to drive the Devils Triangle out toward Devonia.  

I had done little exploring out there for Spring wildflowers.    I got over to Frozen Head at a good time.

I started off at the Prison Mine Trail.  My friend Anne informed me of a wildfire that occurred there over the previous months.  I wondered what that was going to do for the Spring bloom? I also wondered what the crazy hot/cold weather was doing to the flowers up in the higher elevations?  

       Upon arriving at Armes Gap I could see from my parking place the evidence of the fire Anne spoke of.   I also could see white and pink trilliums blooming next to my jeep just into the woods.

Maybe today would be productive after all.  

   

Above: Smooth yellow violet was one of the flowers along the trail 

Below:  Showy orchis was just coming up

Above and below: a couple very nice rose colored trilliums

Above:  Sweet Betsy trillium out today. 

Above:  The fire has burned the leaf litter off the mountain side.  Young new green leaves are budding out. 

Above: Lots of white flowered trilliums today

Above: More evidence of the fire. No leaf debris visible.   The forest is recovering from the fire. 

Below: I saw lots of purple phacelia today

Below:  I found lousewort blooming on the edge of the trail 

Above: Lots of daisy fleabane near the old mine entrance

Above: Prison mine trail just approaching the first mine entrance

Below:  the workings of the former Fork Mountain mine 

Above: Cream violets in a big clump near the mouth of the mine

Below: Part of the retaining wall and the works of the mine.

Above: Former mine entrance is now barred. 

Above: A view off the trail just out toward Brushy Mountain Prison far below

Below:  mine entrance #2

Above:  old guard tower

Above:  Log across the spring stream flowing past the guard shack and down the mountain.

Above: I'm not sure what this building was. It is empty now.  It has a cement slab roof.  I peeked in, but I do not want to go inside. 

Below:  Some old shed with the door standing open. 

I climbed down the mountain following the spring fed creek for a ways.  I wanted to see if there were any waterfalls or cascades.  There were none.   

   I checked higher on the mountain, but saw nothing of any note in bloom. The wisters coralroot I saw last year was not found.   I hiked this trail last Spring so I guess that is part of why I did not find it that exciting.   I did see a turkey and a few wildflowers, but that was about it.  

   I hiked back to my jeep and decided I'd head on out to Devonia to see what I could find. 

           The day was really pretty and sunny.  I couldn't have hand selected better weather. 

I stopped in a couple spots out the road to look for wildflowers.  They were spent at these elevations. We hadn't had enough rain for some of the roadside cascades to be flowing.    I wasn't seeing a lot thus far.   I was driving along and getting a little hungry. I was thinking about where might be a good spot to pull off to eat lunch?    I spotted a mossy section of pavement curving off to the right of the road.  I initially thought it  might be a picnic pull off.   I decided to follow it. This might be exactly what I was looking for!      Instead of going to a parking area or pull off as I imagined it kept going.  It entered the woods and they encroached close around my jeep.   I now followed it because I was nosey, but also I had no place to turn around.    I began to see household litter and garbage.      The woods opened up and the road spit me out at a little church!  I had been here before, but not from this side of the river!  It was the vehicle access to the Fork Mountain Baptist Church.    I pulled over and crossed the bridge to see it on an earlier trip.    It was a pretty spot, and I couldn't help seeing the humor in my getting fooled. It was as pretty as any roadside picnic pull off. I figured I'd just make it my lunch spot and do some looking around.     

           

Above: Confederate violet in the woods behind the church

Below: wild heart leaf.. a member of the birthwort family. A close up of the very primite looking bloom. 

Above: a profile view of the outhouse behind the Fork Mountain church.  

Below: paperwhite narcissus behind the church. 

Above: a front on shot of the outhouse. It has seen better days.  

Below: The side and rear of the Fork Mountain Church. It is a pretty, tranquil spot. I don't believe they hold services here on the regular anymore.  

  I enjoyed the sunshine and a quick lunch and some music.  I got out and prowled around a bit.  It appears the "manse" behind and to the side of the old church was the trashy spot I passed.  It was littered with the ruins of a strange dwelling that was part revival tent.  It had old tvs, tires, plastic buckets, cinder blocks, and even a heavy pry bar embedded into a tree with the tree grown securely around it.   It was beyond strange.   

Above: Can you see the iron bar grown into the tree? 

Above: I walked round to the front of the church to get a photo of this view. 

Below: Thanks to friend Vickie Cunningham I found the Devonia coal tipple I'd been wanting to see. 

Below: The coal tipple is barely visible as the dark blob in the woods to the right of the road.  This was a pretty scene along the highway today.  

I drove a bit further out the road and this was the scene at a local cemetery.  Lots of dogwood blooms. 

  I came on out to the Shiloh Church and pulled off next to the New River.  

Below is a cluster of golden ragwort I saw.  

Above: Daisy fleabane in bloom by New River

Below: Walking a path to the New River across from Shiloh church

Above: Pretty green waters of the New River. 

Above: Violet wood sorrel in bloom by the New River

Below: Star of Bethlehem flowering near the same spot.  

Below: Shiloh Church against deep blue skies!  So pretty. 

Above: wild geranium and golden ragwort in the ditch near the road

Above: A few yellow lady slippers I saw on today's outing.

Below: yellow-green Sweet Betsy Trillium

 I drove about half the Devil's triangle.  It was beautiful and sunny. I did not see as many wildflowers as I'd have liked. I was growing bored and just turned and headed back to the camper. 

      I stopped at the Dollar General on the way home through Wartburg. I wanted a new Summer weight quilt for the bed if I could find one.  I also wanted some art supplies to fool with. I don't watch a lot of television.  I read more and "listen" to tv while I do other things with my hands.   I was fortunate to find what I was looking for.  I enjoyed a quiet evening of cooking for myself.  Watched a movie and painted and rested.  Not a real exciting day, but a good one.  

Below: I painted a few small pictures for the camper. It doesn't have much decoration. 

Below: Spring flowers on the new light weight bedspread.  I loved it. I'm a magpie. Anything colorful or glittery. 

Below: acrylic painting of pink lady slippers by a rotting log.  

Above: Dollar General candle that smelled good enough to get a spoon and eat it! I like fresh, citrusy light scents.  Not sweet and flowery.  

Above: painted sign "You're Never Lost as long as you're somewhere you wanna be". One of the old De-motivational sayings. 

Above: painting of an old red shed

Below:  I found two dozen acorns stashed in my camper by squirrels!  I spent a couple hours deep cleaning and digging out all of these I could find. I found no damage done except the annoyance of acorns!  

Below: Narcissus poeticus.. a rare form of heirloom paperwhite. I picked me a couple and put them in a vase. 

Last of all I leave you with a short video of the beautiful New River on this sunshiney day!