Gobey Wildflowers Trip 2024

Back of a Trillium sulcatum with signs of mycoplasma
causing the green striping on the reverse of the petals. 

 Gobey Wildflowers Trip 2024

Saturday April 20, 2024

Kenny & Dana Koogler

Sharon McGee 

Pictures are Here

 My left knee replacement surgery was scheduled for  Tuesday April 23, 2024 at 6:30 am.

I was the first case of the day for Dr. Yau.    My mother graciously committed to coming to take care of me.   She stayed for weeks while I recuperated.   My friend Sharon came to spend the weekend to do fun things and be some emotional support.   We had the Jay Clark concert at 8 PM tonight. Mom did not arrive until after lunch.  We had time to get out and do something close by and not too hard.  My knees were both bone on bone. My fatigue level after activities was pretty high.   

   We went out to Gobey to see the hybrid trilliums and Spring wildflowers.   We also went to hunt up a route to see a couple cascades we'd glimpsed from the road, but had never found a route to the base.

   
The ride out to Morgan County takes around at hour from home.   We got to my hybrid trillium spot and were blessed to find them out and doing well.  We parked and got out and wandered around the woods for a bit looking them over.   Despite catching them out and in bloom we were surprised to find many flowers such as great white trillium finished or fading fast.    The spot where I found snow bunting trillium last year was done and gone.    I saw a few faded, withered blooms on the slope, but that was it.

 Below: a wild ginger bloom 

Below:  One of the prettier, more perfect specimens of hybrid trillium 

Below: an unfurling white trillium sulcatum

While I did not get to do enough with hybrid trilliums this Spring to warrant a 2024 write up, I will say this:  A repeat visit to the Gobey hybrid swarm confirms that once the genetic master switch is thrown by the first hybridization......... you really never know what you are going to get!  A really beautiful form I saw last year... a great white trillium hybridized with red trillium sulcatum that yielded a vase shaped, upright pastel pink allover bloom... was not there this year!  

Above: typical southern red trilliums.. non hybrids.. and Gobey Gold sweet betsy!

Below:  a scene from the hybrid swarm slope

I count 11 southern red trillium sulcatum, four white t. sulcatum and 2 pink hybrids! 

Below: This is the front view of the trillium with the green stripes on the back of it.  You can see the green striping on two of three front petals. 

     We saw all we wanted and headed onward to show Sharon some of the area waterfalls.  

We found that whatever work the gas company had been doing was finished and gate #1 on the left was open.    

    We headed back slowly to visit Atlas Falls.   It was running well.  I knew we should see some good flowers here also.  

Above: Atlas Falls was flowing very nicely today.

Sharon, Odie the dog, me & Kenny walked around the area near the falls and saw some nice flowers.

   I enjoyed taking photos of the falls, but soon walked up above it into a nice patch of pink lady slippers.   The creek up here is very scenic as well. During times of higher rain fall there are a couple wet weather falls dropping into the stream here.   

Below: pretty area of the stream above Atlas Falls

Above: Foam flower past peak blook

Below: dwarf iris at the falls 

Above: squaw root 

Above and below: pink lady slippers were thick today!  The bottom view has a white moth on one of the blooms! 

Above: blue violet at the creek near Atlas Falls.

   We enjoyed this spot, but did not tarry too long.   We headed back and tried to find a way to visit the roadside cascades we'd gotten a glimpse of before.   

Below is a video of Atlas Falls at the stream above it. 

   We   headed back along the road and found a spot to pull over safely.    We were parked just past the falls.   Initially I eyeballed the terrain and thought the only reasonable way to reach the base of this cascade was to ford the stream above the falls and approach from the opposite side.    I was feeling energetic and just plowed into the rhododendron to see what would turn up?  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only about 10 feet down and there was a sloped area like a ramp.   I was able to hold onto stout rhodo limbs and hop down without any problems!   I picked my way a short distance over rocks upstream and was delighted to find myself at the base of the very scenic cascade!

I am the crippled up one, but I made it there ahead of both Kenny & Sharon!  I needed a win in my column.    I was happy with this small accomplishment.  

      The cascade is only around 8 feet high but it is a pretty hole of water.  It was running really well today.    It is worth mentioning that on our way down to see this cascade we passed some side hollows which have wet weather falls at times.  Today none of them was flowing.  

   

Above: stream between two un-named cascades 

Below:  This was my view of the terrain at the first cascade. You can see  It isn't that far down from road level to creek level.   

Above:  Beautiful un-named cascade with a pretty plunge pool. 

Below: Same cascade with my Canon camera.   

Kenny came and found me and indicated that there was another cascade a very short distance downstream.  It was just a matter of picking your way among the rocks to get there. Not hard at all.

It would be as easy if not easier to go down at this cascade and then walk upstream to the other one.

Above: 2nd un-named cascade on this stream from a side shot.   It is quite pretty, but not that tall.

This creek flows year round,, but I'm sure these falls are prone to not being as attractive during drier times.   We enjoyed our day at Gobey. It gave us just enough time outdoors to enjoy the day. We were able to grab lunch on the way home and make it there before mom arrived!   We ended our day with the Jay Clark Concert. We did not get home until 11:30 p.m and were all exhausted, but happy! 

Below is a video of these two lovely cascades.