Trillium Trail

Tuesday May 15, 2018                                                                             Most Recent Posts:
Lewis Mountain Campground                                                                    Wolf Howling and Moving On       
Shenandoah National Park                                                                       Before and After Currituck Light

Well it’s not called the Trillium Trail by anyone but me.  It’s the AT going south from Lewis Mountain Campground but today it deserves its new name.

One thing among the many that I like about Lewis Mountain is that the AT goes within yards of it.  I can walk to the trail in less than 5 minutes.   So today I leave my nice camping spot and head out to walk south on the AT.  .

Having walked the entire 105 miles of it during the summer of 2015 it seems like an old friend
The big wide trail goes to the top of Lewis Mountain.  I leave that for another day and head across it and onto the AT.

I know that last week-end was “Wildflower Weekend” here in the park.  They have nice programs and group hikes.  I prefer this the week after when most of the flowers are still in bloom and I don’t go 10 steps before I find my first flowers.  But what are they?  Some sort of star grass? 

I recognize the Common Blue Violet which is extremely common and not ephemeral like many other wildflowers.  It is here in the park from March through June..  Look how intricate its blooms with the pathway of stripes leading to the heart of the matter.

It draws my eye right to the one spot of white with dark purple veined lines.  As a pollinator, I think I’d want to head right up the path.

Star Chickweed is also common in the Virginia woods.

Squaw Root past its prime.  It begins looking like a brownish yellow fleshy long slender pine cone stand up in the soil.  But it’s a wildflower though it doesn’t produce chlorphyll and never turns green.  It derives all its nutrients from the roots of trees especially oaks.  It’s also called Bear corn since it is a favorite food of bears.  A read that in Shenandoah it may represent up to 40% of their diet.  Really?  How in the world do they get big and fat on Bear Corn?

Not a wildflower but everywhere on the trail are acorns.  I guess there are so many the squirrels can’t gather them all.  I think they are cute and Oaks are my favorite trees.

And then I see it, right beside the trail.   

Not just a trillium but the large flowered trillium.  No wonder it is so obvious.

White with a pink blush.

And then, like when you are pregnant or buy a new car, you start seeing babies and your exact model of car everywhere.   Once I saw one trillium I found more.  No two are alike.  Seriously.  Wide leaves. narrow leaves, pink blush, totally white, multiple shades and hues of pink.

And all stunning!

The lacy edges to their petals give them a delicate look.

I am practically singing I’m so thrilled to see them.  At first I see them in ones and then twos

The further down the trail I go, the more I see –three flowers with  three petals, three leaves.

I took this picture to give a sense of their size.  One leaf is the nearly the size of my hand.

There are of course other wildflowers.  Here a trio of color with the blue violet, the white chickweed and the pink trillium.  If last week had an even heavier wealth of wildflowers it would surprise me.

And then there were four.

Just beginning to bud out were the Spiderwort.  I’d seen leaves and buds but here was the flower in full bloom.  They too are not ephemeral but bloom from April through July.

Who could create a spot more lovely to display trillium?

With a wild Geranium throw in as well.

The AT moves close to the Skyline Drive.  It’s a Tuesday in mid May.  Vacations haven’t started.  Few cars go by.  But I think – those who do will not see this cluster beauties nearly beside the road.  They will only see the BIG things, the views, maybe a deer, remotely possibly a bear.  I prefer hiking.

I give up counting.  There are trilliums in profusion.

Trillium with fiddle heads and Blood Root leaves.  Their flowers are already gone.

By now I am laughing delightedly at the abundance and you are wondering when is enough enough.

As far as the eye can see and further than the camera can, trillium abound.

I want to remember this joyful flower filled day with the same excess that I experienced.
You’ll pardon me.

Less than five square feet.

A tree fell across the trail and its pieces were casually tossed aside.  How many trillium did not come up here this year becasue they are under the logs?  But never mind, look at the numerous beauty. all around the pile.  The logs will rot and feed the soil and become food for even more trillium.

Perhaps the striped ones are my favorites.

Nature really does deal in both quality and Quantity.  No trillium right along the trail here.  Instead May Apple blankets both sides.

I always think of them as umbrellas with a little flower beneath.

The are hard to photograph being very near the ground and under the huge leaves.

But I find one nearly wide open.

And another fully open but with his back to me.  I wouldn’t dare step in there to photograph his face.

Apparently May Apple conditions disappear and the trillium are back on both sides of the trail for as far as I can see.  Are there millions of trillium here?

With so many trillium, unless you make a bold statement like the May Apple, you may get over looked.  But I spotted this delicate Bellwort at several spots along the trail.

I made my way as far as I was willing to go and turned around on the trail to enjoy it all over again.  It was just as incredible as the first time.  Nearly 3 miles of trillium one way.  I can’t help but sing a song inspired by a Mary Oliver poem.  How lucky am I on this day in this beautiful place!   Here’s a piece of the song.

Pay Attention
See the Wonder
Be Grateful and
Offer Praise

My last wildflower of the day is the one so often overlooked.  But its beauty in all its stages is really startling if we just stop and look.   And our diminishing bees love them.

After such a fantastic Tuesday it was hard to complain about foggy rainy Wednesday and Thursday.  Compare this picture with the first one in this post.  What a difference a day makes.

Looking out the front window toward Monday’s rainy sunset. As you can see, no neighbors.  I think there are perhaps 6 other folks here.  They’ll be coming in for the weekend but we have other plans.