Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) is a member of the orchid family that grows to 18 inches tall. It's a fairly rare Smoky Mtn wildflower to find! The ladies above were spotted stepping out just off Twin Creeks trail near the Bud Ogle Place on the...
A packtrain of llamas is used to carry bed linens and supplies to Mt. LeConte Lodge. The llamas are easier on the heavily used Great Smoky Mountains National Park trails than horses. In the picture below the llamas are passing behind Grotto Falls. Normally, the...
Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum) is one of the most attractive, and most elusive of the Trilliums. A rare sight, perhaps because it is at the southern edge of it's range in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Painted Trillium favors cool northern forests....
April is prime wildflower time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so I will be devoting many posts to that springtime topic as the annual Wildflower Pilgrimage approaches later this month. As the name implies, the Wake Robin Trillium (Trillium erectum) is an...
Dutchmans Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) is a unique early spring wildflower found in the Smoky Mountains. The name of course comes from the blooms, which look like pairs of tiny pantaloons hanging from a clothesline. Look for this stunning wildflower along the Cove...
One of the ways that I survive here in the paradise of Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains is by taking photographs of the many resort rental properties in the area. I love to get up before daybreak, get a log cabin all lit up and wait for those rosy fingers of...
Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis) is, as the name implies, in the Orchid family. It's a spectacular discovery, when you find it. But as a matter of fact, both times I've stumbled on this beauty have been at the edges of parking lots. Not exactly the distinguished...
Toothwort (Dentaria diphylla) is another one of those tiny Smoky Mountain wildflowers that look so inconsequential when you gaze down on them from above. But get down to their level, especially with a magnifying glass or macro lens, and the delicate beauty is...
Whenever the creeks of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park swell with rainfall, which is often in the springtime, the kayakers come forth. It seems like a daring adventure to me, and a paradoxical compromise between going with the flow and aggressively making your...
Something green for St. Patrick's Day. Nothing greener in the Great Smoky Mountains than the moss-covered rocks of the Roaring Fork. Conditions on the north face of Mt. LeConte create an extremely wet environment and a rich lushness of plant life. There may be no...