Blue Ridge flower hike

Pink mountain laurel in bloom on Bluff Mountain

It was a perfect day and I was hiking my very favorite kind of trail - high rolling open meadow.  45 years ago I started my backpacking life hiking above timberline in the Colorado mountains, and it seems that you never forget your first love.

As in Colorado, this time of year in the mountains is a riot of color.  I decided to photo-document the flowers I passed today.  I ended up spending so much time 'smelling the roses' that I hiked less than ten miles for the day.  But ten glorious miles it was.  The only actual rose I saw was the multiflora rose - a problem invasive native to Europe.

Many of the other flowers I photographed I haven't had time to identify.  Where I know an identity it's in the caption, and I'll add captions in the future if I can take the time to do the research.

Before getting to the flowers I want to share a few more scenic shots from the meadow walk over Bluff Mountain starting with a sneak peak back to Stone Mountain.

And now for the gallery of mountain flowers:

Blackberry

Bluets

Mountain laurel, typical flower cluster

a variety of locust, I believe this remains a shrub

Looks like stars in a galaxy.  Each petal has a dark dot in the middle

Special find - pink lady slipper - an orchid

Queen Anne's Lace

Rhododendron

good old red clover

Flame azalea, red variation

The kind of amazing display flame azaleas can put on

Flame azalea, yellow variation

Finally, I can't forget my obligatory 'hat of the day' shot.

This is Hat Number Ten, and my first trail find during the current MST thru-hike.  Found it on one of the roadside causeways during the hike along Falls Lake.
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Here's the hike route plotted on a map.  For the complete slide show, click on the title line:



MST Day 65 - Bluff Mountain at EveryTrail
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