Little River and Cucumber Gap trail

We started the day with a great breakfast at Hillbilly's restaurant in Wear's Valley. Great meals (I had

Bananas foster French toast), and giant cups of coffee. As soon as you open the door to the restaurant and step inside, you're faced with an old Chevy truck. Great atmosphere here, great food, and friendly staff. One thing we have noticed is that Covid precautions seem to be non-existent here. No one wears masks inside, as far as we can tell. But Covid has definitely hit this area hard. Gatlinburg, Sevierville, and Pigeon Forge and surrounding communities rely on the success of their service businesses for tourists, especially restaurants. It seems that every restaurant is seating at 50% capacity, not for protection's sake, but because they can't get people to work in the restaurants--servers, bus people, etc. We assume that unemployment benefits are more of a draw than the paychecks. Every restaurant we've gone to has notices to exactly that effect, and is posting big "WE'RE HIRING" signs, and we've been told of the problem by restaurant people.

Our first stop today was a loop trail reputed to have great wildflower stands. The first 2 miles followed along the edge of the Little River, a small river that sounded really loud as we hiked along. There were, in fact, nice displays of wildflowers along the edges of the trail. But after our experience at the Sink yesterday, most anything else was bound to pale in comparison. Today was warmer, but started with a nice breeze that made for a pleasant walk. Not long after the trail turned away from the river, we
started in to a 3.7 mile ankle-buster hike, with rocks and roots spread across the path. Soon we came to a place on the trail where we had to cross a fast-running creek. After assessing our limited options for crossing it, we chose to crawl on hands and knees across a makeshift bridge of fallen logs. After that, there were a couple of other creek crossings, but that was the most interesting. Great hike.

We had read that a smaller trail in another part of the park had great wildflowers as well. We headed there, and took that one.

Again, memories of the Sink colored our appreciation for the natural displays of flowers there. But it WAS pretty. 

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/psNnEsX2DtsQasZx7

Fairyland in the Smokies

Some of the acreage of wildflowers at the bottom of the sink

We are in Townsend, TN, near Smoky Mountain National Park. The Smokies are reknowned for the beauty of their spring wildflower displays, and that was the biggest impetus for us to make this trip. So today we set out for a trail I had discovered while searching the web for "best wildflower trails in the Smokies". I was surprised that even the national park site didn't list this trail, just the trail off which it runs. But descriptions I read said that Whiteoak Sink had a gorgeous display of wildflowers that was not to be missed. So after breakfast, we set out, and arrived at the main trailhead a short while later. The day was cool and comfortable; we started the hike wearing jackets. All along the sides of the trail, we saw many banks of wildflowers: trillium, phlox, wild geranium, white violets, crested iris, and much more.

The trail was flanked by tall hardwoods just coming into leaf. About 1 1/4 miles up the trail, we knew

we had to turn for the Sink trail, but we saw no signs. We continued on until Ray had the idea that we might have passed the turn off. We checked the trail map I had downloaded, and sure enough, we had missed the turn off which had been unmarked. We retraced our steps and started down into the Sink. The trail got narrower and rockier, and we started to note even more wildflowers. 

When we reached the bottom of the Sink, at about 2.1 miles in, we saw why reviews of this trail included words like "magical", "amazing", "spectacular", "surreal", and "outstanding". Laid out before us were acres of wildflowers, a sea of purple, white and pink with dots of yellow. It was as if we were transported to a fairytale place. Mind blown. Unfortunately, the park service had to put up net fencing in certain areas to keep people from trampling the flowers, and stationed 3 park rangers in this area to monitor and guide people around the area. From the bottom, we hiked up to a gravesite of a former resident of the area, Abraham Law, who died in 1844. On the way out, we stopped at a small waterfall, and had a snack. We retraced our path back to the parking lot, even more aware of all the natural beauty we might have missed on the way in.

Photos of the day are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DTdrkQrVEaFrqjvD9

Pearl's, rain, and pastels

One unique feature of our hotel was it's embrace of digital technology. We checked in, chose our room, unlocked our door, and checked out on the Hilton app on my phone. Very cool!

After a nice breakfast, we headed east to a little town called Bishopville (SC) where Pearl's Topiary Garden is the main attraction. Pearl Fryar just wanted to win the Yard of the Month prize awarded by a local garden club. After he took a short Topiary lesson at a local nursery, he set out (about 1988) to transform his property into a living sculpture garden that ultimately became a tourist destination, and an international sensation.

His garden now contains over 400 individual plants that are complemented by his " junk" art  sculptures placed throughout the garden.

We were the only visitors this morning that was on the cool side, and cloudy. The solitude made the visit more interesting and very intimate. The birds were twittering and singing away.

A small restroom building was tucked into the side of the property and emblazoned with a plaque that noted that it was built with the support of the county and the Coca Cola Company.

As we were leaving Pearl's home, we noticed that a few houses down the street seemed to have lots of topiary as well. We drove further up the street to see that that was the case. I imagine that Pearl Fryar shared his skills with his neighbors.

It started to rain heavily shortly after leaving Bishopville, and continued for most of today's drive to Townsend, TN, just outside Smoky Mountain National Park. By the time we reached North Carolina, we were watching
dogwoods, pawlonia, redbud, and magnolias all in bloom, and set in the pastels of newly leafing hardwoods of all shades of green. As we neared the Smokies, clouds hung low over the hills. At one point, Google announced a slowdown ahead and recommended an

alternate route. So, we left the Interstate, and followed along a gorgeous narrow,  winding, 2 lane road bordered by wildflowers and assorted rundown homes. By the time we crossed into Tennessee, it stopped raining, and the sun peeked out for the first time today.

Photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kCNdXr9Tmv1gNQLY9

A little spring jaunt

Butterweed along the trail

It was a mostly uneventful ride on Interstates from home to Santee, SC, our first stop on this trip. When we first stepped out of the car at a rest area in GA, the air was much cooler than it was when we left home. On with our sweatshirts! Our trip up I95 was a matter of dancing among the throngs of the huge trucks that move America's stuff. There seemed to be 2 trucks for every car on the road.

It's been a while since we've stayed in hotels as we traveled since Rving is our preferred method of travel. But since our RV is having some repair work done, this was our only option. Covid is definitely still making it's mark on hotels. The place we stayed last night supposedly offered breakfast. Their website showed a breakfast room with a toaster, waffle machine, cereal and lots more. The actual reality was a lot different. When we came down in the morning, we found 1 1/4" diameter chocolate chip muffins wrappped in plastic, a bowl of apples, and yogurt along with a carafe of regular coffee, no decaf (which I should be drinking due to high blood pressure). After having the coffee, we headed out and stopped to get a breakfast sandwich. We picked up a sub to split at lunch on the trail.

Today we headed for Congaree National Park which is about 17 miles southeast of Columbia, SC. The ride  to the park was through beautiful farm land and small towns. 

What makes Congaree special? Its forest has one of the highest canopies in the world. Average tree height here is 130 feet, and there are 25 national champion trees (biggest and tallest of their species).

To walk here is like walking in an outdoor cathedral. A highlight is a 2+ mile boardwalk that is raised 6 feet above the forest floor. Even with the elevation, the boardwalk does flood at certain times of the year. Because of it's remote location, Congaree is one of the lesser known and visited National Parks. That makes it the perfect quiet retreat! This was a wonderful time to visit because the mosquito

population (which is normally huge) was at a minimum because it has been dry here. Outside the Visitor Center is a meter that displays the current mosquito situation rated on a 1 to 6 scale. It was a 1+ today, but even so, we slathered on the repellent just to be extra cautious. Sometime in mid-afternoon, we stopped at the side of the trail and had our sub sandwich lunch while sitting on a giant fallen log. The weather was cool, dry, and perfect, the trail lined with clouds of yellow butterweed, dog hobble, flowering holly, and twisted vines and roots. What an awesome, peaceful afternoon!

This evening, we will stay in Columbia and head to the Smokies tomorrow.

More photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EhEV6K2aqt7vViY7A