Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Annual Oconee Bell Wildflower Pilgrimage


Bloodroot Buds
Originally uploaded by toadshade
We started early - 6 am, and headed up the interstate to see the Oconee Bells and any other wildflower that dared to poke it's head up. I drove and Bill navigated. The first setback was that 385 to Greenville was closed off which made the trip to see the Oreo Heifers an impossibility unless we wanted to double back on SC 11. We were pressed for time anyway and decided to hit the Bells at Devil's Fork State Park so we would have more time for Station Falls, Pearson Falls, and Bradley Falls. Our logic was - since we're coming later this year, there should be more of the Spring ephemerals growing. We were sadly mistaken.

The Bells showed up on time and gave quite a display of interesting photo ops. Heard a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Blue-headed Vireo also. After we finished there, we went on to Station Falls. The Toadshade Trillium were growing profusely and we ran into them way up the cove and anticipated a lot more later on. Then we ran into Windflower (rue anemone) and one measly Robin's Plantain. We were expecting some Green and Gold, Pennywort, Spring Beauties, Bellwort and Large Flowered Trillium. Instead we got more Toadshade, more Rue and Sharp-lobed Hepatica which is an early bloomer like the Toadshade. Some Mayapple were coming up which gave the floor a nice green Spring flavor. Had some interesting birdlife there - Common Raven, 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, an Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a few Titmice and Chickadees.

After that we went to Green River Barbeque to wallow in hog fat and analyze our data. Bill checked photographic records from last year and discovered that a few more of the species we'd expected had bloomed last year at this time, name Large-flowered Trillium, Spring Beauties, Bellwort and Canada Violets. We surmised that the extremely cold Winter put a little delay on the growing season.

We then headed to Bradley Falls to checkout the place for later adventures. It wasn't far from Saluda, about 5 miles, and seemed to be a popular day hike area. Once we got down there, we realized that you have to be prepared for scrambling over rocks and getting your feet went and it's not conducive for carrying a lot of photo gear. So we decided to check it later and come prepared. We went down as far as Cove Creek where there was a memorial to someone who had died while climbing the rocks down there. It's pictured in my Flickr photos of the trip. It was a beautiful area with Toadshade trillium growing beside the path along with beautiful Smooth Yellow Violets.  Also, at the head of the path, there was evidence of an old homestead.  There were no buildings, boards or ruins, to testify to this.  What survived were the things that embellished the land and lives of the people who lived there - the flowers.  There were Daffodils and Periwinkles everywhere and what used to pass for an Orchard right beyond.  But the most pensive was a Periwinkle growing in the fork of a huge Sycamore.  You just wonder how it got there.  Did the inhabitants plant it, did the birds drop it, or did the Sycamore pick it up when it was much younger?  At any rate, it's a wonderful blend of the two cultures.

We decided to swing back by Pearson's Falls on the way back and see if it was a little more advanced than the rest of the places. It turned out to be pretty much in line with everything else. Plenty of Toadshade but not much else. We did finally find a couple of Spring Beauties growing along with Toothwort and Bloodroot pictured here. This helps to contrast with last year since bloodroot is usually on the wane instead of just budding. It was a great day and may inspire some more trips this Spring when the others are ready to show.

toadshade

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