My Sixties: Wildflowers in White Oak Sink

A week of rain cancelled two hikes in the Smokies this week, so when Friday's forecast was for drier weather, I jumped at the chance to hike a few trails. It turned out to be an overcast day, but there was no rain until I drove home in the late afternoon.

This Friday the Margaret Stevenson Wednesday Hikers hiked to the White Oak Sink area of the Smokies on the Tennessee side of the park. This meant an early wake up and drive for me, but the chance to see the Sinks and get some trail miles in was worth it. I met the group at the Townsend Wye and the car placement for the afternoon shuttle was organized. We were on the Turkeypen Ridge Trail at 9:00 AM. At the trail junction with the Schoolhouse Gap Trail we entered the White Oak Sink. The Sink is a basin with several sinkholes and caves. The area was settled by several families and the remnants of many homesteads can be seen. Today, White Oak Sink is a mecca for viewing wildflowers in the Spring.

Trails wind through the Sink taking hikers up and down sinkholes, by homesteads evident by open clearings, and leading to stands of wild flowers. The National Park Service has had to close off the caves and some parts of the Sinks due to the White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that is killing bats in the caves. Signs are posted near the sensitive areas and orange net fences have been put up to keep people out of the protected areas. Even with these restrictions we were able to wander over 3 miles on trails and manways. We were not alone either. We met many wildflower enthusiasts and photographers taking advantage of the day to see the display.

I am not a wildflower expert by any means, but several on the hike identifed the many species we saw. Pictures with the names follow. I hope I get the names correct! These are but a few of the many we saw.

Yellow Trillium

White Trillium

Dwarf Iris - these covered areas along the trails.

Yellow Ladyslipper

This pink lady slipper was our centerpiece at lunch.

Little Brown Jug - note the jug-like flowers at the base.

Shooting Stars

Showy Orchis

Flowers were even growing in the trees.

Phlox

Evidence that people lived and worked in White Oak Sink.

In addition to exploring White Oak Sinks we hiked several trails over 12.5 miles. All the trails were new miles for me, so I added 8.7 miles to my Smokies trail map. I am nearing 375 of the 800+ miles of trails in the Smokies.