Even casual readers of this blog will have gathered that Ruth and I are wildflower enthusiasts. Often, I remember hikes that we’ve done by recalling particularly memorable flowers. I might not remember the name of the trail, but I’ll say, “You know, the one with blue-eyed mary,” and Ruth will say “Taylor Hollow.” Or, “You know, that hike where it rained and I was miserable, but then we saw that flame azalea,” and Ruth will say, “Curry Mountain.”
After years of hiking in the Tennessee Valley, we got to the point that we knew many of the local wildflower hot spots, and even began to time visits so that we could see particular displays, such as the Virginia bluebells on the Sinks Trail at Monte Sano State Park in Huntsville or French’s shooting star at Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve.
When we moved to western North Carolina last year, we arrived after the peak of the spring ephemerals, and what with the hurly-burly of moving and getting established, we didn’t get out on the trails as much as we would have liked. However, we were ready to see what WNC had to offer by spring 2022, so we hit the trails more frequently. It turns out that WNC is a little slower to reveal its charms, as compared to north Alabama, but that’s probably due to the higher altitude here.
There was one wildflower in particular we were keen to see — the gorgeous painted trillium (Trillium undulatum). We had noticed on a late-summer hike on the Pink Beds Loop trail obvious trilliums with relatively large scarlet fruit, which we tentatively identified as painted trillium, and made mental notes to come back in the spring to confirm our theory. After a visit to Pearson’s Falls in Saluda (which we’ll write about in a separate post) in early April, in which we saw three different trillium species in bloom (but not painted trilliums), we guessed that it must be trillium season so we planned a return trip to Pink Beds. But before then, we wanted to knock off another hike in the Conserving Carolina White Squirrel hiking challenge — a return trip to Upper Whitewater Falls. We had previously hiked here in September 2021, before the hiking challenge was officially underway, so this was just a formality so we could check it off the list.
Our return to Upper Whitewater Falls on April 15 began with the usual pause to admire this stunning waterfall at the second (lower) observation deck before we left the crowds to continue our descent to the Whitewater River on the spur trail that connects to the Foothills trail. To be honest, we weren’t terrifically excited about this hike as it was familiar ground to us, but it was a beautiful day and we were feeling good.
And then, serendipity struck. Our previous hike here was in the fall, and we didn’t notice that the trail was just festooned with wildflowers. We were barely off the observation platform before I spotted trailing arbutus clinging to some rocks, and halberd leaf yellow violets were abundant.
The trail soon began a series of switchbacks on its way into the gorge, and as we came around a bend, to my delighted surprise I spotted my personal favorite among the trillium species, a stand of Catesby’s trilliums (Trillium catesbaei). This is a demure little beauty, with the flower hanging below the leaves, and the pink (or sometimes white) petals recurving, as if it is peering up at you bashfully. In fact, one common name for this wildflower is bashful wakerobin, and it’s also called a rose trillium due to its delicate color.
Just moments after finding this stand of Catesby’s trilliums, we came across a stand of yellow trilliums. With its mottled leaves and the flower sitting on top, this is an example of another main trillium subgenus, the sessile trilliums.
These were two lovely finds, but as it turns out these were far from isolated stands. The spur trail joined the Foothills Trail, and as we continued down into the gorge there were numerous examples of yellow and Catesby’s trilliums, nearly the entire length of the trail segment down to the Whitewater River. They often grew next to each other, and each stand of flowers seemed better than the last.
We were so taken aback at this abundance of trilliums that we gave scant attention to other more familiar wildflowers in the white and green palette, such as foamflower and false Solomon’s seal and sweet white violet and wood anemone. But they too were part of this botanical symphony, and a most welcome sight.
This hike had far exceeded our expectations, but as it turned out there was another astonishment to come. At a bend in the trail, I spotted a dash of color off to the left and upon investigation found the first of several Vasey’s trilliums (Trillium vaseyi) that we would see toward the bottom of the gorge. This brilliant dark red variety with lush petals is a real stunner.
At this point, the song sprung unbidden to my lips: “I found my thrill on trillium hill.” Technically, we were descending the northeast slope of Grassy Knob, but forever this shall be known to me as Trillium Hill.
Finally, we reached the bottom of the gorge, at about .75 miles, where we found the river tumbling along nicely among the boulders, with the steel bridge still in place over it (albeit still requiring a rock scramble to reach it). Since we had already done that part of the hike, we turned back here and headed uphill. Though the trilliums had petered out just below the bottom of the gorge, there were still a few other wildflowers in bloom near the river — cancer root, quaker ladies, and wild oats. And sharp-eyed Ruth spotted a very nice jack in the pulpit.
The ascent back to the parking lot seemed to fly by, as we knew we’d get another chance to admire the trilliums along the way. We had crossed another hike off the White Squirrel challenge, but got so much more out of this hike than just a checkmark.
No doubt, I’ll be recalling this hike at some point in the future, and will say, “You know, trillium hill,” and Ruth will say “Upper Whitewater Falls,” and we’ll both smile fondly. We probably won’t remember that we didn’t see a single painted trillium. And we never even missed them.
Woodlands and Waters 