As wildflowers go, the Trillium is pretty special. Classified as one of the spring ephemeral perennials, they bloom only briefly, and only in the woods. This week at 2000ft they were blooming everywhere and on the trail up signaled the start of another adventure. On the trail down, especially on the last day, coming down from North Carter, in the pouring rain and thunder, they were absolutely beautiful.
The hunt for the rare Lady Slippers, or wild pink orchids, has become an annual ritual with my girls and me and so I was very sad that this year, what with being in Boston and all, I had missed my chance to see one of my favorite spring blooming wildflowers. However, I soon found that what blooms in early May on the seacoast is in full bloom in late May at 3000 ft. And they were everywhere! Considering that this plant is on the "At Risk" list and was almost extinct 100 years ago it was great to walk through large patches of them - even just as the terrain was starting to get a bit steep, my calves were starting to ache, and I questioned whether or not we really needed that extra pound of trail mix.
Somewhere between 3000 and 4000 ft the hardwood canopy of maples, birches and beech is replaced by pines and firs. Almost every trail we hiked had recently been effected by blow downs. There were trees down all over, especially in areas that had been hit by the ice storm a few winters ago had suffered significant tree damage. So aside from scrambling up and down rock faces, we also enjoyed the challenge of navigating over, under and around some significant tree piles, and on occasion, making full body contact with a limb or two, as I did with the branch of one tree only 1/2 inch short of my eye. (An impact that soon resulted in a lovely purple eye). On the plus side, all those downed trees opened up some amazing views, and as always, the feeling of being "Up There" just makes the day.
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