Friday, May 22, 2009

Grotto Falls, Trillium Gap, Brushy Mtn hike - Pt 2

Continuing the Part 1 trail summary .....

We passed under Grotto Falls and continued on up Trillium Gap trail. There are some nice sights along the way, including a pretty creek cascade you have to rock-hop across and tons of ferns.






Can you see me?

I'm the blue thing at the bottom of the rock wall.







Trail junction at Trillium Gap. To the right takes you up to Mt. LeConte Lodge.... there was a noisy couple packing down, we heard them long before we saw them. Straight takes you to Greenbrier along Brushy Mtn trail. Left is a spur to the Brushy Mtn summit.
We went left.


The spur trail is a rocky footpath slicing through a tunnel of rhododendron. It is a very neat stretch and I think we enjoyed it all the more due to the fog and mist, which created a very creepy atmosphere.




Check out this 1 minute video of our hike through the rhododendron tunnel:



A few painted trillium were spotted along the way......







Sand myrtles are abundant up there, very beautiful little flowers.






Nearing the summit. No view whatsoever today.... but we LOVED it. It was almost totally silent except for a few birds and the occasional bee.
The footpaths become sandier and wind around the top of the scrubby heath bald.
We sat on a couple rocks and enjoyed the silence and a snack before heading back down.

2 comments:

randomcrafter said...

Love your interesting trail commentaries and great photos.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the photos and especially the video. The Mt. Leconte hike is addictive and I look forward to the trip up. The changing beauty of the various routes up help to make the whole experience exciting. Seeing your posted video had me greatly desiring to be right there hiking along.