Beard Cane

Day One:6.8
Gold Mine Trail 0.8
Cooper Road Trail 2.4
Beard Cane Trail 3.6
Day Two:6.8
Beard Cane Trail 3.6
Cooper Road Trail 2.4
Gold Mine Trail 0.8
Total Miles: 13.6

A quick trip to the Smokys for an overnight trip. Lora needed to hike the Beard Cane trail to mark it off her list.

It was a warm weekend and there was a little sweating going on. The Gold Mine trail and Cooper Road trails are both old road beds. Beard Cane is a path which follows the Beard Cane creek even through the creek bed a few times. There is a section where campsite #11 used to be that the tornado had gone through. There is still a marker there, but you couldn't get off that section of trail for nothing. It is a bit grown up there as all the trees are down and lots of sun get to the trail.

These are great trails to hike if you want to see lots of wild flowers. Beard Cane is even good for picking up ticks. We saw white and yellow Trilliums, Dwarf Crested Iris, Wild Geraniums, Shuttleworth's Ginger, Tea Berry, Pink Lady Slippers, Pussytoes, Chickweed, Maple Leaf Viburnum, Galax, Foam Flower, Dog Hobble, Flame Azalea, Mountain Laurel, Magnolia, Tulip Poplar, Trumpet vine, and Honey suckle. Even got to eat a few berries off the Tea Berry.

Got to see a Turkey, Blue Heron, lots of lizards and butterflies. One lizard tried to hitch a ride on my pack. Luckily I saw him before I put it on my back. Saved a heart attack.

At campsite #3 we enjoyed getting into Hesse Creek to cool off. We had one day hiker come through that we visited with at camp an a couple we visited with on the way up Gold Mine.

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