Pine Mountain Hike
September 5, 2015
 
 

The hike was 3.4 miles. The lowest point on the trip was down 237' in elevation. Hey, this hand held GPS is fun! No cell tower is necessary! (Easily amused, right?).

I hung out with the group in the back. We went to a backpack campsite (the little yellow X) just to see how it was doing. The group in the back helps keep up all the trails in the park. They keep them free of deadfall and keep the brush trimmed back so we can walk. They had a wealth of infomation about all the trees and brush back there. I'll bet the group in the front never saw the American Chestnut tree or the muscadines (which we sampled). I also saw what looked like a fence lizzard. He was really long but had markings like a fence lizzard. He wouldn't let me get close enough to him to snap his picture though.

 
This just describes where the hike was in relation to other places.  
We stopped at the visitor center. It seemed every overlook had a similarly gorgeous view. I couldn't get enough!
The absolutely huge stitched picture is at this link. It is quite large at 1.26 mb 		 
Mushrooms were absolutely beautiful on this trip!
Beautiful old tree! It just caught my eye.
 
I got ahead of them because they were trimming some brush along the way.
 
 
 
Wow what a find! Porcupine eggs!! Even though they looked soft, these are almost impossible to touch or pick up with your bare hands.  
 
Inside the porcupine eggs were the beginnings of little American Chestnut trees.
Staminate Catkin with the male floret bundles. The "porcupine eggs" we found are the result of this Chestnut tree.
And here's the American Chestnut tree those pieces came from.
 
Campsite down in the gully.