Adventures of a Nature Guide
Hike High, Hike Cool
Words and pictures by SHERLENE SPICER

Summer has arrived! Hot, humid and dry weather is now forecasted for the weeks ahead. As for hiking this time of the year, it’s best to get out very early in the day. Drink lots of water and sweat, sweat, sweat.

June brings the annual trip over to the northeastern corner of our state and North Carolina. The Southern Highlands Appalachian Conservancy (SHAC) attracts people from all over the east. The group works year round to protect the mountains in and around the Roan Mountain State Park.

Roan Mountain’s altitude of around 6,000 feet makes for slightly cooler temps. As usual, we opted to hike across the Balds of Roan. Tom Gatti, a gentleman from Kingston, Tennessee is known for leading the hardest of the hikes. We started out at Hampton Creek and walked a combination of trails to end up at Carvers Gap.

Hampton Creek is one of our newer state natural areas. Hiking trails are established and work shapes this working cattle farm into a great habitat for birds and butterflies.

The golden-winged warbler nests here. What an incredible place—open meadows with rambling brooks make this a birders’ paradise. We saw a delightful little Acadian flycatcher and the golden-winged warbler.

It’s tough to catch glimpses of the birds, however, when you are marching up, up through heavy forests. Our walk led us alongside tumbling mountain streams lush in vegetation. Hillsides in some areas are covered in large interrupted ferns.

These ferns stand two to three feet tall. A nice patch of purple orchids were just inside one forest edge. On another edge we saw a handful of the rare Gray’s lily.

Routes like Over-the-Mountain-Trail and the Appalachian Trail connect together to wind us up onto the balds. Rhododendrons covered large sections in full bloom. Also we were anxious to see the native azaleas. Orange, yellow, deep reddish tones were all in bloom. The flame azaleas are found only in the very high, open parts of the country. We are blessed to have such beauty only about six hours drive away.

Since May and June were very rainy, the waterfalls have been dramatic to visit. We have taken advantage of all the rainfall and gotten out to see several of our waterfalls. From the Natchez Trace to across the Cumberland Plateau, we ventured to visit falls.

One of our favorites, though, wasn’t easy to reach. To see Virgin Falls out of Sparta, Tennessee we took a hike. At around eight miles, this was an all-dayer. Mountain laurel greeted us and incredible ferns filled the meadows along the tiny stream that made its way down the mountains to meet up with larger waters.

The miraculous thing about Virgin Falls is that it comes out of a cave; runs above ground 50 feet or so and drops nearly 100 feet straight down underground again. It totally disappears. Wow! It’s worth the walk to see. Of course, the rattlesnake right beside the trail was very exciting and worth a photograph or a dozen. And then there was the shot that got away. A sweet, innocent, spotted fawn lay a few feet off the trail. But after being spotted and three or four other folks scrambling to see it, in one bolt, it was gone. What an exciting moment. Giant zebra swallowtail butterflies floating by only added to the pleasure.

There are cool places to see all over the state. Get out this summer and go adventuring. Canoeing, boating and caving are all good things to do in the summer months. Have fun!

Sherlene Spicer shares her travels in remote and nearby areas through her writing and photography. She has traveled the world documenting plants and birds and has worked as a guide for the Cumberland-Harpeth Audubon Society for 15 years. She lives with her husband Greg Greenhow on Boy Scout Road and can be reached, whether at home or adventuring, at 615.406.3575.