Today I wanted to do a shorter hike so that I would be finished in time to go to a matinee movie, so I hiked out to Sunset Overlook. This trail is 1.3 miles each way, and starts at a trailhead about halfway along the road to East Rim Overlook - basically cutting over to another spot on the edge of the gorge.
The woods starting out seemed really dense compared to some of the other hikes I've done recently - but that was good, because it was already getting hot out!
This big old mushroom looked like a pancake on a stem.
The trail passed near a pond, and I could hear the buzzing and humming of insects. Then, just a short while later, there was another pond, right next to the trail.
This type of trail is what my family has always referred to as a "Tick Tunnel". I had already been planning to take a shower before going to the movie, but now that was definitely going to be a priority!
There are SO MANY yellow daisy-type flowers, but I'm pretty sure this is a type of rosinweed.
I could hear the insects from a distance, even before I stepped out of the trees onto the bank of the pond. Not individual mosquitoes, just one massive hum.
Check out the roots on this path! There was a newly-fallen tree in the pond, with a stump at the edge of the trail, and the roots still holding everything together. There were a lot of root-heavy places along this hike - if I ever do go out there to watch the sunset, I'll have to be very careful.
I kept cringing, waiting for the mosquitoes to attack, and then I realized that the hum I was hearing was not mosquitoes, it was BEES! The pond was covered with what looked like lily pads, but was actually a similar plant called water shield, that is in a separate family. It didn't have big showy flowers like water lilies do, so I didn't realize they were blooming.
Once I looked out, I realized there was a whole swarm of bees out there, and that's what was making all that noise! It wasn't the hum of mosquitoes, it wasn't flies coming to attack me, it was pollinators going hog-wild at the buffet. I could just make out the motion around every flower - bees, surely wasps and flies too, but they had better things to do than bother me. There was so much life out there the air was humming!
The trail followed a dry streambed for a little while, but there was enough moisture for ferns to flourish.
There weren't any big holly trees, but I saw quite a few small ones, just bush-sized.
Wild strawberry blossoms! I have no hope whatsoever of tasting any of these - something always gets there first.
I saw a lot of ground cedar (really a type of clubmoss) which was taller than what I've seen before - when I was first seeing it there was just one layer, flat rosettes of foliage, but now they look like miniature trees!
Something big has been here. Something that eats blueberries. I think I just found my first bear sign...
This is teaberry, sometimes called wintergreen, even though it's not in the wintergreen family - but apparently it is similar enough that it used to be used for flavoring.
These woods really do provide such nice shade - it definitely helps to keep from getting even hotter!
I saw some buds earlier on the trail, but now I found a bush with some open flowers! This is mountain camellia, sometimes called "summer dogwood" because the large white flowers look similar at a glance.
This is common greenbrier - and it is quite common in these woods! It has thorns so you have to be careful walking through underbrush. I took this picture to show how it grows out, sending out little tendrils that reach out for something to curl around as it climbs. It's got tentacles!
Almost there! I wasn't quite to the edge yet, but I could see the gorge!
This big old snag near the edge of the gorge is probably a favorite perch for hawks, crows, and vultures, giving them a long view with no leaves in the way.
Walking on bare rock now...
Looking down, I spotted some blueberries! They were mostly still green, but I got a couple of ripe ones.
Here it is! Sunset Overlook is pretty nice in mid-morning, too.
This was carved into the rock. It's a Chi-Rho, an early Christian symbol. It may be that people used to have religious services up here - it's certainly a gorgeous backdrop.
Off in the distance is the bridge I drive across to get to work every day.
No railings, just common sense...
This is an example of ecological succession. There is just enough sand eroded to form soil for these plants to take root in. Immediately surrounding that area is bare rock. In a hundred years it may have spread a foot or two outward.
One last look before I head back.
There were a lot of mountain laurel bushes that had dropped all their flowers - but there were several buds that were yet to open, even as the fruits from the earlier flowers are forming!
Blueberry flowers are so pretty! The shape hints at the fruit that is to come.
And then I found some! This was a different variety than the low ones I saw on the way out - it was a taller bush, with darker berries. And I walked right past it!
A handful of the high-bush berries, with one single low-bush berry in the center for comparison. Slightly larger and with a lighter blue coating. It's possible the darker ones are huckleberries, but it's hard to tell - they are so closely related, and there are multiple varieties of each, and the important thing is that they are all tasty!
The rosebay rhododendrons are just starting to open.
This one is still closed up tight!
An interesting fungus, just off the side of the trail. I spotted a number of things on the way back that I had missed while walking out to the overlook!
A golden toadstool! (That's not an official name, just a description...)
I did see this on the way in, but got a better picture the second time! It's southern showy skullcap... what a name!
Back at the pond, the insects were buzzing like nobody's business.
Fringed loosestrife - growing near the pond.
Now, this was really strange. These fungi were growing in recently-carved woodpecker holes! Apparently they like freshly-exposed wood.
Is it weird that I think this looks strangely similar to a biscuit?
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