Floating the Broad River: Coxe Road to Poors Ford Road

This time of year when the heat becomes oppressive and the every day tasks of the work week become too much to bear, sometimes you just have to take a break and do something fun and relaxing.  Some people choose to go to the pool, some go fishing (I like to fish as long as it's not too hot), others find a nice cool place to just sit down and relax, maybe drink some sweet iced tea.  On Tuesday, June 24, 2014, I decided that I needed a break so I embarked on a float trip on the Broad River.

For years, the Rutherford Outdoor Coalition (ROC)has been advocating the creation of a paddle trail on the Broad River.  The results have yielded improved access at several locations along the river and is helping to bring attention to a very safe and navigable river that has something to offer for boaters and anglers alike.

Being a native Rutherford Countian, I have always been enamored with the Broad River and have worked many years to support water quality in the Broad, particularly in the upper part of the basin above Lake Lure.  I have fished the Broad numerous times but until now, had never floated any portion of the Broad.  It has always been a goal of mine to paddle the Broad since I consider it my river.  I'm a Rutherford Countian so I should consider it mine given the fact that all streams in Rutherford County empty into the Broad or one of its major tributaries.

The Lower Broad River is separated from the Upper Broad River by Lake Lure.  The Lower Broad has been divided into ten runnable sections for a total of 41.3 river miles.  The upper portions of the Lower Broad tend to get run a little more often as access points tend to be close to main roads and tubing companies and outfitters over the years have helped bring attention to these sections of the river.  ROC has done a great job at describing the upper sections.  Middle and lower sections of the Broad lack good descriptions other than mileage  and some basic information.  This is mainly due to the fact that, until recently, river access was difficult to say the least, requiring trespassing on private property which doesn't do much to improve relations between river rats and landowners.  Accessibility has limited the number of potential paddlers on those sections of the river and thus has limited the overall knowledge that has been shared to interested paddlers and recreationists.

This particular trip was not only an excuse to get out of the office for the afternoon, but was also considered exploratory, the goal being to add detail to the limited description of the section we would be paddling.  Amy, our esteemed leader who is an Americorps Volunteer working with ROC and the Town of Lake Lure, decided that we needed to explore Section 6 which starts at Coxe Road and ends at Poors Ford Road; a total of 4.3 miles.

The Coxe Road river access is one of two brand new access points constructed by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.  These access points are great additions and necessary to ensure long-term access to the Broad River.  Hopefully, the access points will help change mindsets of people who are leery of paddlers (for whatever reason) and will encourage more participation by riverfront landowners.

So, now that you have the backstory, I will do my best to describe the trip and the river.  The Coxe Road river access is quite nice.   A nice gravel parking area provides plenty of room to unload boats.  The Commission has also installed a set of concrete steps to make river access so much easier.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, it's just a matter of putting your boat into the river and let the current take you where you want to go.  Here's another view of the ramp, pointing down river.

As you may notice from the pictures, the river was quite muddy on this particular day.  Recent heavy rains contributed significant amounts of runoff which usually contains quite a bit of silt and sediment.  Sediment is the single largest pollutant in the entire Broad River Basin and can severely degrade water quality.  As a result, much of the river bottom is very sandy.  More on sandy bottoms later in this story.

There were six of us on this trip, including Amy and me.  Without a whole lot of effort I put my kayak in and shoved off, paddling a short way upstream into a small eddy created by a downed tree upriver.  As I sat in the eddy, I contemplated the angry clouds I saw building around us and it occurred to me that we would be lucky if we didn't get rained on.

Finally everyone in our party was in the water.  Our journey downriver had begun.

The U.S 74 bridge marks the beginning of the journey downriver.

A view of the U.S. 74 bridge from below.  There were multiple barn swallow nests on the horizontal supports.

Here we are about 200 yards upstream of the Coxe Road bridge.

Remember what I was saying about rain?  Well it was about this point in the trip that the bottom fell out.  It started raining, and I don't mean gentle rain.  I'm talking Forrest Gump, "big 'ol fat rain."  it poured for about 10 minutes.  Fortunately there was no lightning, which wouldn't have mattered anyway because there was no place to get off the river.

Rain coming down at the Coxe Road bridge.

The Coxe Road bridge is just upstream of a couple of neat little rapids, one of which has a neat little chute on the right side of the river.  Beware of a fairly large rock there.  If you broadside it, you will swamp your boat.  On this day the river was up slightly so the rock was not as visible as it would be on a day the water is lower.  After clearing this little obstacle, it's gentle paddling the rest of the way.

A short distance downstream from the small set of rapids.  The rain has stopped.  Woohoo!

One of the things that I noticed as we floated down the river was how steep and high the banks are on this stretch of river.  For the entire section the banks tend to be six to twelve feet high and not as eroded as I would have expected on a major river that floods every couple of years.  The riparian buffer was largely intact with river birch (Betula nigra) and sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) dominating the canopy.  There were also frequent occurrences of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanicum), black walnut (Juglans nigra), and ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana) that were easily identifiable without having to get off the river for further inspection.  I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of development in the riparian zone considering the amount of development that has occurred in the river basin. The banks were mostly mud soaked rock with occasional gray clay pockets.  I was also amazed at the number of pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) growing along the river bank.  Pawpaw grows thickly along the river giving the riparian forest an almost rainforest look.

Pawpaw in flower.  They were already finished on this particular day.

Other plant species I noted (in no particular order) were trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), Carolina silverbell (Halesia tetraptera), various grape species (Vitis sp.), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolius), Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and Carolina phlox (Phlox carolina).  There were occasional infestations of exotic invasives such as kudzu (Pueraria montana), oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), and tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), but no significant monocultures.

As we cruised along downstream, the current would vary in speeds, depending on how wide or narrow the channel was.  The river birch canopy made the travel quite comfortable for most of the way as the large trees drape over the river, offering much needed shade.

After losing a few feet of elevation, the Broad began to slow down quite a bit.  Notice the difference in the following pics compared to the previous ones.

Approaching a large sandbar in the middle of the river.

As the river flattened out and slowed, we eventually came to a sandbar in the middle of the river.  Sandbars such as this are the result of accumulated sediment that piles up due to the slowing of the water.  Fast water has enough kinetic energy to suspend sediment in the water column and carry it for miles and miles.  Slow water doesn't have as much kinetic energy to suspend the particles so they drop out of the water column and get deposited on the river bed and build up over time creating sandbars.  This particular sandbar divides the river into two channels.  There were trees blocking both channels.  The tree on the right side was fairly small and easy to remove and the channel was deeper there so it presented the best option for continuing downstream.  A brief exploration of the sandbar revealed very little in the way of plant growth other than some horse nettle (Solanum carolinense).  There were a couple of old tires and some water hose that had gotten stuck on the sandbar as well.  Obviously sandbars such as this get here during large storm events that tend to carry higher sediment loads.  It's never wise to linger too long on a sandbar such as this, particularly when there is a threat of rain or it has rained heavily upstream.  The risk of flooding is very high.  No plants (or small plants in this case) suggests frequent inundation and scouring so this sandbar is always moving and not a good place to be lingering for too long without weighing some risks.  It's definitely not a place to camp as foolish novices might be inclined to do.

As we paddled along, it was hard not to notice the number of trees that have fallen into the river.  A river is a dynamic feature.  Soil and water don't mix and occasional flooding weakens soil causing trees to uproot.  Riverside trees not suited for the wet environment will also die and fall over before they ever reach a mature size.  It is important to look for submerged logs and stumps that might pose a hazard, particularly in low water.  Occasionally I would find a piece of a log sticking up, creating a slight riffle in the current.  For the most part, particularly as the river widens, the trees are not an issue.  As this part of the Broad becomes more heavily used, it will be important to conduct occasional maintenance.

Our fearless leader, Amy Allamong showing how happy she is to be on the river.

 

About 500 yards from where the above picture was taken, we encountered another split in the river.  An island has formed.  Islands can form from large sandbars that accumulate enough sediment to grow steadily larger vegetation.  They can also form as a result of the river cutting into the bank at a turn.  The river will continue to scour the bank on the outside of the bend until it cuts off the mass of land from the bank resulting in a small island.  This may have been what happened here as there is a slight bend where this island is located.  Islands are more stable than sandbars and therefore support larger vegetation and tend to have more permanence than sandbars as the soil tends to be the same as that of the river bank.  Stay to the right as you paddle by the island.  The left will run you aground.  The left channel is slowly being filled in with sand so it appears that there will be some changes in this area as the left channel fills and forces the river down the right channel.  The increased depth and velocity will continue to scour the right bank and will either widen the river or create another island.  The opposite could also occur in that a large storm will sweep out the built up sand and re-open the left channel.  It will be interesting to see what happens here over the next few years.

Stay to the right to go around the island.

The downriver side of the island.  Notice the accumulated sand.

A brief rest and exploration of the island and we're ready to go again.

One of the major highlights of this section of river is where the Broad River meets the Green River.  At the confluence with the Green the trip is three-fourths complete.  It is quite remarkable to see how the river changes as the two rivers converge.  Instead of a nice shady river channel the channel doubles in size and becomes so large that the tree canopy no longer covers the river.  The river also slows to snail pace and you find yourself just drifting along at a pace that would almost allow you to read a book.

Just upstream of the convergence of the Broad and the Green. 

Looking upstream from the mouth of the Green River where it converges with the Broad.

Looking upstream at the Green on the left and the Broad on the right, below the convergence point.

Looking downstream of the confluence of the Broad and Green.  The river has almost doubled in width.

At this point it was almost like paddling across a lake.

At this point in the trip I took the time to take a depth measurement.  Throughout the trip someone would occasionally dip their paddle or themselves in the river and provide a depth measurement.  My measurement was around 3 feet.  This seemed to be pretty consistent for the entire section with depths ranging between 2 and 4 feet in most places across the channel.  Being that the water level was up a little bit, naturally these numbers would be less on a day when the water is lower.  Prior to running this section, it would be good to know what the water level is because there may be some places where running aground could be a possibility.

As I mentioned earlier, sand mining (dredging) has been a practice on the Broad River for as long as I can remember.  I am sure that there are plenty of people who are older than I who have more knowledge of some of the dredging practices, but everything has been used from draglines to excavators.  One of the more common methods in large river channels is hydraulic.  A hydraulic dredge is basically a giant pump with a cutter head th at pumps sand into a wash plant and makes it suitable for sale.  Hydraulic dredges give the sand miner greater access to large rivers where long-reach excavators may be impractical.

Wash plant for hydraulic dredging.  Notice the erosion problem on the bank.

Hydraulic dredge.  This dredge is held in place with cables that allow it to move back and forth across the river channel.

As we passed the dredge, I just happened to notice a cable draped across the river, part of which was above the water line.  This is one of the cables used to pull the dredge out into the middle of the channel.  In the middle of the channel the cable was below the water line but on the left bank, it was right at neck level for the average kayaker.  I cautioned our group as I spotted it first.  I would caution anyone paddling this section to please be aware of this potential hazard.  At lower water levels it is very likely that the cable could be just above the water line creating a navigational hazard as well as a safety hazard if someone isn't paying attention.  Please be careful here.

The Broad below where the hydraulic dredge was seen. 

About a quarter of a mile from the dredge the river will make a slight bend to the left.  The small house on the left bank is a sign that the Poors Ford Road bridge is approaching.  Just around the bend, the river begins to drop in elevation so the current picks up, and there are a few more rocks below the surface that could be a bit of a pain to negotiate during low water.  It's worth noting that the house under construction is one of only a small handful of houses along this section of river.  This section is largely undeveloped which in my opinion makes the trip seem much wilder than it actually is.

When you see this house, downriver a short distance will be the Poors Ford Road Bridge.

The Poors Ford Road bridge in the distance.

Getting closer to the bridge and the take-out.

Shortly after passing the house and coming into view of the bridge, the current begins to quicken.  It's a good idea at this point to begin moving toward the left bank if you plan to take out at the bridge.  The river below the bridge speeds up quite a bit with a long stretch of swift water with small rapids.  It is possible to take out at the bridge but it does require a pretty steep haul out up to the road.  At the bridge there is no area to park other than the road shoulder.  The property owner on the left bank, just above the bridge allowed us to park on his property for a small fee but long-term I'm not sure if this will continue and I would encourage caution in using this particular property as a regular takeout without some type of legal access agreement.  In order to insure future access, it will be necessary to foster relationships with riverfront landowners in hope of gaining better access to the river and reassuring those landowners that they have nothing to fear from paddlers and that paddlers have the best interest of the river in mind as well as those who live on it.

As I waited my turn to pull my kayak out of the water, sitting on the river's edge with an aching back and right shoulder (I paddled with an injury which probably wasn't very smart), I contemplated my adventure.  I will not soon forget the wonderfully relaxing afternoon I spent floating down the river that I love.  So now I can check Section 6 of the Broad River off my list.  Which one shall be my next adventure and who wants to go with me? 

If you would like more information on paddling the Broad River, I would suggest visiting the Paddling section of the Rutherford County Outdoor Coalition's website at www.rutherfordoutdoor.org.  If you would like to see the river route, go to Google Earth and find the big green line that is the Broad River as it flows through Rutherford County.  I have posted several of these same photos to Panoramio that also give detailed descriptions of Section 6, from Coxe Road to Poors Ford Road.

Until next time, get outdoors and enjoy life.  You only live it once!

A Snake Tail

It's always funny to me, no matter how much I love them, how seeing a snake will almost always make me jump; sort of like getting an electrical shock.  Of course I'm always excited after I recover from the startling reality that I could have stepped on one of my favorite animals and likely caused it harm (or caused myself harm in the event it were a copperhead or rattlesnake).  Such an opportunity always causes me to stop and ponder the circumstances that allowed our paths to cross.

All species have a story that can be told, but only humans have the ability to communicate that story, at least in our own eyes.  The way the story is told most certainly is biased, depending on the relationship and interaction with whatever species the story is being told about.  For instance, someone may tell a story about the wonderful edible qualities of stinging nettle and how they love to eat stinging nettle as though they were collard greens or something.  Someone else may describe the utter horrors of falling into a patch of stinging nettle and the resulting burning and itching that would accompany such a mishap.  The same thing applies to snakes.  We can all recount snake experiences and they are almost always quite different, depending on the love/hate relationship the storyteller has with whatever snake they encountered.  Almost all of them, particularly if you are a southerner or if alcohol was involved, usually begin with, "Well there I was..." and then involve some type of detail of ones exploits in battling the beast for untold number of minutes that ultimately ends in the death of the serpent, not unlike a typical fantasy tale of the heroic knight versus the mighty fire-breathing dragon.  This story is not like that, but rather  what I hope will be a thought-provoking insight into the world of a snake, at least as I perceived it at the time of the encounter.

So, there I was, walking a long the trail at Buffalo Creek Park.  I just finished up doing some GPS work for the next phase of trail construction.  I was hot, thirsty, and on the edge of being exhausted from fighting with rhododendron and doghobble thickets that so frequently lined the streams that I was trying to map.  I was through for the day and on my way back to the truck when I happened to notice something laying on the side of the trail where I was soon to pass.

Eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

After my initial heart attack (a typical reaction) at seeing a snake, I immediately recognized it as a garter snake.  Quite possibly the biggest I have seen at Buffalo Creek Park, which I must say has a lot of really big garter snakes.  As a side note, the garter snakes that most people see are usually only about a foot or so long and those are usually kept as pets.  The biggest one I have ever seen was about 36 inches long and that one was laying under a sheet of tin on top of Chimney Rock Mountain (my good friend Steve O'Neil will remember that).  Anyway, this particular snake, I would have to say probably measured about 28 inches long, a good size garter snake to say the least.

A garter snake that large has lived for a pretty long time.  Typical life span is around 15 years, so that's pretty good for a typically small snake species.  Size is a product of age and nutrition.  With an adequate food supply and low number of predators there is lots of opportunity for growth.  Once a snake like this gets old, they tend to stop growing lengthwise and just get "fat and sassy," not unlike humans.

This garter snake, as you can see from the picture, picked himself out a nice little sunny spot to warm up which is what cold-blooded animals must do in order to carry out their biological functions.  In order to maximize warming surface, this snake had relaxed himself enough to get good and flat, thereby exposing as much skin to the sun as possible.

My first observation, aside from the fact that this snake was in the process of warming up, was that he had eaten very recently, evidenced by the slight bulge in the posterior end of the anterior third of the snake (back end of the front third, got it?).  This got me to wondering what he might have eaten.  Garter snakes eat a variety of things, including frogs, toads, salamanders, earthworms, slugs, lizards, and even small rodents.  Basically anything they can catch .  Garter snakes typically catch whatever they are going to eat as it is on the move, thus they usually grab it from behind.  They use their speed to catch up to their prey.  With strong teeth, they will grip their prey and gradually work it down.  Garter snakes are not constrictors so their prey is usually something that will not put up much of a fight and will be fairly easy to get down.

This snake was quite interested in me, as I walked by and got my camera into position for taking its picture.  Each movement I made stimulated tongue flicks and caused the snake to move its head in my direction.  I never experienced that type of behavior with garter snakes before.  Most lay quite still until you try to grab them and then they take off as quickly as they can.  Obviously this snake wasn't interested in me as a prey item, but it was certainly interested in whether or not I would do it harm.  A garter snake that has attained that much size can put up a considerable fight and I took this as a warning that it would not be wise to tick this snake off, because he had no intentions of leaving his nice little sunny spot.

Garter snakes are not what I call aggressive snakes.  Small ones are easy to catch and aside from emitting copious amounts of musk from their cloacal glands when picked up, they rarely if ever bite.  Large adults, while not necessarily aggressive, rarely give up ground initially, will bluff strike repeatedly if you get too close, and will bite the you-know-what out of you if you try to pick them up.  As a general rule, I don't pick up garter snakes without gloves.  I don't like my hands stinking all day and I don't like getting bit.  Garter snakes, when they bite, like to chew tiny holes into your fingers, hands, and wrists.  Their saliva is mildly neurotoxic (but non-lethal), aiding in digestion of their prey.  The result in a bite to humans is one that swells and bleeds profusely.  Initially, the pain is pretty intense, especially if they get you with their back fangs which are extra large and extra sharp.  That pain quickly dulls as the saliva acts almost like a numbing agent.  Some people do experience tingling and numbness at the bite site for hours after the incident.  I have not experienced this myself, but I try to avoid getting bitten at all costs, as this is stressful for all involved.  You have to understand, a snake, no matter what species it is, has no interest in me as a food item.  The only reason a snake has to bite me is to defend itself.  It is up to me to be sensible enough to avoid being bitten by not annoying the snake.

 Me being me, I couldn't let sleeping dogs lie, or sunning snakes either.  I poked its tail with a stick.  The result was as expected.  The garter snake immediately went into a defensive coil, struck at me, and repeatedly flicked its tongue, trying to further ascertain what this thing was that was disturbing its sunbathing session.  All I wanted was a better picture and I actually expected that there would be plenty of attitude in the process.  The snake did oblige by getting into a better position.  It was then that I noticed something odd about this particular snake.  Something was not right about one of its eyes.

Notice the odd look of the left eye.

Somehow or other, the left eye of this snake was injured.  My first inclination was that the eye scale didn't come off during it's last molt (shedding of skin).  That happens sometimes during shedding, that the scale covering the eye will get stuck and not come off with the rest of the old skin.  That didn't appear to be the case here.

Notice the right eye and how different it looks from the left eye in the previous photo.

Another look at the left eye.

So what would cause a garter snake to injure an eye?   The only thing I can say is that it happens.  Sometimes prey puts up a fight.  A garter snake this size is capable of catching small rodents.  Remember that it doesn't constrict it's prey but rather grabs them using speed.  This makes the risk of injury much greater, particularly if you are wrestling with something that has legs and teeth.  

I was totally in awe of this big garter snake.  I can only imagine what survival must be like for such a snake.  Garter snakes are the most numerous snakes in North America and have the greatest range of any snake species except for the Eurasian Viper, extending as far north as Alaska.  It shows how adaptable they are.  Garter snakes have been seen in all twelve months of the year in North Carolina so they can easily tolerate cold temperatures.  They are the most commonly seen snakes in suburban areas.  They don't require highly specialized habitat and their diet is not as limited as other larger snake species.  I've spent a lot of time watching garter snakes feed on earthworms, salamanders, and toads.  They are truly amazing creatures.

Finally, the snake had enough and beat a hasty retreat into a hole under some leaves.  While my encounter with this snake was not particularly long, the time spent was enough to ponder where all this snake has been and what has he been through.  I've always felt that in order to appreciate nature, you have to connect with it.  It is important to not necessarily understand nature, but to understand that we have no control of it, that all things play an integral part, and that our role is to take care of our natural resources. Those things living out there in the woods live to survive.  They don't exploit resources.  They don't know greed.  They don't know or associate with emotion, although they have an instinctive understanding of fear.  In the human world of excess and materialism, we could all learn some important lessons from the wild things living in our wild places.

Until next time!

An Exciting Spring

It appears that the final vestiges of winter have finally fallen away and the forests of Hickory Nut Gorge have finally started to come alive.  This spring is one of the most spectacular that I can recall in a long time.  In years past, I have seen trillium and bloodroot blooming in late February.  This was certainly not the case this year.  Instead, we are seeing early spring ephemerals blooming at the same time as the wildflowers that normally bloom this time of year.  The result is an amazing pallette of color that is utterly unbelievable. 

What has really stood out to me so far this year is the white and purple flowers and how well they have complimented each other.  I recently hiked in the Bat Cave Preserve and it was almost as though the entire forest floor was covered with something blooming. I have never seen such biodiversity at this time of year in Hickory Nut Gorge.  I really think that it has everything to do with the long, cold winter and the slow onset of spring which delayed some of the early bloomers. 

In addition to be colorful, it also seems that so many things are just really big this time.  I saw fire pinks in Chimney Rock State Park that were absolutely huge.  The flowers were over two inches across on one particular plant that I saw.  The Carolina rhododendron is also amazing this year.  Just ride up the road to the Ticket Plaza in Chimney Rock State Park and you'll see what I mean.

I thought I would share a few of my most recent wildflowers pics here on the blog, with some brief descriptions.

Purple phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) is a member of the Waterleaf Family.

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) grows in the rich coves of Bat Cave Preserve.

Crested dwarf iris (Iris cristata) is one of two dwarf iris blooming in the Gorge right now.

Carolina rhododendron (Rhododendron minus) is prolific in Hickory Nut Gorge.  Notice the spots on the topmost petal.  These are nectar guides that basically serve as a giant runway for insect pollinators.

Fire pink (Silene virginica) is one of my favorite spring wildflowers.

To see my entire spring wildflower photo collection, check out the link to my Flickr Album:

Spring Wildflower Album

Spring,O How Slowly Doth Thou Come!

We've been teased with a few warm days, interspersed with cold since the arrival of spring.  In a typical Hickory Nut Gorge spring we would have seen bloodroot and trillium up by the first week of March and other spring ephemerals here at the last week of March.  That is certainly not the case this year.

As I drive around different parts of the Gorge, I tend to drive-by botanize which basically means trying to identify plants from behind the steering wheel.  Up until a week and a half ago, I was seeing very little in the way of early blooming wildflowers.  It has just been so cold this winter that nothing has seemed quite ready to emerge, as if waiting for the definite arrival of spring and the ceasing of cold temperatures and frost which can really mess up tender flower buds.

Every year about this time, I try to make a point to get into Bat Cave Preserve to see the spring beauties (Claytonia caroliniana), which typically blanket the forest floor this time of year.  Most years I'm either too early or too late to catch them.  This year I got there just as they were starting (about a week late compared to normal springs), knowing that my chances would not be too good of seeing any by the time the next opportunity arrives.

Spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana)

I have never been fortunate enough to photograph spring beauties so I was very pleased that the opportunity presented itself this year.  Bat Cave Preserve is the only place that I have seen spring beauties in the Gorge so it's where I go.

As I hiked the trail in Bat Cave Preserve, I was pleased to see that spring was finally arriving, as nearly all of the sunny spots had something blooming.  Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) was quite prolific and yielded several good shots.  Bloodroot is named for the red color of the sap in the rhizome which has been historically used as a red dye.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Another spring wildflower that I've never had good opportunities to photograph, at least not here in the Gorge is hepatica or liverwort, as some people call it.  Acute-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) is named for its liver-shaped leaves.  This plant derives its name from the "Doctrine of Signatures" which was the practice of naming plants based by comparing them to human organs, under the often false assumption that a specific plant would cure specific ailments based on its shape (i.e. if the leaves are shaped like your liver, then it's good for hepatitis).  Actually, hepatica has poisonous alkaloids that can be quite harmful in sufficient quantities, as do most members of its plant family (Buttercup Family).  It does make quite a nice photo though as it's petals turn from a slight rose color to white.

Acute-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

Another shot of hepatica with last year's leaves still present.

And of course little sweet betsy trillium (Trillium cuneatum) was pretty much everywhere.  Something I have noticed this year is that the little sweet betsies are very dark, almost black in low light, and I have never known them to be as fragrant as they seem to be this year.  I would hypothesize that it has something to do with the weather.  Perhaps that's a study for another day.

Little sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum)

This trillium is a mutant.  It never flowers and always has at least three sets of cladophylls.

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) was blooming and I saw a few small violets, but everything else is still waiting patiently for winter to be over.  I did take some time to get some shots of some very healthy walking fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum) and shining clubmoss (Lycopodium lucidulum), both of which were in great places to photograph.

Walking fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum)

Shining clubmoss (Lycopodium lucidulum)

I have to give a huge shout out to The Nature Conservancy for the great job they do in taking care of Bat Cave Preserve.  I've been volunteering for TNC for a lot of years now as a steward for the preserve and it's only through the efforts of TNC's Stewardship Program that Bat Cave Preserve has remained as pristine as it has for all of these years.  If you've never been to Bat Cave Preserve, you need to take a guided hike and see what is perhaps the greatest wildflower destination in all of Hickory Nut Gorge.  For more information about Bat Cave Preserve and associated events, click on the link:  Bat Cave Preserve