Porter's Creek Trail, GSMNP

On my recent trip to the Smokies, I hiked a less visited trail, the Porter's Creek Trail, which is situated at the very end of the Greenbrier section of the park. Famous for its wildflowers in spring, I knew I had missed them as it was too late in the season for them to still be blooming. Not letting that deter me, off I went with my walking stick and camera in hand. The trail is about three miles round trip and is a very easy hike. A road goes about three quarters of a mile in where a trail finally takes over for the balance of the hike. The elevation gain is only about 400 feet. At the end of the trail there were large boulders with the Roaring Fork River rushing over. There's also a small waterfall on the other side of the boulders, but I didn't trust the log bridge to venture over.

This old twisted fir tree was growing next to the trail. You know how I love odd looking trees. And normal looking trees as well. OK, just trees in general.

These long stemmed white flowers were blooming in clusters in many areas of the park where moistured lingered. I first encountered them on the Porter's Creek Trail. I think they are White Bog Orchid. If you know otherwise, please share.

Diana Fritillary Butterflies were everywhere along the trail and throughout the park. But in this particular area of Porter's Creek, there were six or seven butterflies in a cluster. It was beautiful to watch them.

I don't know if you can see in these images, but they have one little red spot on each side of their wings.

I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I enjoyed taking it. It's been a long time since I've hiked. It was fun just to see how far I could get. In this case, I walked the whole trail which was a great feeling of accomplishment.

Have a fantastic Memorial Day. In remembrance of all of those who have fought and are fighting still for our freedom, I dedicate this post to you. ENJOY!