It was 78' and sunny at the Whiteoaks Sinks in the Smoky Mountains. A trail that is kind of a secret, since it doesn't actually exist on any GSMNP map. I was very surprised that the Whiteoaks Sinks that is so hidden, was so busy.
About two years ago, Stone and I stumbled upon it by accident. Then a 85 year old man lead us out, seeing that it was getting dark, to dark to follow the trail back the way we came. The elderly man was there with his wife, son and family. Turns out the son was a physician who also lives in Knoxville. They kindly drove us to our car about three miles away. Since then we have wondered how to get to that parking lot that would lead you to the sinks, making it about a four mile hike, verses an eight mile hike as we did previously.
We began our hike on the Schoolhouse Gap Trail.
Beaked Violet
Yellow Trillium
Dog Hobble
Wild Geranium
Squawroot
White Trillium
A blanket of Blue Phlox greeted us as we entered the Basin floor at Whiteoak Sinks.
Blue Phlox
My Lunch
Yellow Trillium
Shooting Star
Crested Dwarf Iris
We took a break and rested the camera on a tree that had fallen across the trail for this photo op. That old fallen down tree came in handy.
Yellow Lady Slipper
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