07-05-24
07-14-24
For
the past 3 years I have noticed three places on Tiger Mountain where I
see lots of saprophytes from mid June to late July. Wildflowers seem to
be a few weeks early this year so I took a hike around this loop on
July 5th. Some Indian pipe was up but mostly at the first and lowest
spot. I did see a few fresh candysticks at the last stop along with
some pinesaps and wintergreens. It was a hot day and I spent so much
time looking for saprophytes I walked the road back to my car in mid
80F heat. On the second trip I started even earlier. I was on my way at
6:36 am. I spent 65 minutes at the last stop and did a short detour on
the plateau to get up to 7 miles for the day. My loop was nearly the
same on both trips.
I started at High Point East on the High Point Trail. I turned onto the Lingering Trail to get to my first stop. On 7-05, several patches of Indian Pipe were just breaking through the ground. Two clumps were about half normal height and growing. On my second visit there were half a dozen patches at or near full size. I was just a few days short of peak in my estimation. Since they were all very near each other on either side of the trail it did not take long to get photos. Next, I headed to the end of the Lingering Trail and turned onto the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). I followed this to just beyond Ruth's Cove. This allowed me to get up to 7 miles and 1600' of gain. It also took be past the second Indian pipe site. It is just a few minutes before reaching Ruth's Cove. These were barely above ground on 7-05. On 7-14 one clump was nearly at peak and the others were still a week or more away. There was not much to photograph here.
The final site is at between 1340' and 1450'. The second site is at about 1450' and it was barely getting started. That did not give me much hope for the last stop. I headed down the TMT and crossed Murat's Bridge. The TMT climbs to the K3 trail junction then crosses two bridges. It climbs a little more as it traverses the north side of Tiger Mountain. Just before the highest spot is a step bare slope. There is almost no ground cover. That is the spot. I found several candysticks. They were now past prime. They still looked good but not as bright and red as nine days earlier. Photos comparing the two trips help show how they age quickly. I also found more pinesaps and wintergreens. The pinesaps were just getting started on 7-05. Now they were close to peak. I found small patches in places on the slope. Several groups of hikers and runners went by without seeing me. As I said, I spent over one hour on this slope. I had time to try macro photos with my cell phone. It is not great but much better at it than I expected. Focus stacking works much better but that was not an option. I did get some close up shots that were in pretty good focus.
I dropped down to the trail and a minute later I found a patch of Indian pipe right next to the trail. That was it. Now I just had a few miles of downhill to the main parking lot at High Point West with the short plateau detour. I met a hiker at the start of the Connector Trail and we hiked back to the gate together. she went up the Cable Line and down the West Tiger 3 Trail. Now I had that last half mile of road to get back to my car. It was in the low 80s but there was a little shade on the side of the road which helped. I arrived back at my car at 10:41 am. The parking lot and both sides of the road at High Point West were packed. I saw mostly runners on my route. I did not see the hundreds of people hiking much more popular trails. I did see a pretty good supply of saprophytes.
I am putting all my photos in one feature rather than separate trip reports. The photos are in sequence by time.. Since this is such a short drive for me, I will try to continue getting in a saprophyte hike on Tiger each year to come. They are fascinating plants.
Click on thumbnails to get
larger pictures.
Trips - 2024
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I started at High Point East on the High Point Trail. I turned onto the Lingering Trail to get to my first stop. On 7-05, several patches of Indian Pipe were just breaking through the ground. Two clumps were about half normal height and growing. On my second visit there were half a dozen patches at or near full size. I was just a few days short of peak in my estimation. Since they were all very near each other on either side of the trail it did not take long to get photos. Next, I headed to the end of the Lingering Trail and turned onto the Tiger Mountain Trail (TMT). I followed this to just beyond Ruth's Cove. This allowed me to get up to 7 miles and 1600' of gain. It also took be past the second Indian pipe site. It is just a few minutes before reaching Ruth's Cove. These were barely above ground on 7-05. On 7-14 one clump was nearly at peak and the others were still a week or more away. There was not much to photograph here.
The final site is at between 1340' and 1450'. The second site is at about 1450' and it was barely getting started. That did not give me much hope for the last stop. I headed down the TMT and crossed Murat's Bridge. The TMT climbs to the K3 trail junction then crosses two bridges. It climbs a little more as it traverses the north side of Tiger Mountain. Just before the highest spot is a step bare slope. There is almost no ground cover. That is the spot. I found several candysticks. They were now past prime. They still looked good but not as bright and red as nine days earlier. Photos comparing the two trips help show how they age quickly. I also found more pinesaps and wintergreens. The pinesaps were just getting started on 7-05. Now they were close to peak. I found small patches in places on the slope. Several groups of hikers and runners went by without seeing me. As I said, I spent over one hour on this slope. I had time to try macro photos with my cell phone. It is not great but much better at it than I expected. Focus stacking works much better but that was not an option. I did get some close up shots that were in pretty good focus.
I dropped down to the trail and a minute later I found a patch of Indian pipe right next to the trail. That was it. Now I just had a few miles of downhill to the main parking lot at High Point West with the short plateau detour. I met a hiker at the start of the Connector Trail and we hiked back to the gate together. she went up the Cable Line and down the West Tiger 3 Trail. Now I had that last half mile of road to get back to my car. It was in the low 80s but there was a little shade on the side of the road which helped. I arrived back at my car at 10:41 am. The parking lot and both sides of the road at High Point West were packed. I saw mostly runners on my route. I did not see the hundreds of people hiking much more popular trails. I did see a pretty good supply of saprophytes.
I am putting all my photos in one feature rather than separate trip reports. The photos are in sequence by time.. Since this is such a short drive for me, I will try to continue getting in a saprophyte hike on Tiger each year to come. They are fascinating plants.
 First Indian Pipes |
 Just Coming Up |
 A Closer Look |
 A Big Dense Bunch |
 Moss & Saprophytes |
 Very White |
 Second Site |
 Very Small |
 First Wintergreen |
 First Candystick |
 Small Pinesap |
 Twin Pinesaps |
 Very Colorful |
 Bright White & Red |
 Closer Look |
 Even Closer |
 Another Candystick |
 Wintergreen |
 Day 2, Site 1 |
 Small But Growing |
 Tall & Skinny |
 A Different Clump |
 Site 2, Small Pipes |
 Site 3, Pinesap |
 Close Up |
 Macro |
 Candystick Have Changed |
 Top Is Still White |
 Tall Pinesap |
 Wintergreen Close Up |
 Lit Up Wintergreen |
 Less Dark Candystick |
 Close Up "Berries" |
 Straight Pinesap |
 Straightening Pinesap |
 Another Wintergreen |
 Coralroot |
 Last Indian Pipe |
Trips - 2024
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