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DiamondDoug
11-02-2005, 11:06
I don't know if this is the right place to post this or not, but here I am. :confused:

Two of the most beautiful spots I passed on my hike were just north of Big Bald in North Carolina and on the slope of Whitetop north of Damascus. What made these two areas so gorgeous for me was the trail passing through a bed of white fringed phacelia. There the path ran a brown stripe through a hillside covered with snowlike flowers.

Every year when I go back to Trail Days I drive up Whitetop and park in the lot where the trail crosses the road near the summit. I hike south towards Buzzard Rock, past the spring and into the woods and stop to visit with the phacelia. Some folks talk about energy vortexes in the red rocks around Sedona; for me there is a strength and energy that I absorb walking along this stretch of the trail with the phacelia in bloom.

I've tried to take picture - I've shot three entire rolls of film there, but I can't capture the image as well as I'd like. I've taken my tripod and used slow speeds to capture as much depth of field as I can. I just can't do it justice.

There was an ATC poster of the trail passing through a bed of phacelia, I think from the area near Big Bald. I'm not certain, but it may have been the 50th anniversary poster. When I spent a day volunteering at the ATC office in Harper's Ferry during my hike I asked if there were any copies left for sale, but we couldn't find one. There used to be one hanging at MRO in Damscus, but when I tried to buy it from them last year it was gone.

Does anyone have one of these posters rolled up in a tube in a closet somewhere? Would you be willing to part with? I'll pay. :D It would mean a lot to me. Thnaks.

Onward. Furthur!
-<>-Doug
GAME2k

MacGyver2005
11-02-2005, 12:29
If nothing else you could get someone with it to go to Kinkos (or so other copy shop) and get a high resolution copy of it put on CD. Send it to me and I will get you a poster made out of it. I am currently trying to get this done for another hobby of mine with a very rare poster.

Regards,
-MacGyver
GA-->ME

Moxie00
11-02-2005, 21:34
So that white stuff was flowers. I was in a rush and I thought it was notes from his little book that Diamond Doug left along the trail for me.

Cookerhiker
11-04-2005, 13:21
Another phacelia lover! :) I remember hiking the southern section of Shenandoah National Park in May, 1988 and seeing the forest floor festooned in white. What are these delicate little white flowers? I found out they were phacelia and since then, I try to time trips to SNP to coincide with their blooming. I don't know what happened in 2004, the year of the cicadas - several thruhikers I talked to didn't recall seeing them even though they passed through the SNP areas in prime time. Of course, May was unseasonably hot last year.

My phacelia photos are on old 35 mm slides which I'll eventually convert to JPG. One features a field of phacelia with a bear rumbling off in the distance - my only "official" bear-on-the-Trail sighting in my AT section hiking.

DiamondDoug
06-08-2006, 12:28
bump. Still looking.

DiamondDoug
06-14-2007, 15:17
Hey, almost a year to a day and time for a bump. I'm still looking for this. Good thing I'm patient, huh?

veteran
06-14-2007, 23:46
A few links.

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Footpath-through-White-Fringed-Phacelia-Great-Smoky-Mountains-National-Park-Tennessee-USA-Posters_i1696564_.htm

http://www.painetworks.com/previews/he/he1602.html

http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np-image.grsm6806.html

http://www.terragalleria.com/images/np-hardwoods/grsm6807.jpeg

http://www.terragalleria.com/images/np-hardwoods/grsm6806.jpeg

emerald
08-06-2007, 14:08
There was an ATC calendar years ago that included an image of the A.T. passing through a large patch of phacelia. When the year was over, I made an 8X10 of that image, framed it and put it on my wall.

:-? Might be the same image and what later led to the poster you mentioned.

DiamondDoug
01-05-2012, 20:46
Besides being patient, I am persistent.

rocketsocks
01-05-2012, 21:38
All good things come to those who wait.I honestly believe this,and have seen this time and time again,in my life and others.You'll have it...............when you need it the most,and "Whooop" there it is.

Chaco Taco
01-06-2012, 22:54
Have you contacted the ATC? Start there. You can walk in the office and it isn't that far from Asheville.

RWheeler
01-06-2012, 23:04
I'll be sure to keep an eye out for this stretch when I thru-hike this year. I'll also be sure to try to capture it the best I can. If I can get a good high-res photo, I'll be sure to send it your way.