Flame Azaleas and Red Rubies….Of the Appalachian Trail..

After crossing the Georgia/ North Carolina state line on June 4th I had already hiked
76 miles of my 3 month 800 mile journey, Rhododendrons and Azaleas were in full bloom,
especially in the higher elevations.

The Flame Azalea, is a brightly colored Rhododendron actually,
(Rhododendron calendulaceum) The range in color was spectacular, going
from orange, red to yellow fading to a salmon, salmon to peach, and pink, glorious color variations.
I had read about the flame Azalea and was excited about finding some and photographing them, but once again, I just couldn’t get over how beautiful they were.

First collected by A. Michaux in 1795 from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina,
R. calendulaceum is a naturally occurring tetraploid, having twice the number of chromosomes in comparison to the other native species.

Because of this fact, it does not hybridize easily with most of the other natives, and even if a first generation cross is made, the resulting hybrids are often sterile.

Bly Gap provided a great camp site with a lovely stream to take water.
Northbound four miles ahead was Chunky Gal Trail, exactly 80.3 miles from
Springer Mountain Georgia and the first sign of Rubies, the geology was perfect in the higher elevations, keep in mind it’s hard to get to if your not hiking the AT, and this place is a secret.
If you ever find yourself hiking the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina and just happen to cross Chunky Gal Trail, you just might give it a look, I found a 23 ct. Ruby and a 99.5 ct. Ruby.

Fifteen more miles from Chunky Gal I set camp on June 6th at Betty Creek Gap in the pouring rain, made my first video, recorded me singing my first song, Oh Black Betty, and started the whole chain of videos from that time forward.

Setting up my tent in the pouring rain was not a good idea, and at Betty Gap I vowed to keep hiking if it’s raining and setup a camp after it stops. I fell short of that goal a few more times,
but often forced myself to hike on many other times.

The next day I hiked to Winding Stare Gap, roads always went though at the gaps. I
stood at the roadside of US. 64 and hitchhiked a ride to Franklin North Carolina for a resupply,
I had hiked 107.7 miles so far and was taking three days off trail to do some serious prospecting for Ruby’s, Emeralds and Blue Safire, Franklin NC is the “Gemstone Capital of the World”…so they say……