I am “on the trail again” as songster Jim Stoltz would say seeing his “long lost friends,” the wildflowers. (Back on the Trail Again -Jim Stoltz)
I hiked the Porters Creek Trail to Fern Falls this week and found about a dozen blooming white fringed phacelia and one star chickweed 100 feet from the long foot log bridge on the trail.
Star chickweed
Porters Creek Trail is rated moderate for hikers with the first mile an old gravel road following along the banks of Porters Creek.
Then about one mile from the trailhead, after crossing over a footbridge where I found the wildflowers, there is a fork in the road. The spur trail on the right leads to the historic John Messe farm site, including a cantilevered barn that was built by John Whaley around 1875.
The spur trail to the left takes hikers to Fern Branch Falls.
As Sandra Clark said, “To heck with the groundhog. You know it’s spring when Tom Harrington goes hiking!”
