May 22

Blackwater Falls 9:00 a.m. Raining. The main group of hikers headed out with Boyd leading to hike one of the trails in the park. Laura, Judy, Jackie, and I (Elaine) jumped in Laura's Element and drove over to Dolly Sods to check out the area. We hiked about a 2+ mile trail called Wilderness Trail down through the woods. It was very wet and still raining. Crossed a couple of small streams. Coming back up was just as muddy as going down.

We drove further to the Northern Loop Trail, which went on a boardwalk through a bog, and then reached the Bear Rocks Trail. By this time fog was closing in, so we didn't see any of the great vistas. Lots of wildflowers blooming along the way: Bluets, Violets, Fringed Polygala, Azalea bushes, Trillium, etc.

We were going to drive further to try a different way out, but the road was blocked by big boulders. About 10 miles of the road to the top was gravel and full of potholes.

We made it back to the picnic area and ate our lunches standing on the road, as the tables were very wet. Then we headed back to Blackwater Lodge, about a 40 mile round trip altogether.

The main group of hikers were already back from their afternoon hike.

Tonight 33 of us are going to dinner at The Sawmill Restaurant, which is just outside the park boundaries. We had a very nice dinner(real mashed potatoes).

Cards and games going on in the game room tonight.

More from Blackwater Falls tomorrow...

John and Elaine