Hiawassee Springtime

Apr 9-10, 2010

We drove up to Hiawassee on Friday afternoon, April 9, for the gathering of the Georgia Tech BSU alumni group. On April 10 we awoke to the above view of Lake Chatuge from the Ramada Inn in Hiawassee where we were meeting. The cherry blossoms at left were just at the edge of the patio behind the lodge.

The foliage was brilliant and green at the lake level, but if you check out top of the ridge across the lake, the leaves are not out there. So we were here just as spring was progressing up the mountainsides.

We had seen Ron and Linda Jones as we drove up yesterday and had immediately started catching up on each other. We got together for breakfast, and I think Linda and Brenda above are already planning where to go for lunch. We headed out for a walk, and found this spectacular pink dogwood was just out the front door.

Even the tiny flowers under our feet were celebrating as everything was springing to life. These are about a quarter inch across.

On the way to the garderns next door we found three exquisite trees filled with blossoms. We were even blessed by a yellow swallowtail butterfly who came by.

We and the Jones enjoyed a walk through the gardens. It was too early for the rhododendrons, but the azaleas and the jonquils were in full bloom.

Brenda with Ron and Linda in front of one of the lakeside azaleas above.

We saw lots of the sessile trilliums on our walk - one of the earliest flowers of the forest floor. They were old friends from our early spring walks at Bent Tree.

The jonquils were in full bloom, and Rod is always interested in small-game hunting on the blooms.

We thought it was too early for any rhododendrons, but we saw this brillant flash of color which does appear to be an early rhododendron.

Rod does get a little carried away with the small-game hunting!

The woods were dotted with different varieties of azaleas.

The abundant yellow jonquils were a delight - fresh and vivid in color.

Dogwood and redbud lined the walkways and parking areas.