Wilderness Warblers

CLAY and MACON

Standing Indian Mountain

5499′

(#39 and #40 of 100 North Carolina county highpoints)

Yay! A two-fer! The county line cuts right across the summit block of Standing Indian Mountain in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness.

This scenic 4.8 hike was especially welcome after our arduous Cherokee County adventure! (See “Rhodies and Red Ribbons“)

At the Deep Gap parking area we are greeted by early morning birdsong, in particular the melodious tones of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

The zoom lenses are too heavy and bulky to carry on a longer hike, so we take advantage of this brief opportunity to shoot this glamorous bird.

Also in the parking lot are some other hikers, both day-trippers like ourselves, and a few “through-hikers” who have just arrived from Georgia on their way to Maine on the Appalachian Trail.

This entire hike is SO pretty!

But what is hard to convey is HOW MANY WARBLERS we were hearing–and seeing! We ended up with nine different species: Ovenbird, Black and White, Hooded, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-throated, Canada, and Northern Parula.

Here’s a Canada Warbler from a previous year, just to show you how stunning these little birds are–when you are fortunate to actually catch a glimpse of them! Warblers are fairly small birds, they’re often up high in the trees, and they dart about continually while foraging, so they can be really difficult to see.

Even with their heavy backpacks, the through-hikers are passing us by, since we’re stopping so often to enjoy all the WILDERNESS WARBLERS!

But eventually we gain the summit of Standing Indian.

The view is spectacular!

And there’s even a benchmark! We haven’t seen one of these for a while.

Wonder. Wander. Repeat.