Hey Hey! Day 184 of Vanlife! Back with a few more hikes before Rocky Mountain National Park! Including an old firewatch tower, Skinny Dip Falls, and a great lookout point. I’m learning that the Appalachia is full of amazing mountain views! I had the watch tower to myself, and with the facilities having graffiti and being empty, it gave off some really cool urban jungle vibes! The falls were quick and easy and looked like it would be a decent swimming hole in the summer. It wasn’t quite warm enough for skinny dipping. Finally, the lookout was probably the steepest elevation gain in a short time I have done. Up and up and up!











The plant focus has got to be the “Jack in the Pulpit” (Arisaema triphyllum). It’s a really cool flower I have seen all over Appalachia in ones or twos, and they are just so cool to look at. They have a leaf-like cover called a spathe; inside the flower is a club-like spike called the spadix. This flower blooms in the spring and will actually grow berries in the late summer. It also changes gender year to year depending on environmental conditions, with younger plants typically being male and older plants typically being female. They are poisonous if eaten raw, but indigenous people used to boil them or prepare them in a way to remove the toxicity.



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