Today's hike would lead me to the very southeast corner out of the park near Cataloochee. The drive out of Cherokee along the Blue Ridge Parkway was most pleasant. The various overlooks offered exceptional views to the north and south, and the roadsides were occasionally lined with flame azalea and mountain laurel. It was also neat to checkout other mountain towns along the state highways, since I'm so used to the scene around Gatlinburg.
Based upon my research, I had high expectations for this hike, perhaps making my most anticipated of the year. I would take the Cataloochee Divide trail from the gravel road at Cove Creek Gap all the way out to Hemphill Bald. Right out of the gate, wildflowers were doing their thing. Flame azalea, spiderwort, bowman's root, fire pink, and goat's beard abound. What's so great about the divide trail is that it follows the ridgeline the majority of the time, so you're constantly feeling the breeze rising up from either Cataloochee to the north or Maggie Valley to the south. This was much appreciated since it kept the bugs away and battled the heat. Since the trail toes the park boundary the entire time, one walks beside an old fence the separates the trail from other trails and roads outside the park.
A little over a mile in, I stumbled upon a hillside clearing that dropped a few hundred feet away from the park border. An opening in the fence allowed me an entrance into a field of grasses, oxe-eye daisies, fire pink, yellow ragwort, woodland bluets, yarrow, mountain laurel, and flame azalea. Looking directly across the clearing one saw Purchase Knob, and through the trees in another direction out to the Pisgah National Forest. A small wooden shack with a bench sat atop the clearing with a sign that read "Taylor's Turnaround." Not a bad place to stop and take a break.