Pictures from the Appalachian Trail

My friend Fred and I hiked the Springer Mountain approach to the Appalachian Trail this last weekend... what a beautiful place.
 

We camped one night on top of the mountain, then hiked down again via a different route. Along the way I was impressed by how different the plants were from those in Florida. There were very few I could nail down definitively. Some were familiar, like oaks, hickories and poison ivy... but others were foreign to me.

Those look like violets, but the leaves are very tough and glossy. Maybe it's a variety I haven't encountered before. I also hadn't seen ferns like these:

 

Or a bug like this:

This plant looks like it came from Mars:

Trilateral symmetry! War of the Worlds! And speaking of terrifying creatures, I had never in my life seen a tree like this:

 

Yikes. 

One plant I was very pleased to see (and proud of myself for recognizing) was an American Ginseng:

The leaves had wilted away, but the fruit was a dead giveaway. I'm not sure how I knew what it was, but I did. I saw this guy and went "ginseng," then thought... how the heck did I know that? I must have seen an illustration at some point.

I don't think I'll ever hike the entire trail, but this was a great trip. If you ever get a chance to go to Springer Mountain, especially with a knowledgeable hiker like my friend Fred... take it. You gotta get out of the garden every once in a while.