With persistent bad weather, we headed toward Atlanta and stopped in Morgan Co. at Hard Labor Creek State Park, because there should be R. flammeum somewhere here. Hard Labor Creek is a small stream with many side creeks that have often burrowed deep into the slopes of the rolling landscape, forming small bluffs and gorge-like formations. An ideal terrain for azaleas! But unfortunately we found only R. canescens. Despite two days of intensive searching, we were unable to find anything but the abundant and mostly in bloom R. canescens. The first day we hiked along Brantley Nature Trail that eventually became Beaverpond Trail. The following day we sought out Studdard Cemetery, as there were gulleys deeply cut into the hillside to the north that looked promising. Since there were no trails we intended to explore this area crosscountry. We climbed in and out of the small ravines countless times, searching everything, but to no avail, only R. canescens as far as the eye could see. Thereby many of the plants were very old and almost tree-like, an imposing sight.
