If you go on the Art Loeb Trail toward Pilot Mountain right now, and I mean now, you'll see a spectacular display of pinkshell azaleas. These native bushes have bright pink flowers which open before their leaves come out.

These pinkshells are considered rare because they're native to only ten mountain counties in Western North Carolina. But when you go there at the right time, they're not rare at all. Everywhere I turned as I climbed from Gloucester Gap, I saw pink, pink and more pink. I met Elizabeth and Heinz Feil, serious hikers and nature lovers, who were hosting family  members from overseas. They took them up the mountain to show them what was special about the North Carolina mountains.

The view from Pilot Mountain is awesome - from Mt. Hardy and further into Nantahala National Forest on one side to Mt. Pisgah and Looking Glass Rock on the other. But that view can be enjoyed anytime. Now is the time to see the pinkshells.