They're next to the road, spread throughout the woods, and on the other side of the river. Like other orchids, the pink lady's slipper's exotic structure is designed to attract certain pollinators. It appears that at one time or another almost every plant has been used for medicinal purposes, and the lady's slipper is no exception. Native Americans made a tea from its dried leaves as a cure for insomnia, and physicians, up until the 1930s, used its roots as a nerve medication. Don't, however, be tempted to touch the lady's slipper.
Some people report having experienced a mild to severe skin inflammation after doing so.
At about the same time of year the pink lady's slippers are in bloom, the vanilla-sweet smell of autumn olive, planted in the wildlife clearing at 2.2 miles, can be almost overpowering just before you ford the river for the fourth time. You'll ford it again at 2.5 miles, and a sixth time at 2.8 miles. The seventh crossing, at 2.9 miles, is made a little more interesting as the trail crosses a small island that formed after the great flood of 1985. There are also a number of side streams you'll cross in order to continue to the eighth ford at 3.1 miles. The roadway continues straight, but your route makes an abrupt turn to the left to ford the river for the final time at 4 miles.