We woke up before 7 because of the heat. This is not good that it’s already hot so early. I went to get more water and Gnome was already packed up. He told me Grandma Shorty and Plod Along had just passed us and had run into the biggest copperhead they had ever seen. Plod Along was still shaking from the experience when Gnome had seen them. We went back up the trail to see if we could find the snake, but it was already gone. Damn our luck.
As soon as we climbed out of camp up to the ridge, Bunny was able to get a phone signal to arrange for a shuttle to pick us up at 12:30. Since that was settled, we needed to make some good time down to the James River for our pickup. I led the way moving pretty fast with everyone on my tail. I rounded a switchback and saw something black moving in the trail. I slammed on the brakes just in time to keep from stepping on a diamondback rattlesnake. Bunny pushed me a bit to get me moving. I couldn’t move; I was in the middle of at least 40 snakes. They were everywhere I looked. 5 in front of me, at least 10 to each side, 3 hanging in the trees above me, and one at my feet.
Once my adrenaline surge stopped, I realized, to my relief, the only one that was real was the one at my feet. We backed up, took pictures, and then tried to clear the trail. I wanted to just scare him off the trail but didn’t want him to know it was me—I started tossing small rocks. Fortunately, the snake just thought this was an annoyance and decided to move off the trail. We could safely pass him once he was a foot off of the trail and was stretched out. As long as he wasn’t coiled up, I felt safe.
To recap, a copperhead and rattlesnake have both been sighted today. Check the rattlesnake off of my list, forever. The rest of the day I was a bit tense. I was seeing snakes everywhere. Not 20 minutes later, we ran across another real snake in the trail. Only this time, it was a good snake. A black snake almost 6 feet long that likes to eat poisonous snakes. I felt safe again.
The green tunnel was beginning to take form. We passed a rhododendron dense stretch of trail. Although they are beautiful, they are not nearly as fragrant as the wild azaleas are. In order for us to make our shuttle pickup time, we would have to walk almost 2.5 mph. Damn the snakes, full steam ahead.
The only living thing we saw in the trail until we got to the James River was a salamander. He was acting a bit dazed even though it was plenty warm out. The final mile and a half of trail runs parallel to the river where we could catch glimpses of the longest footbridge we encounter on the entire trail—over 1000’ in length.
We arrived at the shuttle at 12:29. I honestly believe she would have left us if we had been one minute late. Grandma Shorty and Plod Along were sharing the shuttle to Stanimals with us.
The rest of the day was sweltering. We packed in a meal, laundry, and resupply in the afternoon so we could hit the trail again in the morning. Stanimals was nice, but not too communicative with us. We did appreciate the AC and massage chair. Stickers and Lady Bug showed up later in the day, but Patches never did. We assumed that she hitched a ride into town and stayed at the free pavilion for hikers.
EFG
Same area that I nearly stepped on a rattler in the trail, with Marcia right behind me. This one was not at all interested in moving. So we just walked on by, since it was not coiled. Probably sleeping. I’ve had 6 rattlesnake sightings on the trail including this one: One near Dragon’s Tooth, 2 in New Jersey, and 2 on Jug End in Massachusetts. There are no rattlers in Maine…