Date: 2017-06-18
From: VA 812, USFS 36

To: Long Mountain Wayside, US 60
Miles today: 20.7

Today was such a mixture of things that it's hard to know where to start.  We started hiking at 6:00 AM so we could get an extra hour hiking in the coolest part of the morning.  We passed several interesting historical markers, saw some interesting plants, ate our first substantial amount of blackberries, and got rained on for about an hour. Beast of the day: copperhead snake (see photo).  I was walking along a narrow part of the trail when suddenly I heard a loud startled movement.  I turned and saw a snake newly coiled.  It wasn't moving or flicking its tongue, so I zoomed my phone camera to get its picture.  Lizzie, our snake lover, later identified it as a copperhead.  It was quite beautiful.  I'm glad I didn't know what it was at the time - it was scary enough just hearing its startled movement.Wildflower of the day: wild rose.  On our long ascent up Bluff Mountain we saw lots of wild roses, most of them humming with bee activity.  They're a favorite of mine from my childhood in Maine.  It was wonderful to see them growing in profusion.Ottie Cline Powell memorial: At the top of Bluff Mountain there was a monument to a four-year-old boy who died atop the mountain in November of 1880.  A teacher at his school sent several students out to hunt for wood for the stove.  Ottie wandered off and could not be found despite great community efforts.  His body was discovered in April of the following spring atop the mountain, seven miles from the school.  When I Googled his name lots of articles came up, causing me to conclude that he was pretty famous for a dead four-year-old.  Lizzie thought that should be the title of today's entry.Brown Creek Community: Near the end of today's hike we passed through an area that had been settled by emancipated slaves but abandoned around 1900.  The historical marker said to look for signs of the abandoned community for 1.4 miles, but I didn't see any signs that the place had ever been settled. The hill was so steep in this area that I could hardly imagine building there.  Culinary highlight of the day: Blackberries and blueberries!  On the way up Bluff Mountain we came upon lots of blackberry bushes with ripe berries (see photo).  Bill, Arlene, and I stopped to eat lots of them.  A little farther along I came upon a blueberry bush with a handful of ripe berries.  I ate them.  Our tents are set up in a grassy area between the parking lot and the road.  We figure we're not supposed to camp here, but there's no sign prohibiting it.  My tent was thoroughly mud-spattered and drenched from several days of rain.  I hope to get it dried out tonight.  My pack is starting to smell really bad from being set down on wet rocks, in mud, etc.  My hiking shoes are holding up pretty well after more than 900 miles, but they smell disgusting. While some of those miles were pre-hiked, this week we passed the 800 mile mark for the hike this spring. Tomorrow we have a short day - 8.5 miles.  We're going to leave at 6:00 again. I hope to finish before the rain starts in the afternoon and hitch a ride into town to get ice cream.  I'm going to try out my other low pair of hiking shoes since it's a short day.