Date: 2012-06-14
From: Wrong Way side trail

To: Blackrock Mountain summit
Miles today: 18.8

I got up really early and investigated how best to handle the first camera being shipped to Tahoe. Since Amazon is so fast, it had already shipped out. However, since nobody is home, it will just sit outside until I get back. I put in a refusal of delivery request and am going to leave it at that. Fingers crossed. I took a little walk and got back as PMo was waking up/packing up. She has to be one of the fastest packers out there. I hiked out a bit later leaving Semplesee to tend to our campsite of questionable legality/safety.He caught me while I was changing my shirt, less than an hour later. I was already soaking it was so hot. We hiked up to Bears Den Mountain and took a moment to sit on the old tractor chairs that were repurposed as hilltop seating. We headed back down the mountain and found some Trail Magic Water. While passing the road, I checked my email and found one from my storage unit. My credit card on file had expired and they were going to sell my things in 60 days. Not messing around, those guys. I didn't have any voice data so I filed this away as something else to deal with in the next two months.Semplesee and I caught up to PMo and joined her for lunch at one of the many Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks we were passing. It is an odd feeling to know that the road takes the path of the original trail and all of the cars get to see the better views while we hike down in the ditch. EZnomad crossed the road and joined us and I shared my avocado, tapatio, cheese, salami, and cracker ensemble with the group. I also shared some figs. I do love figs. I also love minivans and we talked about those too.PMo and I got cruising but I found some cell service and called my storage company. They told me what limited information they could look up on their system and gave me a new number to call. As it turned out, the credit card on file was actually fine, they had just entered the wrong year into their system for expiration. I told the woman that would be a hilarious story if they sold my stuff based on their own mistake. She chuckled and mentioned it wouldn't be the first time. I gasped and just like that my service had disappeared, no bars. I got to hiking again and came across a very irritated rattlesnake. In all of my adventures, I had never seen one before. And this one was loud and I took that to also mean angry. I tossed a few rocks and sticks the way of the snake but it didn't move off the trail and only became more angry. Since Semplesee and EZnomad were coming down behind me, I couldn't leave it in this condition. So I threw some more rocks. No dice. I walked around the snake a good deal off the trail and passed it. I threw even more rocks, bigger ones too. I finally gave up and waited it out, figuring that Semplesee and EZnomad would be along soon.Next thing I know, Sicilian Gypsy came bounding down the trail. She has super long legs and is always cruising at top speed. She was near the snake almost as fast as I could scream out to her to stop. RATTLESNA was about all I could muster before she jumped off the trail hearing the sound of the rattle over my yelling.She left a note on her side of the snake for other NOBOs and we figured that we could warn any southbound hikers. Semplesee came up from behind and he and Gypsy both crossed through the brush to meet me up ahead of the snake. We hiked on together as a trio. And we hiked fast. 3.5 mph fast. And for a lot of miles up a bunch of rolling hills. Gypsy was just doing her thing and Semplesee and I just looked at each other like, "whoa!" It was nice to hitch ourselves to the train but I didn't really see anything at that speed.We got to Blackrock Hut and met back up with PMo. We all cooked dinner together but it was packed and not my style for the night. PMo, Semplesee, and I rolled on after dinner and headed up to the summit of Blackrock. The sun was setting into soft peaches and softer blues contrasting sharply with the jagged summit pile of cubic boulders.There wasn't really anywhere to camp but we found a side trail to secret mound hosting a grove of trees perfect for hammocks. We weren't the first ones to camp here as there was a fire pit but it certainly wasn't a legitimate campsite. We built a fire and lived it up, drinking the last of our wine. I conked out hard at the fire, falling asleep sitting up with my headlamp on. PMo and Semplesee apparently made fun of me for hours until I got myself up and into my hammock for the night without saying a word.