Date: 2003-07-12
From: Daleville, VA

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: few clouds

Hot,humid and buggy today. In the upper eightees. During the first gradual climb up Fullardt Knob we met up with a quiet, clean cut looking guy who was, suprisingly enough, thru-hiking. We thought we were the only ones left. But he'd started June 5th, exactly two months after us and nine days before we left the trail at Trout Creek. Erin later figured that in order for that to be, he had to average atleast 20 miles a day, everyday, from the very start. Quite impressive. He said he was going to try to get to Bryant Ridge Shelter, a giant triple decker shelter over thirty miles away. We planned to hike 1/3 that distance today.We all rested at Fullhardt Knob Shelter to catch some relief from the repressive heat. We all sat around quietly, snacking, sweating, and swatting bugs our of our faces. Erin pulled a large tick from her leg and not long after I removed a startlingly small deer tick from mine. We both stuck it to a piece of duct-tape and burnt it. And you know what? I got a heaping bucketful of sick giggling enjoyment out of it! Anyway...Before long Erin and I heard deep rythymic breathing and turned to see our new aqaintance spread out with his hands on his chest still gripping the wrapper to his granola bar. We packed up quietly and continued on. We never did get his name.On a relatively flat, grassy section of trail I saw Erin startle and step back quickly in a way that I've only witnessed when she ran into a bear in the Smokies. "Snake" she said, waving her hands like she always does when she's overwhelmed by something she doesn't like. "Big one."She pointed to a long, thick, exotic looking rope of reptile laying like a discarded piece of salami across the trail. It looked out of place in the Virginia woods. Like a constrictor snake that you see in the tropics. A boa or a python. Something that had escaped from the tank at the pet store, not birthed in the southeastern wilderness. We got a bit closer and noticed it had a very large triangular head. Besides it's tongue darting in and out, it looked almost dead. We stood back to contemplate what snake it was and how we were going to go about getting past it. (We have no experience with snakes so if we seem like a couple of ninny's than so be it.) After a few minutes it slowly made its way out of the path and up a steep rooty embankment.   We moved in quickly behind and noticed that it indeed had a rattle. Though it was much smaller than I'd envisioned on a rattlesnake, it probably only covered less than the last inch of its tail. Apparently we'd gotten to close and quicker than a blink lifted its tail and rattled. We both jumped and scurried down the trail about 20 yards. It was loud! Much louder than I'd thought it would be. Erin started hyperventilating and laughing at the same time. Our bodies were both given warm gushes of adrenaline, giving our flesh goosebumps and our hands, feet, and scalp that pins and needles feeling.   Now we had a new dimension added to our journey that we'd always KNOWN was there, but it never seemed real until we came face to face with it.Later on that afternoon, while things began to cool down, (relatively speaking ofcourse) we ran into an older gentleman with savvy lightweight gear hiking in the opposite direction. He asked us if we'd check up on an apparently confused old lady who was standing by the side of a road a while back"with what looked to be enough equipment for five people. None of it worth its weight if you ask me. Looked Wal-Mart" He said he'd offered her food and water but she refused.There was indeed an older lady standing by the side of a dirt road surrounded by trashbags full of gear and a large suitcase. I approached with caution."Are you alright?" I asked."I'm just waiting for a ride." She said, nervously shifting from foot to foot and brushing stringy strands of long peppery hair. "I hope he comes.""So you ARE expecting a ride?" Erin quipped. "Someonbe is supposed to come and get you?"Yeah" she said, "A man with a minivan asked if I could use his cell phone to call this other man for a ride. He wasn't there when I called. He was supposed to be there. But he wasn't there. Probably out hiking or somethin'. 2 hours later a cop pulls up." She laughs, "He must have called the cops....the asshole."She went on to explain that she had payed 50$ to get dropped here by a taxi and was supposed to spend a bunch of days here. But she has tcertain chemical sensitivities and the new tent that she bought, (and never tried out prior) contained some chemical that she was apparently sensitive to. By the time she crawled out of bed in the morning she was staggering and could barerly form complete sentences. This must have been when the man ran into her."I'm better now" she assured us. "I won't even get close to that tent." she nodded in the direction of a big green roll a ways away from the rest of her things. "I'll just wait for a ride. The cop said he'll come back in two hours. If noone comes to get me. I can ride with him." With that we assumed everything would be alright and left her there. I wonder if she ever got a ride or slowly devoured by legions of fire ants standing there in the hot Virgina sun?After we stopped a Curry creek, a nice deep creek to let our feet cool off. I dangled my feet in the water and before long a school of minnows showed up and started eating the dead skin between my toes and on the heel of my foot. At first there were just a few, giving small cautious bites, but before long the water was boiling with tiny writhing fishes getting there feed on. It tickled like hell.The rest of the afternoon was leisurely and quiet. We set up the tent inside the shelter once more and that was that for tonight. As for the rattlesnake, it makes me happy to be in an enclose space instead of sleeping bag on a platform wide open for any cold blooded reptile to quietly slither into to find warmth for the night.