We took advantage of the unseasonably cool temperatures Saturday (it was in the upper 50s in Virginia Saturday morning!) to take Tigger for a birthday hike on the AT. We went back to where we left off when we hiked just north of Damascus in the middle of May and did another 11.4 miles north from there.
First, I have to note that there is a radio station in southwest Virginia, 100.5, that plays NOTHING but Collin Raye's "In this Life." NOTHING else. No commercials; no other songs; just this song on an endless loop. I first heard it when we were up there back in May and thought it was a weird fluke, but it's STILL GOING STRONG. I love the song, but damn. I've tried googling to see what's up with that radio station but can't find any info.
Anyway, much like our last hike in this area, this was a non-spectacular hike, but it was a nice hike. As I mentioned, the weather was just perfect and was about 20 degrees cooler than normal for 4th of July weekend. We also had a good breeze all day.
Parts of the trail were really rocky and reminded me of some of Maryland that we hiked last fall. Our feet were pretty sore by the end of the day because of it, and the sides of my hips are sore today (the day after) from all the different movements you make trying to balance on moving rocks.
Other than rocks, we had a ton of ferns for scenery. This was the fern-iest place I've ever hiked.
We also had a few summer wildflowers (a/k/a weeds, but they're pretty).
 |
| I was raised to hate thistles, but the flowers on these were really pretty. I still hate them, Dad, just for clarification. *UPDATE: it's not a thistle! It's Monarda didyma, which is a type of bee balm. I've never seen bee balm before the little arms sprout out. My sister is a scientist. Get some.* |
 |
| Not so much a flower as a berry, but they were pretty. These will probably be really good in another week or so. |
Also with summer comes Tigger's need for water sources to invade while we hike. Even though the temps were pleasant, he really wilts in any kind of heat, and he's looking for some water to cool his belly anytime it's 70 degrees or more if he's outside playing. Plus, we had some stretches of open field walking in the sun today, which of course makes him hotter.
 |
| Really nice boardwalk through a swampy area |
So, when Tigger hikes in the summer, I make sure he has opportunities to find water. On this hike, the opportunities didn't start until we were about 6.5 miles in (which was fine because it was so cool in the morning), but after that they were plentiful. With the climbing we had done earlier in the hike, Tig was more than ready for his bathing opportunities.
Also with summer comes rhododendron season!! Even though it's hotter than hell, this is one of my favorite times of year to hike in the southern Appalachians. There are so many rhodies, and when they're all blooming, it's like you're walking in a flower-covered wonderland. Every year, I can't get over how beautiful these flowers are and how many of them there are. It never gets old. I was excited to see the first blooms starting in Virginia.
 |
| There were a few bushes near the end that were pretty covered in blooms already, when we had only seen sporadic blooms throughout the rest of the hike. These were also slightly pinker than rosebay rhododendron (but not nearly as pink as catawba), so I'm wondering if it's some hybrid variety that just blooms a little earlier. Fascinating. |
Unfortunately, also with summer comes the possibility of seeing snakes sunning themselves along the trail. There are a lot of places along the AT that are known for timber rattlers and copperheads, and thankfully we didn't see any of those, but we did see this huge rat snake:
Ben was right next to it (with Tigger) before he saw it and dang near fell down trying to get away from it. Of course, then it was angry and was all coiled up with its head sticking up wanting to kill us (or at least that's what I imagined). We threw several sticks at it trying to get it to move away from the trail, but it was stubborn in its quest for death and vengeance, so we ended up having to go off-trail to get around it. I hate snakes, but I wasn't too freaked out by this one because (1) Ben saw it first, so I wasn't surprised by it; and (2) we have an even bigger rat snake that lives behind the garage here at Mom's, and it sneaks out to sun itself on the driveway occasionally, usually when I'm outside doing things and am likely to come upon it and have a heart attack. So I'm kind of used to it. As with the thistles, though, I still hate them. Just to clarify.
Another downside of summer hiking is that you often miss a lot of views with the leaves on the trees. However, the local trail club or some other nice souls have maintained at least one good view year-round on this section of trail.
 |
| I have no idea which of these things is the "Walker Mountain" we're supposed to be viewing, but perhaps the big thing in the back? |
 |
| It's a nice view, anyway. |
And as we dropped down after climbing Glade Mountain, we got some nice pastoral farm views.
Other notable features of the hike were Tigger jumping logs that had fallen across the trail, which is another one of his favorite pastimes. He gets super excited when he sees a trail obstruction and picks up his pace so he can run and jump over it. It's usually hard for me to get pictures because he sees them before I do and is over them before I can get my phone out to take a picture, but today we re-created one, and he was happy to cross it a few times.
This funghi-covered tree was also pretty cool.
And finally, I saw a new way of posting white blazes.
It was great to be out on trail with my boys on a beautiful hiking day, and even better to have a long weekend to recover and do all the other "stuff" we have to get done on the weekends. Happy 4th of July!
380.2 down; 1809.8 to go
No comments:
Post a Comment