AT Section Hike 2026 May 13 Snake Day 🐍 😃
(It’s also been one month since Kenneth and I began our drive to the AT for this years section hike of Virginia.)👈
Today, we slack packed again, because once again, it is supposed to rain and get cold. We are already here at Weary Feet Hostel, so we will enjoy again lighter packs, a home cooked meal, and a warm bed tonight 💜.
Within the first hour, we saw 3 snakes! 🐍 🐍 🐍 The sun 🌞 was shining and they were just literally hanging out in the nearby forest floor of shrubbery.
🐍 The first, I caught out of the corner of my eye. Just about a yard off the trail to my right was, what I thought , was a piece of black rubber tube! Then I thought, “Wait! This is the wilderness! That’s not rubber!” Sure enough, it was a very long black snake. He was just chilling, hidden pretty well by the leaves of the foliage. But his tail was up in the air. I’d say he was about 6 ft long.
Another 100 yards up the trail, 🦋 Butterfly saw one. 🐍 It could have been its sibling. Black and long, only he was more hanging in the bushes. He was still hard to see, so not a great picture. (See my fb for pictures.). Snake number two in two minutes! Again, he was like his brother, very still. No moving around for him.
The third snake 🐍 we saw a few minutes later. This snake was across the trail. I knew it was probably a garter snake, like back at home, because its stripes went longways down its body. He wasn’t so long- maybe 2 foot. He was as still as he could be. Just happy to lay there as we walked around. I texted my daughter later. She said it could very well be an Eastern Garter snake, the state snake of Virginia! How fitting!
Those first 5 miles flew by and were easy with our light day packs. We ate a bite of lunch up on top of some rocks. We’d heard the next section was rocky. Butterfly and I enjoyed it. One had to be careful placing your feet, but for the most part was not difficult. The rocks were beautiful and the day was a great temperature with partly sunny skies.
We prayed before we started and asked the Lord to hold back the rain until we got back. We did this section in record time, and weren’t even trying to hike fast. It was a very enjoyable section, with lower elevation climbs and descents . We came to the blue blaze, which indicates a water source, a shelter or other side trail. In this case, it was the hike down to Weary Feet Hostel. It passed through a beautiful meadow. One could see a few thunderheads starting to form. There was a steep downhill at the end, but then crossed the highway right to their driveway. We finished at 2:15. We began at 8:15. Wow. A record for me doing 10 miles, especially in the mountains.
When we got back, we enjoyed hot showers and a snack to hold us over until dinner time. At 4 pm it rained.
Dinner was a delicious lettuce salad, a plate full of chili on baked potatoes and a delightful pineapple cake dessert. Always too much food for me. Thru -hikers gobbled it down and some had seconds. Fortunately, I do not have that type of hiker hunger. I do tend to eat like a newborn though- every two hours I want a snack.
After we got into our bunks for the night, around 8:30 pm the sky cut loose. Thunder, lightning, wind and a torrent of rain came down. 🌧️ ⚡️ 💨 So glad to be inside! It lasted about 40 minutes. The next morning, I talked with 2 hikers who were tenting ⛺️ in their yard. The one young lady , Bunny, (who btw, is getting her masters to be a speech therapist), said her tent stakes weren’t in very far, and the tent blew up on one side and rain came pouring in.🥶 She grabbed her stuff and dragged it into the house. The owners let her sleep on the couch, as the place was full here at the hostel, and dried her clothes and sleeping bag for her. That’s the way these owners care for their hikers! It’s been a great experience! Thank you 🙏!
