Rattlesnake Nation

My lifelong buddy DJ decided to take me up on an offer to go for a hike Sunday.  DJ is not an avid hiker but he does enjoy the outdoors and saying that he is an athlete is an understatement.  He was a wrestler and football player in high school and he's just one of those guys that can play just about any sport you put in front of him.  I've partied, traveled, golfed, played in basketball tournaments and spent countless hours just hanging out with DJ, but there's one thing I didn't know about DJ.  He's terrified, mortified, absolutely scared to death of snakes.  I've seen this man compete at the highest levels, Sunday, I witnessed one of his all time lows.  This innocent 7 miler is by far my most memorable to date.

Our destination was one of my favorites, Devils Nose in Sleepy Creek WMA.  All along the ridge just before Devils Nose there are small rock outcroppings that lead to the massive stone platform at Devils Nose.  DJ loves to jump and climb the big rocks.  Now I warned him, "Hey man, I saw a rattlesnake up here a few weeks ago", but he was having too much fun on the rocks to care.  But then...it got interesting.  I see DJ in a full sprint towards me, hands going everywhere, screaming "Snake, snake, big mother&#@ing rattlesnake".  He runs right past me a disappears down the trail.  I walked out onto the cliff to check it out and sure enough, a nice 3 footer sunning itself on the rocks.  I don't think it even knew we where there.  But that's just the start.  After I settled DJ down I talked him into walking the last few hundred yards to Devils Nose assuring him that there weren't any snakes out on the rocks.  Wrong, there were 3 more sunning themselves on the big rocks out on the nose, plus a black snake hiding in the brush at the edge of the cliff.  Needless to say DJ was a mess and I couldn't stop laughing.  Our plan to climb the rocks and do a little bouldering was out the window, so I snapped a few pictures and shooed the snakes off the rocks to make it safe for DJ to pass back through.  The best part came about a mile from my truck when we saw another big black snake right beside the trail and I got to see DJ's "freeze then sprint" snake avoidance technique again.  Once we got to the truck he loosened back up and I started with the normal girl/sissy jokes that he had worked so hard to earn back up in the woods.

The big one that almost got DJ

Challenge Update

#1.  I've completed 80 of my 300 miles that I plan to hike/run in 100 days.  I should be at 84 miles by today but I'll catch up.  Challenge #2 will give me 41 miles in one day so I'm not worried about being behind a little.

#2  We've settled on June 30 as the day that we're completing the Maryland Challenge.  We've hammered out a rough schedule for the day and plan to finish the hike in 18 hours.  My brother in law Tim is on board for sure, and two of our running buddies are considering.