North Fork

It's August so that must mean it's time for the annual West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners trail run on the North Fork Mountain Trail! It was a beautiful, cool, low humidity weekend and a great day for a run Saturday. The trail is about 24 miles along a ridge top with many incredible views, you can run the first half, the second half, or the whole thing. This year I ran the second half with some extra miles at the start to get about 16.5 in. Other times I've run the first half or the whole thing. I had a realization this year...the second half is much more enjoyable if you skip the first half!! Duh!

But the defining moment of my run came about half way through when I had an encounter with a rattlesnake. I was in a totally shady part of the trail, in the middle of a really rocky section that had just started uphill so I was walking. Then just to the left of the trail (we're talking 12 inches to the left of the trail, not 12 feet!), in a beam of light next to a rock I see a snake.
I believe I said "holy s***" quite loudly and moved back to a safe distance. It was pretty clearly a Timber Rattlesnake. At this moment I really lamented the fact that I was running alone. Where are my buddies??? Lorrin, Amanda or Mical would know what to do!! Why isn't there anyone coming up behind me?? So I took a few pictures and tried to decide what to do. I don't believe in killing snakes so that was out, not to mention I wouldn't want to get close enough to try. I didn't think throwing anything at it was a good idea, don't want to get him riled up! So, despite the risk his buddies could be close by, I decided to bushwack around. I made it safely by, took a few more pictures, and then spent the next hour trying to get my heart rate down. For awhile afterwards I was turning every stick into a snake as well as going through steps of what I would do if I did get bitten. It was nerve racking there for awhile but I finally calmed myself down and went on my merry way.

I finally got to the last really rocky section and enjoyed the great views before descending 2,000 feet to the finish. I'm happy to say I had no more snake sightings, turns out I was the only one that saw a snake. It was my lucky day!! The rest of the day/evening was spent enjoying cold beverages, much food, great conversation and smores around the campfire. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.