Not for the faint of heart

Nagini...Dinner.

(From "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part 1")

On Sunday before heading home from our camping weekend in Shenandoah National Park, we wanted to squeeze in a short hike. We drove about a half mile north from Matthews Arm Campground to an overlook called Rattlesnake Point, where Curly and I could pick up the Appalachian Trail. Joe then drove a couple miles south to a wayside called Elkwallow, and he, Larry, and Curly hiked along the AT as well, and we would all meet in the middle. (Click here to see a map.)

A little way down the trail we came upon one of several places where the trail intersects with a fire road. Just past the crossing point, I spotted a HUGE snake in the middle of the trail. We immediately froze, and Curly exclaimed, "It's a copperhead!" I got out my phone and texted Joe: "Copperhead on trail." Of course, there is no cell phone coverage in Shenandoah--at least not where we were--and I got a "Message Not Sent" alert. Great.

Then the snake began to move, and I could see its diamond-shaped head, and a distinct rattle on the end of its tail. I texted Joe again (as if he would get it this time): "Not copperhead. Rattlesnake. Thinking of turning back."

"Message not sent."

So we waited. The snake moved some more, wrapping its jaws more securely around the little rabbit it had most certainly just killed. It slowly dragged its prize off the trail, into the shadows under the base of a tree. Finally we heard voices down the path that we recognized. "RATTLESNAKE!" I yelled. The voices got closer. "RATTLESNAKE!" When Joe and the boys rounded a bend, they were walking more quickly toward us than I would have liked.

"STOP!! RATTLESNAKE!"

Finally they stopped, and of course Moe wanted to come closer to get a better look at it. (Fortunately he listened to reason.) I asked Joe if he thought we should all just walk back the way we came from and he could pick us up again at Rattlesnake Point (fitting title, don't you think?) He said the snake wouldn't bother us since it was busy eating. Reluctantly I tiptoed across the intersection and skirted our friend, keeping as much distance as I could, and Curly followed. Joe was right, the rattler didn't seem to notice us. We stood and looked at it for a minute or two longer, and went on our way. We met a few hikers coming the other direction and warned them about what we had seen. Fortunately I haven't heard anything on the news about anyone suffering any fatal snake bites in Shenandoah National Park this past weekend.

Look what Moe found along the trail.

I found it by the sink in the bathroom yesterday. Apparently he's been carrying it around with him.

And do you see what he found in the backyard on Thursday?

I had just picked the boys up from nature camp, and five minutes after we returned home he came running in the house with it hollering, "I caught a worm snake!! Quick, Mom! Get me a container!!"

"GET THAT OUT OF MY HOUSE!! Go outside and I'll bring you one."

"OK, but make sure you poke some breathing holes in it!!"

The things I'm willing to do for my kids. He eventually found a bigger container, put a couple of rocks and sticks in it, and took it to camp to show his friends on Friday.

And guess what Curly and Moe studied at their nature camp last week.

(Worm Snake)

Snakes are kinda cool in a creepy sort of way, I have to admit.

Check Small Things to see what Ginny's kids found in THEIR backyard last week.

Get Thee to the Woods, Vol. 30: Matthews Arm, Shenandoah

Who needs marshmallows when you've got Bisquick? Just mix with some water and make a biscuit on a stick.

Our weekends camping in Shenandoah National Park are never long enough.

(For highlights from last year's visit, click here.)

If you're not squeamish about snakes, tomorrow I'll show you what we encountered in the middle of the trail on one of our hikes. We felt like we were on Wild Kingdom.

We returned home today in time to catch the very last Harry Potter movie ever.

Thanks for all the adventures, Harry. You will be missed.

Get Thee To The Woods, Vol. 9: A Blessed Camping Weekend

Shenandoah National Park is one of our favorite places to go camping. We don't camp as often as we would like, and even though Shenandoah is reasonably close to where we live, we don't get many chances to visit. Our trip there over the weekend was filled with many blessings!

The many deer, which were a constant presence in the campground...

The little chipmunks who tried to stay out of sight; this one stayed still long enough for us to snap his picture.

When Curly and Moe went exploring near our camp,


...they found the Appalachian Trail,


...and a spring. Presumably this sign is to direct thirsty hikers to a nice fresh source of water.








We took a lovely hike through the forest

to see this pretty waterfall.

The views from the trail (and from all over the park) are spectacular.

Moe had fun climbing on the rocks.

We even spotted a black bear. Can you see it?

I think he was looking at us.

(When we saw the grizzly bear on our trip to Yellowstone last summer, the best pictures only showed a small brown blob in the distance. Joe and the kids decided to buy me a telephoto lens for my next birthday. Even with this, it was hard to get a good shot; maybe the fact that Joe was impatient for me to hurry up and leave the premises before the bear spotted us had something to do with it.)


There were NO video games allowed in camp!

Hey, who snuck in that MP3 player??

We took a lovely walk in the Big Meadow,

...where there were scads of wild blueberries.

The deer were munching them happily.

This one just wanted to relax.

There were so many bumblebees, we could hear them buzzing all around us.

(When we got back to camp, I found a bumblebee between my sock and the top of my hiking boot. I almost wore sandals to the meadow; now I'm thankful I did not!)

Everywhere we went this weekend, there were scores of butterflies (and other insect friends) gathering nectar from the countless wildflowers.

The evenings were just as much fun; the kids roasted marshmallows,

had smoke-saber battles,

and played with sparklers.

(I swear, this was NOT my idea. I'm sure we were breaking the rules with this one.)

I wish I could have taken a picture of the stars that were so bright on Friday night, or the shooting star I spotted just above the trees. Even though sleeping on the ground with nothing but a thin air mattress under you isn't very comfortable, the sounds of the night insects, the gentle rain on the tent roof (despite the leak in our brand-new tent...grrr...) and the wind in the trees makes it all worth it.

Last week my friend Ginny of the "Small Things" blog took her family here; check out her post about their Shenandoah adventure. (Believe me, you don't want to miss it; her photos are much better than mine.) Without planning it, we both took our families to the same place and saw some of the same things. (We think we both saw the same bear, too.) I only wish we had stopped at the Barbecue place where they went on the way home. Next time.

UPDATE, JULY 2011: We just returned from another wonderful Shenandoah weekend. Click here for some of the highlights!

(We passed the barbecue place in Sperryville today on our way back. We weren't hungry, so we kept driving. One of these days we'll stop there.)

Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes posted some lovely photos this week of an afternoon she spent at a little pond with her daughter. Check it out!