Early in the week, I went on a backpack to Mt. LeConte for an overnight to complete the five trails to the mountain. I hiked with a group up the Boulevard Trail and back Trillium Gap. In between, I stayed at the LeConte Shelter and went to Myrtle Point, Cliff Tops, and High Top.
On the way down Trillium Gap Trail, we passed Grotto Falls and even had a small bear in the trail. Even with some rain and thunder, it was a great day to be on the mountain.
Yes, today was my birthday and the plan was to go to the high point of Sullivan County (the county where I was born) on Holston Mountain but found a locked gate. Behind it is an FAA Tower. While there is supposed to be a way around it I couldn't find it, but I was close enough.
From there I decided to go to a place I have hike too before, Watauga Dam. I cam in from Iron Mountain Gap off Wilbur Dam road. I also went to the Watauga Lake Visitor Center. No better way to enjoy my birthday than hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
Well, what better way to get back to blogging than about bears. Well, that was until Friday when I did trail work with the Clinch Colation and saw not one but two rattlesnakes. So, this blog is about the wildlife I have seen recently...focusing on snakes and bears. Let us start with bears. The weekend before last I was at the Cabin in Southwest Virginia. Early that morning, around 6:30 my Dad woke me and said: "if you want to see the bear, get up." So still in my pajamas, I went to the door of the Cabin and there was a bear pulling down a limb of a tree and eating apples. After watching a while it climbed into the tree.
This went on for 15 minutes before it came down and circled around the Cabin heading for another apple tree. I had to go out on the small porch to observe it. But after about five minutes I must have made a noise as the bear looked my way and then turned and headed for the treeline where it looked back then disappeared.
So, I laid back down for an hour and got back up around right. I decided to go out back and see if maybe the bear came back. Well, one did, but to my surprise, it was not the same one, but a juvenile cub. It sniffed around the same apple tree, ate one then turned headed toward the same treeline.
A few weeks ago I was talking to Travis who lives in a cabin below us and he said he saw a female bear and a cub, I think this was these two and not Bernie. He is the male bear that visited the Cabin three years ago and I saw in 2016. So, that means there are at least three bears near the Cabin. So, for 2018 I have now seen three bears...one in March and these two within an hour.
After Friday, my rattlesnake numbers also went up to three. The first I saw was on my backpack at Rocky Fork State Park to Hidden Lake (I will blog about that backpack...I hope). This rattlesnake was big and was blocking the middle of the trail. This was the first I had seen (heard one in Georgia once) while hiking.
Well, Friday near the Chimney Rocks in Southwest Virginia I saw not one, but two rattlesnakes. So, bears and rattlesnakes are at three-three...nice!
