(or things that go bump in the night)
As everyone who camps knows, night can be very cool and
fun around the campfire. Stories are told during a night in the woods, and new
experiences create new tales for the future. All of us who have slept in a shelter or
a tent have had some common experiences, and some have had some uncommon ones (including
me with my brothers).
Has anyone arrived at a shelter after dark, and no human was there? The permanent
residents will surprise you if you have a flashlight by your eyes when you go in.
There will be lots of eyes looking back!
| Of course the best time to have a storm is after you get to the
shelter. If you are that lucky. It is nice to get there and put out your wet stuff to
dry. We have pictures of shelters with clothes everywhere the day after a storm. Everyone
trying to dry out!! With all this fun, why not sell tickets! |
 |
The deer are easy to see in the early morning and in the early
evening when you are at the shelter. I like to watch them near the shelter when things are
quiet. I have even seen wild hogs come right through a campsite and watched four of
them graze for grubs. We even got a "brush back" snort from one of the males.
My most nervous moment in hiking was alone in the Cohutta Wilderness in NW Georgia.
During the summer the area is almost a continuous beautiful fern field. It is
amazing. I was hiking back to the car after a trail work day with my fire rake and
pulaski axe. I heard something to my right -- it was a good sized wild boar He was
just grazing on ferns about 100 feet up on a rise, but he knew I was there. I
started to keep moving, sort of watching him, then I heard a hiss on the trail ahead of
me. I looked down at a timber rattlesnake about ten feet away, hissing and
tightly coiled. He never rattled his rattle. I carried a pistol that day (I
have full permits), and I got it out. I then tried to push the snake with my fire rake to
get it moving. It did not. The boar just keeps feeding on the ferns. I even
tried to throw rocks at the snake to get it off the trail but it would not move. I
was afraid of making too much commotion because I did not want to get charged by the
boar. I know that rattlesnakes sometimes travel in pairs. I took my fire rake
and began to push the ferns aside and started moving off the trail downhill (slowly AWAY
from the boar). I gave the snake about a ten foot swing around. Looking back.......I
should have shot the snake and scared the boar away. It was late, and I was the last
person on the trail. But I have always regretted leaving the snake on the
trail. There may have been someone else coming up after me......
Let me know what you think.
Smoky Mt. Shots | Chimney Tops, TN | Duck Hawk Rock, TN
Raven Cliffs Trail, GA
| Rock Town, GA | Forest Service Volunteer
Natural Bridge in Alabama
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September 1, 2000