I was excited to get going this morning, I was going to see my friends Amy and John again. I had last seen them in Shenandoah and I was now in their home state. We just had about 6 miles to do to get to them at Sunset Mountain. My only thoughts were getting there as we played music for the morning. Both of us prefer this, whether it’s his or mine, it breaks up the day. Not being lost in your thoughts all day is sometimes a good thing and that’s just what we did all the way there. Joking and talking we Mae our six miles in about 2 hours. Here we found this huge pavillion, built long ago, a top this mountain with almost a complete view of the surrounding lands, truly beautiful.

Pushing past the pavillion we met them at the view point. To our surprise they’d brought cold drinks brownies and all sorts of goodies for us. While we all ate, we caught up on each others ventures, sharing photographs and stories of a while. It was truly good to see them, it warmed my heart to know I had such good friends that came to visit on the trail. Our time with them, as always, was too short, saying goodbye we wished each other well and they headed up the trail. Just a few short minutes later they returned. There was a giant black rattlesnake in the trail and they wanted us to see. Running over we confirmed it was a good size one and we watched it from a distance.

The snake was quite active for being in the shade, a female again moved here and there searching for something. Fearing others wouldn’t see it, Crawford and I remained right there warning people of the snake. She crossed the trail many times and allowed me a glimpse of what they were really like. She cared not for me when she saw I wasn’t a threat and didn’t rattle anymore as long as I didn’t move quickly in her direction. With this unspoken bond of you stay away and I stay away I was able to enjoy the sight and take many photos and video. With her disappearing into the brush for good we were off again.

Ten miles to the beach at high top, was our next goal. We did just that easily and quickly. When we got there we found a beach filled with people and grills. Everyone enjoying the perfect summer day by the waterside. We were starving and broke down buying ourselves some food before getting in and cooling off. In true hiker fashion, Crawford washed his clothes in the pond and laid them out to dry as we relaxed. If the day could have been any better, it would have been hard to accomplish here. A lovely fz I’ll came over and offered us more food than we could eat. Feasting and enjoying there delicious food we thanked them and headed off back up the trail to High Point before getting to the the shelter for the night. Sometimes the magic just finds you on the trail and sometimes you have to go looking for it.