Not camping with a Timber Rattlesnake on Lake Jocassee!

Timber Rattlesnake!

          What a beautiful day to paddle north - on the wonderful Lake Jocassee. Nathan, my fourteen year old great-nephew and I have all afternoon and evening to do just that, so we do! The weather is mild and a light breeze is flowing across the water, excellent canoeing conditions. We are headed to the small camp site on the right side of the lake.This is a few hundred yards before the lake ends and the Toxaway River roars into the lake rushing around and over the rocky barrier which prevents canoes, kayaks, and boats from going any further upstream. A  suspension bridge crosses over the river and  allows the Foothills trail traffic to safely pass over. A smaller suspension bridge crosses over Toxaway Creek, both bridges bounce and sway when fourteen year old boys cross, as only they can! There is an official camp ground established next to Toxaway Creek and the lake, it hides under a shelter of tall trees. Tables have been set up and fire rings are provided. We hoped to sleep under the safety of the extremely thin rainfly and mesh covering of our individual tents on down the trail to the previously mentioned site, but someone else was setting up camp as we glided by.

First choice view!

          There is no place to tie off your canoe and easily unload all the "STUFF" needed to rough it in the wilds on the shore of Lake Jocassee, but somehow we managed. I had my sweet little heart all set on camping by the lake with a finished view of the day. With that thought in mind Nathan and I hiked over to our first choice just to see what was what, and we found the camp site all set up but no one home. So, we headed back and on the way back checked out another site near the lake but the view is not so good. I walked through this site and standing looking through the trees toward the lake ----- HOLD THAT THOUGHT ---


             


          So there I stand, staring at snake and snake is staring at me. Neither Nathan nor I have a camera with us, he runs to the stuff and gets both our cameras. I'm staying with snake so he doesn't crawl away - really what would I do if snake started crawling away? reach out and touch it! shivers just thinking about touching it! Nathan is back! He hands me my camera, but the snake has already turned his head away from us, what should I do?

Timber Rattlesnake

           Hey! Nathan get me a long stick and I'll poke it, when it turns around I'll get it's picture. If there is a hornet's nest close by I'll hit it too!   SO THAT'S WHAT I DO !!!


                                    Give me a few seconds to get the camera pointed correctly then

                                                                           ENJOY

          https://plus.google.com/105973128876222587821/posts/dursruo2HbJ

       

          In order to see my video of this beautiful snake you will need to highlight the above address and right click, then go down to Open URL and click on it. The video will show up and you can click on it to see what happens!  If that doesn't work for you just type in the address and hopefully that will work.


          So two things definitely not on my bucket list, getting snake bit and getting shot. I think either one would really hurt and cause confusion in my life. I missed a good opportunity to get bit and I am so thankful! God was good to me!

          Because of the snake being at the camp site we quickly decided to set up at the main camping area and enjoy our evening. Built a small fire and roasted some hot dogs, best hot dogs ever! Been a long time since I had had hot dogs cooked over an open fire. Rain started about eight-thirty and we scampered into the tents and stayed until morning light. Slowly paddled back to the boat ramp, no hurry, Nathan fished, no bites, relaxing day spent on a clam lake.

BEST DAY EVER!

          A couple loons were on the lake, some fish jumped, we saw huge fish swimming under us, but nothing was more exciting than the rattlesnake. In the past I have seen bear on two different occasions and seen a few deer, a couple of otter followed me a short ways one day and a family of wood ducks scurried ahead of the canoe early one spring morning. Always good to be on the lake!

          More pictures of Mr. Timber Rattlesnake and then I close.
       

Pretty coloring.

Thirteen rattles?

                 In the woods or on the water,


                 Turtle

     

                     As you can I was able to post just the snake video, will be easier for all to see!

                      This computer stuff hurts my brain!!

Campin' n Loafin' on the Lake 3 Lake Jocassee

Toxaway River

                It was such a boring trip from the boat ramp to the Toxaway River that I'm not even going to tell you about it!

          Paddle two or three strokes on the left side, two or three strokes on the right side.

          Stop.

          Get out.

          Stretch.

          Yawn.

          Scratch.

          Sit.

          Adjust!

          Paddle on left.

          Paddle on right.

          Repeat!

          Repeat!

          Repeat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          Gracie sleeping in the bow and my butt sleeping in the stern.

          Creating a small wake with my bow, cursing the big waves from the boats!

           I had fiddle farted around the house all morning and now was racing the setting sun! The sun had a long way to go, but so did I. It's ten miles give or take a paddle stroke to the Toxaway River from the boat ramp. Plenty of time to arrive and get camp set up before dark, just have to keep moving and have short rest stops. Not my style of flat water canoeing! Normally do a little swimming and take cat naps while sitting on the shore, watching the sun slowly creep across the Carolina blue sky. Today I'm moving as if I have a goal in mind, I do, don't get caught on the lake after dark. Now don't misunderstand me, I love to paddle after dark under the full moon and clear night sky, but not when I have to scramble up a bank side with my camping gear.    [  Just a side note - my iTunes playlist has been hijacked!!  I listen to Gospel bluegrass, bluegrass and banjo picking as I write, but other types of music keep popping up. Oh, well! Who knows what I might write under the sounds of this modern Gospel music? Where has it come from? I'm not sure.   ]  

          Gracie and I have arrived and the sun is still high above the mountain top. We have no beach to run aground on so I step out in about eight inches of water and tie the canoe to one of the many small trees growing in the lake bottom. Rain water has hollowed out a trail from the lake to the Foothills Trail and I'm able to walk up this so-so steep path to the Trail and then about fifteen or twenty feet over to the campsite. This is an official Foothills Trail campsite with a picnic table and fire ring.  Gracie has her nose working and is wandering all over the site, I'm making three trips to remove the gear from the canoe to the campsite. The two man tent I have used for the past twelve years is now minus a rainfly but the rest of it is still good to go, mesh is good - no holes - bottom is good - no snakes can slither in while I sleep! [  GIVES ME THE WILLIES TO THINK ABOUT IT  ]   Not supposed to rain but I have a tarp to throw over the tent if it does. We talked this over, Gracie and I, the two man tent was brought instead of the newer one man tent so Gracie could sleep in the tent as she has done every time we have camped together. She would share the sleeping bag when she was smaller and insecure, I'd leave it unzipped so her feet would stick out and her back would be against my chest as we slept. As she got older she would sleep at my feet. Cold weather, curl up. Warm weather, stretch out. Tonight she slept outside the tent flap and I left it unzipped. No rain, a clear warm night with some moonlight.

         Paddling down the lake toward the suspension bridge we smelled and saw a small cloud of smoke hanging around the trees near the main camping area, our site is a couple hundred or more yards from this much larger site. After setting up camp we hiked to the bridge and through the camp ground on our way there. A small fire was burning and two young men were washing up in the creek flowing into the lake. They didn't see us and we went on to the bridge and took a couple of pictures and bounced the bridge just to say we did and to make Gracie nervous. Heading back to our site we stopped and said, Hi, because that is the friendly thing to do. They were from FL and came to the NC Mountains just to hike  the Jocassee Gorge. They had hiked in from Gorges State Park in NC down the Auger Hole Trail to the Foothills Trail, camped the night and then will hike out byway of the Canebrake Trail. They used the Frozen Creek Road Trail Head Parking area, what a good way to spent a weekend.

       

View from inside tent.

               We strolled back to the tent and waited for darkness to settle in. It is always good to have an uneventful night when sleeping in the woods and we did. The moon was not full, it was waning away but gave enough light  in the clear sky for me to see the lake when I woke up during the  night. The weather changed from not warm to just a little chilly, perfect for this time of year. Gracie and I were in a Huck Finn state of mind, I had on a pair of swim shorts and that was all, before we left the boat ramp I had taken my shirt off and did not put it back on until we were loaded up and ready to drive up the ramp and out of the Park. I was loading the canoe when a fishing boat motored by and the father and two sons were all wrapped up in sweats and hats, it was cold speeding up the lake in the cool morning air. We didn't feel the cold quite as easily just walking around and getting ready to leave the camp site. We paddled into the sunlight and quickly warmed up cruising down the lake. It was a slow easy paddle back too the boat ramp, we were able to take our time and discover another special place tucked back in the shore line.

         

Not telling where this one is.

             Then we loaded up and went home. It's taken me two months to get this posted, I've been easily distracted these pass few weeks with other things on my mind. I haven't even been back to the lake and that's a disappointing fact to share!


          In the woods or on the water,

          Turtle