Derrick Earls, More Heart than Scars tackle the AT together and in Spirit!: Day 35, June 19, 2014

A day like no other!!!

I woke up this morning and was ready to head down The Priest. I left around 9 a.m. The Priest is 5 miles straight down over. 3,100 elevation change.

I met another thru hiker Stryder who said the first thing he saw this morning at our camp was a bear. He stared it down for five minutes before getting out of his tent. A lot of thru hikers are sleeping with their food and the people in hammocks are placing their food below their hammock. Hopefully they will learn to hang it.

I also saw older individuals running up The Priest, I thought they were crazy but I'm sure they thought the same of me.

This was no ordinary lunch beak!! I hiked 7.6 miles to the Harper's Creek Shelter. Prior to arriving to the shelter a lady and another thru hiker goat let me know that a Timber Rattler was hanging out by a log. Sure enough it was and this was my first encounter with a poisonous snake on the AT. This was also my first encounter with a Timber Rattler ever. I was sure to walk about 5 feet from it after snapping some pictures. I had prepared mentally for my encounter with a Tomber Rattler but when someone warns you of the rattler it is so much easier. If I wasn't warned I woulda probably pooped my pants :).

5 min. later a couple and their dog came through. The dog went ahead of the couple, sniffed the rattler and ticked him off. The rattle went off for about a minute or two.

Needless to say this is where it gets crazy. The dog and couple went on and another two thru hikers walked up. I had seen them before and they were pleasant guys. The next thing I know one of the guys is going after the rattler. The rattle was going off insanely and he took off down a gradient. The thru hiker launched him back up the trail on flat surface with his hiking stick which was a tree limb. At this point I'm running over from the shelter to get pictures. The thru hiker aka The Mayor pinned the snakes head with his hiking pole and grabbed its head with one hand and the rattle with the other. He tells his bud to grab his phone and take a picture/video. He put the snake down and asked me to hold its tail while he cut off its head. I politely declined and apologized that I couldn't be of assistance. He grabbed the knife and sliced his head off! Wow! The Mayor had told me later he had handled and caught snakes all his life and been bit only once by a copper head on his pinky. He said it stung and sought no medical treatment.

To make a long story short he gutted the rattler, skinned it, and kept its head in a bag. It was a healthy rattler at 4 ft. long. Those eyes were wicked let me tell ya! I told The Mayor I would hike all day as long as I could try some of the rattle. They were aiming for a 29 mile day. We only hiked 22.3 AT miles instead. One hour in the night until 10 p.m.

The Mayor tried to cook the rattler on a stick but it wasn't cooking the meat all the way through. I pulled out my aluminum foil and we cooked it on that. The snake was cooked well with the coals and the aluminum foil. Wow what a marvelous taste. He gave me half the snake and I ate it all.

I must say I never expected to experience that when I woke up this morning. What a freaking lunch break! I must say I'm privileged to be in the smallest of percentile on the AT who has been with someone who hand grabbed a live rattler and killed him. Not to mention being able to partake in eating it as well!! We used all the snake by eating it and The Mayor will be sending the skin home for a nice memory! FYI. I am not taking on snake catching lessons nor do I recommend anyone trying this at home!!