This Yankee Is Back Home

Day 99

Friday June 30, 2017

Miles: 1057.9 - 1072.6

Time: 6:52am - 4:05pm

Weather: Partly Cloudy & extremely hot and humid

Tenting at Caledonia State Park 

Woo hop!!! This Yankee is back home. Well, atleast she is now north of the Mason-Dixon Line anyways. I am torn though.  I was born in Georgia on a military base. 

I love the southern weather, the people are friendly and the BBQ is best hands down but my heart belongs in the north. There is nothing like the deep woods, crystal clear lakes and mountain top views of Maine.

It was extremely hot today. Not quite as bad as our hike into the Bears Den last week but pretty close. We tried to beat the heat by getting up early. We were not successful. We did beat the rain storm. We got our tents pitched and dinner almost cooked before it hit. Luckily we are glamping and could retreat to the car while it passed. 

As much as we are becoming trail wise and adapting to situations we have a long way to go to match the evolutionary results of nature. Today we exhibited a black snake who is normally very timid and non aggressive show a trait it must have learned from its cousin the rattlesnake. We passed him on the trail. Shortcake and I love these snakes. They are so sleek and cool to watch as they slither their way peacefully on the ground and up trees. We pulled out our cameras to snap the perfect photo and as we approached the usually non aggressive serpent  coiled up to strike as he vibrated his tail wildly in the leaf litter. Both of us stopped our photo shoot and backed up thinking we had mistaken the identity of the snake. Once we were sure of it's species we were awed by what we had just witnessed. 

Just like the black snake imitating the rattler in life we too must learn how to evolve if we want to survive. Sometimes it might just be how to get along with others or how to start a new career or any other life's other challenges.

Happy Hiking.