Getting to Know the Lifeless Yet Ever-So-Personable Monsters By Chris Hensley

880’ Trail Brushed and Cleared
262’ New Trail Built
It’s hard to believe that the last time I shared my thoughts with the great people of the Internet land it was nearly two months ago. Approaching the half way point of this six month endeavor, blazing the way from Fore Mountain Trail to Dolly Anne Rd, this primarily novice trail crew has pummeled its way through some treacherous terrain. From rocked-filled ravines to rattlesnakes and raspberry brushes, these past nine days have been right on cue with the ongoing Virginian adventure.
I believe the work “rocks” may have come up a few times in our crew’s last entry and despite the irritating redundancy; I simply must say “Rocks”! The magnitude and multitude of these lifeless, yet so full of character, monsters have had us perplexed since the first time we set eyes on them. With just three months of trail work under our belts, we’ve been blasting through the boulder fields like a crew of seasoned trail workers. Had we began our season with the rock work which is now nearing completion, I’m not sure we could have sailed so smoothly through such high seas. With the previous rock work confronted on trail and unstoppable teamwork, we’re all still asking ourselves how we’ve made it so far in such a timely fashion. Although our ability to work as one has been impeccable, it was no match for our little prickly friends that shared a few of their berries. I’ll just say writing isn’t as enjoyable as usual after clearly 880’ of thorny little buggers.
On to the snakes, the majority of the human population (excluding myself and a handful of others) considers to be little buggers of some sort. We came across 3 Timber Rattlesnakes, a Black Racer and a Smooth Green Snake. Much like my last entry concerning the mating process of tree frogs, I’ll leave the mention of snakes at that to keep the digression to a minimum. That being said, I suppose I’ll adjourn and leave you with a few photographs. (Coming very soon)