9/18/22 We have been hesitant for so long to go climbing on our own. It’s not something to take lightly. A lot can go wrong and we wanted to be confident in our ability to navigate that. The weekend prior, we took a rock climbing rescues class, which was the last piece we wanted to complete before going on our own.
So, we packed up our gear and headed out to the crag. The climb was in Michaux State Forest. We hiked a section of the AT in a different part of the forest last year. On our way to the climb, we drove right through town, turned off, and it very quickly felt remote. A narrow dirt road led us to the trailhead. As we lost service, I realized I didn’t have the map downloaded (rookie move). We pulled up to a small parking lot full of most likely backpackers and a high school group. I came to accept the fact that we might not even get to climb depending on how much space there was.
There were signs about timber rattlesnakes every few feet it felt like. This is something in the back of our minds when hiking in warmer weather. We followed the blue blazes and reached the top of the climb after a quick walk. As Kealy was building the anchor, I was scoping out the climbing area and where the other group was set up. I stepped down from a large rock and realized what I stepped over:
A juvenile copperhead! We were definitely scared after that point because where there’s one, there’s a lot more. I told Kealy that we have to tell anyone we see, as it was pretty well hidden. A family appears out of the forest and we let them know. They were interested in it, so we showed them the snake. The dad was saying to his kids, “You really need to watch out for baby copperheads because when they bite they release all their venom. They don’t know any better, so it’s actually worse than being bit by an adult.” I was trying to stay calm and telling Kealy that it wants nothing to do with us. Honestly, we were both shaken up. We actually haven’t seen any venomous snakes on the East coast yet, just large harmless rat snakes.
After everything was set up, it was time to hike to the bottom of the climb. That was a whole adventure in itself. We hiked by a cabin you could rent, which was interesting. We scrambled up to the climb and finally made it. There weren’t a whole lot of routes in the pit, but we tried a few. Constantly scanning the ground for more copperheads, we were exhausted. Next time, we’ll climb the main wall in cooler weather.
