| Parked at the trailhead, outside the park. The drive to the trailhead is a nice one.
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| The area is littered with boulders and downed trees and debris
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| There's very little direct sun along this trail, which can be nice.
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| Several cascades and pools are along the way, though not as nice for swimming as Rose River. I think the water was a bit lower than I remembered.
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| A sample of some of the steep climbing with rock stairs to help here.
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| Fast forward quite a ways and the trail and run break into some sunshine.
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| The pools and waterfalls at the top section of the trail.
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| A few wildflowers were out along the the fire road.
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| Elias was very good this hike, but we did give him a bottle about half way down the fire road. After mixing it, we were able to keep on trucking.
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| This is a copperhead. A little adventure for us this time, and more than we would have liked to be sure. Holly was walking on the left side of the fire road a little behind me when she shrieked and jumped back. I guess her instincts were serving her well. It is very easy to stop thinking about where you are putting your feet after 3 or 4 hours hiking, and an hour or more plodding down a fairly boring fire road.
So we stood there for a while before I decided to try to move it off the trail because it was just sunning itself and not moving at all (it froze solid when we arrived). Someone else could easily have stepped on it. A long branch made it very easy, the snake didn't seem too concerned.
After returning home, we identified the snake (yellow head and hourglass formation) and noted that the copperhead is the most common venomous snake in the East by a long shot apparently. They are also known for freezing when in danger and simultaneously being fairly agressive though ours was not.
A close call we are glad to have avoided. It definitely takes your focus off the bears.
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| The old cemetery near the end of the Keyser Run fire road.
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