June 29. Sitting at the Pinnacle

We had thunderstorms in the middle of the night last night. Mark is so sweet. He got up and put the fly on the tent at 2am when the rain started. He has always taken such good care of me and our family. He makes as great of a hiking partner as he does a life partner. I am thankful to have such a wonderful husband!

We have hiked four miles and are sitting at the Pinnacle. One of the best views we have seen in some time. The temperature is expected to hit 98 today. We are in a heat wave.

Today we saw our first rattle snake known as a Timber Rattler I always walk in front and set the pace. We do this because I can't go as fast as Mark on the uphill. This way we stay together. As I am walking I hear the rattle before I see it right on the trail it had started to get into the coil position. Of course, I backed up. I've never scene such a large snake. It's body was very thick and as it straightened out, close to four feet long. The coloring was really beautiful. I was shaken up. The snake went slowly off the trail and Mark tried to take its picture when it rattled again at him. It was scary and exciting. I could pass on future excitement in the snake department.

We met Dawn today at a vista. She lives locally and was kind to talk with. We shared some stories and talked about our families. We agreed to be praying for one another and swapped prayer request. God has brought many people into our lives these past few months to pray for and we enjoy thinking of them each day. Dawn was a joy.

Stopped at Echerville Shelter. This one had a caretaker who greeted us with Popsicles. This has been the hottest day yet. We took a shower to cool off and then had a nap. We wanted to wait until a little later in the day in hopes that it might not be quite as hot.

We made it to Allentown Shelter when we heard about trail magic two hours down the trail. We took off only to discover they had left. Exhausted, we set up camp, laid down in the tent when I realized we were .6 away from a B&B with a restaurant. We decided to call it date night. We chose the least stinky clothes, brushed my hair, and went to Blue Mountain Summit for an appetizer and a drink. We met the owner, Ken, and listened to live music. The bar closed at 10:00 but Ken invited us to stay. We ended up visiting until 1:30 in the morning and stayed in one of his rooms.