Thanks for the shoutout, Jim! That was a long walk for that opening B-roll. Suffer’n for your art! I need to step up my game. That Timber was a big fella and judging by the size of that scat there’s some big bears out there somewhere.
You're welcome for the shoutout,I enjoy your video's. Yeah that rattler was a pretty good sized snake. I have seen some big bears in the NRA over the years. Thanks Joe!
Nice hike in your favorite area. I see you found the ABC berries! That bear scat was pretty fresh. That was a cool timber rattler. He was a big one too! Fun to see them as long as you noticed them at a safe distance first. LOL. We are in snake country all the time and seldom see them. Not surprised you have not seen many either. Seems like that is a crappy trail! LOL Be safe out there. Have a great day.
Yeah the scat was most likely from more than one bear as I was a couple of miles between the sightings. Even though that was only my second rattler and the very first one I have come across in the NRA as the other one was about 150 miles from here I have heard a few of them. Thanks my friend!
We love the effort you put into setting up the camera far away and then walking by. We do that, too, from time to time and we think it just adds to the quality of a video. Uh-oh! Bear scat! Time to yell "Hey Bear!" 🐻🐾😁 The woodsy hikes are nice, too, and they feel peaceful. A bit steep, though, eh?! LOL! Nice it leveled out. Ooh! Channel shout-outs is a great idea! 🥰 Oh great, more bear scat! You might be having company soon. Oh, wow, a rattlesnake! That's not the company we were expecting! 🐍 I (Rachel) almost stepped on a bull snake in Custer State Park one time. John was able to stop me before I did. I didn't even see him. 👀 He just slithered on by. We hear coyotes a lot while camping. They are fun to hear at night. Thanks for another great video! There's another one in the books!
When I was seeing all of the scat I thought everybody would assume that it would be a bear I ran up on that was going to be the ''danger'' on the trail,lol! The rattler didn't give warning and I was almost on top of him before I saw him. We hear coyotes at night quite a bit too. As always thanks for watching and have a great day!
Great long shot of you walking down the curved road, Jim. I think your goal of hiking that NRA is admirable and ambitious. I hope you make a video of the hike when you finally complete all the trails! Keep up the good work! 👍👍
Hi Jim. Another enjoyable hike video. I like the way you take a hike of any length and make it informational and interesting. As for your "encounters", a rattling snake is asking for trouble (i.e. a rock on its head). I'm like you, I've seen very few poisonous snakes in my 40+ years of hiking. And, since I very much dislike those kind of snakes, I hope my record continues. 🙂 Prayers for you to always have a safe hike.
Hey Ken nice of you to stop by my friend. That was the very first one I have seen in the Mt. Rogers NRA,the other one was up near Roanoke. Thanks for watching and hope you have a great week!
That looked incredibly steep. Very smart, to keep talking through the area. I like Age! 😁 I don't know Uncle Joe Hikes. I'll check him out. I'm subbed to Age already. Beautiful big rattler! Thank you for not unaliving him! It's their home; we're the visitors. I live by a protected den. Very misunderstood creatures that are generally docile. That's a lot of bear scat! Another one in the books! Great video! 😃💚👊
It was steeper than it looked on camera and it was kicking my butt. I like Age as well and Uncle Joe hikes mostly in north east Georgia. It was a nice looking rattler and the very first one I have seen in the NRA as the other one was in Roanoke,Va. at McAfee Knob,although I have only seen those two I have however heard a few of them while hiking. Yeah that was quite a bit of scat and some of it very fresh.Thanks as always!
Nice big beautiful rattlesnake you encountered Jim. I’ve only seen a few in all my years too. Copperheads are a different story. Seen hundreds of them. I’m always hollering out something when I solo hike to let the bears know I’m coming, at least every couple hundred yards. Never had any issues except for one. A big old male bear was in a swift flowing stream and didn’t hear me. I waited until he turned away from me and slipped on past him at about 75 yards. Keep on knocking those sections out that you need to complete all the trails in Mt. Rogers. You have to be getting close! Take care my friend, maybe we can get together for a hike again sometime this fall.
Yeah it was a good looking snake. I actually haven't see alot of copperheads in the NRA either. Bears don't worry so much but you never know about them either. As for my goal I have just under 200 miles of trails to go to complete them all and hope to get it all done over the next two years before my hip completely gives out. looking forward to hitting the trails with you again! Take care my dear friend.
Good thing you didn't step on the snake, Father! As always awesome video 😁 It would have been cool to see the bear that looked to be eating very well 😂
Well as soon as I saw that bear scat, that would have been me turning round and back in the car! Looked a good trail to start with but soon got overgrown in parts and steep too and there are two channels you mentioned there I have never heard of before. To be honest, I would be dam happy of I never saw a rattler on the trail, not that we do have them in the UK but we do have one venomous snake here, which is the adder and I saw my first one last year, when I nearly stood on it - yikes! Cheers Alan.
Bears are very common in the NRA and given the title of the video I assumed most folks were thinking it was going to be a bear I encountered rather than a rattlesnake and to be honest I would have preferred the bear over the snake as 99% of the time a bear will run when they see you as compared to the snake which didn't give me warning until I was almost within striking range and that freaked me out a little. Correct me if I'm wrong but the UK doesn't have bears either? Thanks my friend for stopping by!
Hi Jim! That sure was a lot of bear poop piles! I’d expect you to see a bear with all that activity! Nice snake- good thing you spotted him, I could really hear his rattle, an unmistakeable sound. Whew! I always enjoy a good forest hike- glad you’re getting more miles done on your Mt Rogers quest. We’re out in Utah camping and hiking with no Internet… just came to town for ice and wanted to say hi. We got to see Packs and Kristy over the weekend, and catch a few fish. Take care and I’ll catch up with your other videos when we get home. O and I follow Age, I’ll check out Uncle Joe- thanks! Jen 👌👍👍
It was quite the bear scat for sure and probably from more than one bear as I saw it over the course of 3 miles. The snake gave no initial warning so if I hadn't looked down when I did I may have possibly been bitten. Packs had mentioned you and Steve were headed out his way. I hope you had an awesome time. Thanks Jen!
I don't know why it showed I wasn't subscribed...must be why I wasn't gettin notified. Listen to that sound of nature. I like it better in the fall. Way better views. I didn't know they were that many bears in that area. Glad you had lots of shade, it's been hot. You are not old...Shoo, most young people can't keep up with you! Love the video
Yep,the fall is much better hiking weather. Yeah there's alot of bears around but 99.9% of the time they will run when they see you. Thanks for the kind words on my age,lol. Have a great week!
Thank you for the Shout Out, Jim😁 It looked all calm when you first passed it...did you poke it with your poo poles? 😂 Those are a pretty good size snake! It looked easy to spot, which is nice🐍 That was very exciting! Lots of bear 💩 on that trail. Are you sure you're not following the bear? That looked like a nice hike! I hope you're having a great weekend, Jim😊
Yeah,it was very calm when I first came up on it which is rare and no I didn't poke him with my ''poo'' poles,lol. He was a decent size snake and kinda surprised me as it was only the second one I had ever seen and the very first one in the NRA. I was sure I was going to run across a bear but it just didn't happen. Thanks my friend!
@@JimHayesHiking you handled that snake well! I get started when I come across a garter snake, lol😁 There are no venomous snakes on Vancouver Island, but I guess I'm getting myself prepared for when I venture further and into places with rattlers🐍🐍 I think the bear was one step ahead of you🐻😀
I'd say you better start packing a "bear bell"...you know, one of those that let the bears know that it is time for supper! lol Hope your temps down there have been keeping good...we're on almost a week now of +40C feel-like temps with the 100% humidity. Now that sure looks like a well-fed rattler...yikes!! Nope, not a happy, chilled out soul at all! But on the positive side, that rattle will keep the bears away! Well, I am happy that no bears made an appearance. Take good care and enjoy the week!
I'm not usually worried too much about bears but I try to use some caution when I come across so much fresh scat. The snake surprised me as he didn't warn me before I got so close. Our temps are hot in lower elevations and the temp here now as I write these words is 91F which I believe is about 33 C?Thanks Bruce,have a great day my friend!
I’m from CA Sierra and have never seen a rattlesnake that dark in color. Though common at lower elevations here, I too recently,y saw a rattler in the high country. 1st time ever and I’ve been out here 50 years. I was in VA last year and hiked a feeder trail t the AT and parts of the AT On The feeder trail, there were so many prints and scat that I was certain I was following a bear.
Yes,this rattler was much darker than the first one I saw years earlier. I see bear scat alot as the state has over 20,000 black bears. Thanks for stopping by!
Well you found the back end of the bear... Always good not to find the front end. At least not close up... Yep bears and snakes like trails too...LOL. As far as rattle snakes I hate the little ones that are hard to see and don't have rattles yet but do have fangs and venom .. 🙄
I have heard all of my life the young ones are more deadly then the adults. I have seen alot of bears over the years but never manage to get them on video. Thanks Max!
I have done lots of sections of the horse trail. I don’t think any of them were as narrow or overgrown as this looks. Some of the trailheads are remote. I parked on Dry Creek Rd last week and hiked a piece.
@@JimHayesHiking yeah it's supposed to be 109 heat index here this weekend so I decided that it would be best to wait until it's alot cooler outside to it
THE NO CAMPING SIGN NEEDS TO BE CUT DOWN, ... HA! THANKS FOR SHARING THE INTERESTING TRAIL, I'M CURIOUS TO ASK, WAS THAT A TIMBER RATTLER OR A DIFFERENT SPECIES? PLEASE, ARE YOU EXPERIENCING A HIGHER DENSITY OF TICKS IN YOUR REGION Than PREVIOUS YEARS? HERE IN OREGON, IT'S A RISING PROBLEM. THANKS FOR THE LINKS, THAT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT A GOOD CREATOR DOSE. Y.T. USED TO BE A HECK OF AN EXCHANGE COMMUNITY, SHARING TAGS AND THE LIKE. WARM REGARDS FROM OREGON.
Yes it was a timber rattler. As for ticks I couldn't really say if they are worse this year or not as I'm never bothered by them,they just don't get on me for some reason.Thanks for stopping by! I am going to check out your channel as well.