The sun was working its magic, drawing serpents from their cold stone holes.  A small Cottonmouth lay in the leaves; a neonate Southern Black Racer as well.    In places, rock falls left large blocks of stone that we either clambered over or worked our way around.  Quinn and Trevor, our two canine companions, did very well at keeping up with us, although they collected a nice assortment of cockleburs along the way.  Mike and Bryan would have plenty of picking and grooming to do later on.

We reached a break in the bluff.  Ahead of us lay a wide low space, free of trees and covered with jewel weed and cockleburs and other weedy vegetation.  A small, muddy stream bisected the gap, and what looked like solid ground turned out to be mud as I tried to jump the trickle.  My low-cut hikers sank in about six inches, and I managed to pull my left foot right out of the shoe.  I had to yank and tug with some force to free my shoe  from the grey-green muck.  Ugh.   Oh well, nothing for it but to pour the mud out and put it back on and keep going.  We fought our way through the thick brush, Mike and Bryan carrying their pups in places, and finally reached rock wall again.

Once again the Green Snakes put in appearances, and at the top of a sunny rise we surprised a large Southern Black Racer, which promptly zipped downhill into a brushy rockpile.  I would have liked to get a picture of that snake, but sneaking up on a racer for a close shot is a bit problematic.

Eagle-eyed Ryan spotted another Copperhead, lying just outside a crevice.   I didn't get a very good picture of this snake, unfortunately.  A nice specimen about two and a half feet in size, it wasn't interested in posing quietly as Copperheads often do. It wasn't before another Copperhead turned up, this one ensconced in a weathered low hole.  It didn't move as we snuck up to take its picture, and we left it alone otherwise.

Earlier we had gotten a brief glimpse of a Western Ribbon Snake zipping away, and now we came across another one.  This one, an adult of two feet or so, was a bit more obliging.  I wondered if the Ribbon Snakes were finding enough to eat; it had been a dry summer and an equally dry fall, not the best conditions for this year's crop of little frogs.  This snake had good body weight, fortunately.