Pallas' coluber (Elaphe dione), Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia
Saying goodbye is never easy but I've got to keep to my schedule and pull many more creek crossings.
Hello mister reptile.
As I fall down the North Fork trail, I stumble onto this friendly black snake on the trail.  We hang out together for a long while and I make a brand new friend.
Right before popping out of the trail and next to the Ocoee River I nearly step on this fine specimen of the copperhead family.  I stop and say hello and he's okay with it for a while and then runs.  And so ends my trip.
The long hot slog of Hickory Ridge comes to an end and I immediately cross Jacks River.  I decide to take a 1.2 mile detour to Jacks Falls and find a garter snake trying to eat a toad.  The snake had him and spit him out.
a better shot of the garter snake.
Pallas' coluber (Elaphe dione), Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia
Unidentified bird with dragonfly in beak.
Pallas' coluber (Elaphe dione), Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia
Pallas' coluber (Elaphe dione), Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia
Pallas' coluber (Elaphe dione), Ikh Nart Nature Reserve, Mongolia
See photo in original gallery.