Rattlesnake! Beautiful, black-phase timber rattlesnake crossing the former route of the AT atop Blue Mountain north of Lehigh Gap (Section 2) near Palmerton, Pennsylvania.

Treasure the moment when you see one of these magnificent creatures like I did after first hearing its rattle, then stopping dead in my tracks, and looking down to see it before I almost stepped in its way.

The AT has been relocated from this area to just below the summit of Blue Mountain overlooking Palmerton to give the ridge time to revegetate its denuded surface caused by decades of emissions from a now-closed zinc manufacturing facility in Palmerton.

The revegetation project is working. Note the green grass.

Photo taken 4:50 p.m. Friday, May 18, 2012.