Rattlers

Calmly waiting to greet us at our Oasis Spring campsite, on from Mt. Laguna, was this beautiful rattlesnake. She was very polite, rattling her tail to make sure we were paying attention, before moving off to her den. We watched her go, and then were able to get the water we needed from the hand pump she had been guarding.

In another rattlesnake encounter, I stumbled backwards into a rattlesnake. My Dad was telling me to come but I didn’t really understand why he was so tense. I couldn’t see anything wrong. But I was doing what my Mum is forever telling me not to do – absent-mindedly walking backwards. I don’t know why I do that, but this time my Dad almost tore his own throat out ordering me to stop, and as I felt my heel touch something it suddenly clicked in my mind what was happening. I just sprang forward. The snake didn’t strike and I didn’t get hurt.

I overheard another hiker saying he hadn’t seen a single snake on the trail. But they are around!

Read next post…