I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake yesterday!!
It was the first warm day in a while, and as long as I needed to go into town to get something, I wanted to go caching. I didn't set out to place any, but when I got to the Loveland Reservoir parking area, I saw there might be an opportunity, and after walking along the California Riding and Hiking trail quite a distance, I had placed two more caches . . .
Because it was so nice, I decided to go to my Puzzle cache to retrieve a coin that had been in there for a month. Since I mention the huge jade plant and the house foundation in the story, I also wanted to take a couple of pictures. It was very green and grassy, so I wasn't thinking "snake" as I walked around to get a better angle.
Just as I stepped over a patch of thistles, I heard this sound I actually didn't recognize . . .
The tone was much deeper than the rattlesnakes I got used to hearing when I lived in Wickenburg, AZ. By the time I figured it out, the snake decided he didn't want to stay where my foot was going to land and, while continuing to rattle, slithered off under the jade plants.
That certainly wasn't where I expected a snake to live . . .
It looked like it was almost as large as this snake that was found at duganrm's new "Puzzle Blocker" cache.
For the rest of the walk to my cache, I was really spooked. I walked with my walking stick out in front of me, tapping the ground like a blind person does with their white cane. I saw one more snake along the way, a little one that went in a hole very quickly. I didn't get a good look at it, but I have a feeling it was also a rattlesnake . . .
I retrieved the coin and made my way cautiously back to the car, taking more pictures along the way. This is the house foundation with the huge jade plant in the background. Would you be thinking about rattlesnakes in that green environment?
And here is a better picture of the cistern. The other times I was in the area it was somewhat overcast.
Before heading home, I found a few more caches. One was disappointing because two dogs barked the entire time I was approaching the cache location and searching for the container. Because of the cache name, "Don't Wake the Old People," I wonder if the cache placer wants to disturb the people who live nearby. There were many other good places to put the cache along the .25 mile distance of the little-used trail where the dogs would not disturbed by a stranger's presense, and where the view of Lake Jennings was really nice.
I don't think my log was very nice . . . but I think the cache is in the wrong place. I would never put a cache where dogs would bark and announce my presence . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Somehow I missed the notifications that Marco Ramius had approved my new caches last night. I now have 61 out there . . . Am I crazy? When I started this "sport/hobby/activity/obsession," I was so worried about cache maintenance, I didn't think I would ever have more than two out there.
One of the caches, "High Above Loveland Reservoir," is a walk of about .7 along the California Riding and Hiking trail from the trail entrance near the parking area for fishing at Loveland Reservoir. The other one, "Loveland Reservoir R & H Trail," is close to where the trail starts.
One of the containers is related to the container Let's Look Over Thayer used for his original "Gipionysius and the Pirates" cache. The other is a cammoed, by being inside something else, waterproof match container. I'm looking forward to the logs by the first finders.
It is a beautiful day today, but, unfortunately, the price of gas is going to keep me home . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
UPDATE: It looks like 3cds was FTF. He hasn't logged yet, but Chuy just logged the second cache.
Because it was so nice, I decided to go to my Puzzle cache to retrieve a coin that had been in there for a month. Since I mention the huge jade plant and the house foundation in the story, I also wanted to take a couple of pictures. It was very green and grassy, so I wasn't thinking "snake" as I walked around to get a better angle.
Just as I stepped over a patch of thistles, I heard this sound I actually didn't recognize . . .
The tone was much deeper than the rattlesnakes I got used to hearing when I lived in Wickenburg, AZ. By the time I figured it out, the snake decided he didn't want to stay where my foot was going to land and, while continuing to rattle, slithered off under the jade plants.
That certainly wasn't where I expected a snake to live . . .
It looked like it was almost as large as this snake that was found at duganrm's new "Puzzle Blocker" cache.
For the rest of the walk to my cache, I was really spooked. I walked with my walking stick out in front of me, tapping the ground like a blind person does with their white cane. I saw one more snake along the way, a little one that went in a hole very quickly. I didn't get a good look at it, but I have a feeling it was also a rattlesnake . . .
I retrieved the coin and made my way cautiously back to the car, taking more pictures along the way. This is the house foundation with the huge jade plant in the background. Would you be thinking about rattlesnakes in that green environment?
And here is a better picture of the cistern. The other times I was in the area it was somewhat overcast.
Before heading home, I found a few more caches. One was disappointing because two dogs barked the entire time I was approaching the cache location and searching for the container. Because of the cache name, "Don't Wake the Old People," I wonder if the cache placer wants to disturb the people who live nearby. There were many other good places to put the cache along the .25 mile distance of the little-used trail where the dogs would not disturbed by a stranger's presense, and where the view of Lake Jennings was really nice.
I don't think my log was very nice . . . but I think the cache is in the wrong place. I would never put a cache where dogs would bark and announce my presence . . .
Somehow I missed the notifications that Marco Ramius had approved my new caches last night. I now have 61 out there . . . Am I crazy? When I started this "sport/hobby/activity/obsession," I was so worried about cache maintenance, I didn't think I would ever have more than two out there.
One of the caches, "High Above Loveland Reservoir," is a walk of about .7 along the California Riding and Hiking trail from the trail entrance near the parking area for fishing at Loveland Reservoir. The other one, "Loveland Reservoir R & H Trail," is close to where the trail starts.
One of the containers is related to the container Let's Look Over Thayer used for his original "Gipionysius and the Pirates" cache. The other is a cammoed, by being inside something else, waterproof match container. I'm looking forward to the logs by the first finders.
It is a beautiful day today, but, unfortunately, the price of gas is going to keep me home . . .
UPDATE: It looks like 3cds was FTF. He hasn't logged yet, but Chuy just logged the second cache.
posted by Miragee at
7:44:00 AM
10-Day Forecast
1 Comments:
Phew - I hate snakes. Goo thing that rattlesnake took off. Great pics. Looks like a nice area.
Mike an Barb
At Jestcaching
By
jestjuggle, at 6:00 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home