PCT Day 3 – Rattlesnake Kisses

Growing up in California, as a child I used to have nightmares about being eaten by rattlesnakes. Even as an adult, snakes still scare me because I think all snakes are rattlesnakes. I know I’m a little bigger than them, but hey, if Indiana Jones can be afraid of them, so can I!

The day started out hot so our main objective was to look for water. The closest water source was at a campground about 8 miles away, but another 3/4 mile off the trail, downhill. Journal.

We arrived at camp with the water around 10am and the day had already reached 90 degrees. So we decided to take a long nap under the trees. We spread out our mat and prepared our favorite omelettes with tuna, jerky, and French fries. I know everything tastes good on the road, but if I’m not completely sick of these by the time I get to Canada, I might have to make them at home. They are amazing. Our neighbor from last night, Roman, also joined us! Last night when Conner and Roman were comparing backpacks, Conner mentioned how he adjusts his backpack and that helped Roman with his backpack! So, as a thank you, he gives us a magical trail of nuts that tastes incredible. We also met up with Broder and Isabel who started the same day as us.

Since we were going to take a longer nap to wait out the heat, I got out my watercolors and painted my little 2×2 square for the day. I had painted my last two pieces by the end of the day, so it was nice to paint this one when I wasn’t so tired.

After I finished my painting, there were some really pretty flowers on the other side of the camp, so I left Conner sleeping on the camp ground, alone, with his bare feet outside.

I came back from my little trip with my phone full of new photos of pretty wildflowers and noticed Conner was standing with his back to me, looking at a spot on the ground. As I approached, he slowly turned around and said, «you’ll never guess what crawled on me while I was sleeping.» I looked at him curiously and said «a squirrel?» He smiles and shakes his head, “guess again.”

“A bird?”

«No»

“A chipmunk?”

“It’s not a chipmunk.”

«It wasn’t a snake, was it?»

Conner smiles and says «while you were gone, I felt a tickle on my foot. I thought it was a fly or some bugs, so I shook it off. Then it kept bothering me, so I looked down and a snake slithered across my foot.»

«THAT?!» I exclaim, «Are you okay? Do you know where he is now?»

Conner says yes, «He’s just hanging out there, pretty cold actually. I didn’t even freak out when I jumped out of my nap.»

I walk slowly towards where he points and see the snake slowly slithering towards a tree and freezes. «Conner,» I say as calmly as possible, «that’s a baby rattlesnake.»

«That?» Conner says, «no, it doesn’t even ring.»

«Conner, it doesn’t matter if it’s a rattlesnake, it’s a rattlesnake or it’s not. That’s definitely a baby rattlesnake and it just crawled up your foot!»

We both stared at each other and then started laughing nervously. We are both in shock at what really happened. We immediately take note of where the snake is nestled and let everyone nearby know where it is, even leaving a comment on FarOut.

When we start again, Conner generously takes the lead because he knows that snakes and snake-like sticks really scare me. No more than 45 minutes later, my brain is distracted when I hear the loudest rattling I’ve ever heard ahead. I see Conner jump back and yell «BIG rattlesnake! HUGE rattlesnake!» We both stay completely still as we try to listen to where it glides. A few minutes pass and we hear nothing. Conner tries to shake the bush where he saw the snake with his trekking pole and still doesn’t hear anything. So we take a deep breath, jump over the bushes and run down the path.

We are both on high alert the rest of the day. Oh, rattlesnakes, creepy little boogers.

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