Near Snake Experience

Dave and I decided to go for a hike, exploring some old dirt roads around the area south of Moab.  We were walking up a road that was too old to drive on--had not been maintained for years.  I'll add more pictures to another post about the old mine and houses we found, but today I wanted to share my rattle snake find!

We were on our way back down from the mine when I stepped over a rock and heard the buzzing.  Dave later said it sounded like a cicada, but my brain registered what it was before I knew what was happening.  I froze, trying to figure out where it was and if it was safe to step away from it.  Dave registered it after me, saying "Don't move!  There's a rattlesnake!"  I heard him talking but tuned him out in favor of the snake.  A few seconds later it crawled out from under a rock, moving away from me.  I relaxed when I saw it was too far away to be dangerous.

Dave wanted me to move immediately so it didn't block his path behind me, but then he changed his mind.  He said, "we need pictures!"  I'm thinking, "what??? I want to get away from it!"  So we both took a fast couple of pictures before we left the snake alone and continued our journey.

We have Midget-faded Rattlesnakes in this area.  They are only about three feet long at their largest and their faded color helps them blend in to their surroundings.  They are small, but don't let size fool you!  They are still rattlesnakes with rattlesnake venom!  I read that only one out of three strikes actually contain venom--they usually want to reserve their venom for their prey and they strike humans for defense, not because they're thinking of us as food.  Venom is actually a modified saliva, that starts digesting the snake's prey before they even swallow it.

I've seen rattlesnakes before, in and out of the park, but I've never had one rattle at me from right under my feet!  Quite an adrenalin rush, and took my mind off the fact that we had packed a backpack full of snacks and water...but had left it in the truck!  We were ready for it by the time we got back!

Miles to the Moon

This is just an observation I wanted to share...

I am reading a book called Interpretation for the 21st Century, 15 Guiding Principles.  It gives some examples of interpretive exhibits and text and the one that stood out the most was about the blue whale.  They have the longest migration route of any animal on the planet, roughly 10,000 miles in a year.  During their lifetime, the distance they travel is about equal to the distance to the moon from earth and back.  I thought that was amazing...maybe the moon in my mind was this thing that was too far away to comprehend. 

Here is another observation:

The moon is, on average, 238,857 miles from earth (depending on which source  you use!).  Dave's 1997 Toyota Tacoma has over 200,000 miles on it--not sure the exact mileage, but it's got almost enough miles to have made it from here to the moon!  I have no idea why I find that so fascinating, but I do...

Anyway, just a few random thoughts!

Learning to Mountain Bike...

...with a "jalopy."

My mountain bike is a red, steel, Specialized Rockhopper from the 1980s.  The staff at Rim Cyclry think they had it first and were the original sellers.  I take it there for maintenance on the tires, etc.  The chain probably needs some work but the gears shift and the brakes stop, and that's all I care about.  I've only ridden a "newish" mountain bike once and that was in Washington two summers ago--I only used it for road biking though.  I'm told when I ride a better one, like one with shocks and suspension, I'll fall in love with it and have more confidence when I ride--but the truth is that I love my bike!  I bought it used from a friend in Moab for $100 a few years ago.

Raven caught flying from the bike trail down towards the ranger residences!

That said, I'm barely learning to mountain bike, on some beginner trails.  I learned fast that "beginner" does not mean "easy."  Dave and I rode a moderate trail (Bar M) that was easier than Dead Horse Point's beginner trail, so I'm thinking the ratings could be a little arbitrary...

The other night after work we rode the Great Pyramid Loop part of the Intrepid Trail System at DHP.  It took us a little over an hour, so we got back right after dark.  The trail is fun, with a few technical spots, so I have to walk my bike up ledges and through deep sand.  Dave was left waiting for me a few times but it was worth the time.  It's fun and definitely challenging for me!

Not me or Dave, but someone riding back to the trailhead!

Parts of the trail are slickrock, while other parts are loose sand and hardened surface. (A coworker actually took this picture!)

One of my favorite views from the trail.  There are places to park bikes and walk to overlooks.  Don't want any bikers falling off those cliffs! (Same coworker took this picture too...)

So it's been a great learning experience and we've been dying to get outside more now that the weather is nice.  I love riding my bike anyway, whether it's around town, on an island or on a trail (even a dirt road works!)  Next week we're riding down Gemini Bridges, so I'll try to get pictures of that too!  Happy riding!

Uninvited Guest?

This curious little guy (or big guy) either lives under the shed or under the house.  They eat anything and everything, coming out at night to cause their mischief.  Maybe that's not fair, and it's really "cute" but I'm not sure whether having a raccoon around is good or bad news for us living in the cottage.  If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

It all started when....it snowed a little and we started looking at animal tracks.  There are lots of feral cats in our neighborhood (the humane society traps them, neuters/spays them, then releases them back into the wild) but some tracks definitely didn't fit in with those!  I wish I'd taken a picture, but we looked them up online later, coming up with the fact that it was a raccoon.  We borrowed the trail camera from work, setting it up between the shed and the cottage.

We also got this video footage:

It's only five seconds long, but you get the point!

Book Review #2: The Shack by William Young

http://www.theshackbook.com/

The Shack

I picked up this book yesterday morning before sunrise, even, because I couldn't sleep.  I sat on the couch pretty much all day reading, drinking tea and eating.  I took my book with me to ride along and do errands while Dave was driving.  I fell asleep at night on the couch with less than 10 pages to go and finished it this morning.  My mom gave it to me over a year ago and I hadn't touched it until now, and I'm glad I did.

Combine an intriguing narrative with deep Christian spiritual concepts and you get a book I wasn't able to put down!  Without giving away too much of the plot (because I highly recommend reading this book, whether you are or are not Christian--in fact I've just read that non-Christians often get more from reading this book than Christians do because...you'll have to read to find out why), Mack's youngest daughter was brutally murdered in a small shack in the woods after a family camping trip in the Pacific Northwest.  Three and a half years later he receives a note, apparently from God, to spend a weekend with Him in the same shack.  Mack goes to the shack and returns a completely changed man.  I didn't feel a profound sense of change as I read this book but it does bring home the importance of love and forgiveness and the power of relationships in our lives.