A lot of times when people find out that Bill and I hiked the PCT in 2005,  the ladies ask me, “Weren’t you scared of the rattlesnakes?”   Let’s put it this way:  I am VERY polite to rattlesnakes, and find that almost all of them are equally polite to me.  Sometimes I call them “the gentlemen of the trail”,  because they BUZZ to let you know you are too close and they are getting nervous.  Most of them, after giving you a buzz, head away as fast as they can, while  we do the same!   While I am running fast to get by them, they are slithering equally fast in the opposite direction!

OK, there are exceptions–we have met a few very determined rattlesnakes– but I’ve noticed that they always have a good reason for their determination.  Usually that reason is they’ve found a really “cushy” spot where they are very comfortable, and they don’t want to leave.  They would rather YOU go away, so they can rest in comfort.  Can’t say I blame them–if I were a rattlesnake on a 100 degree-plus day, and I’d found the perfect spot under a bush, and a hiker came along, I know I wouldn’t want to move, either!  I’d rather let that hiker know, “I got here first, and you look scary.  Go away!”

On the PCT, we met many rattlesnakes.  The first one was on our second day, climbing up into the Laguna Mountains.  It was late in the afternoon, which is when the snakes start to come out.  He buzzed nicely, I ran a little bit, and we were both fine.   Probably the MOST DETERMINED rattlesnake we met on our entire trip was heading down toward Scissors Crossing.  Again, it was late afternoon of a very hot day.  He was right in the middle of the trail, and there was no way he was going to move over for us, even when Bill nailed him right in the nose with a small rock.  So we had to go offtrail and go around him.  Sigh.   As to the part of the PCT with the MOST rattlesnakes, I would give that “prize” to the stretch between Burney Falls State Park and Castella.  It’s shady there–lots of big trees–and also very hot.   Perfect rattlesnake country, and man, were there a lot of them.   All very polite, however.

Personally, as I said, I have great respect for rattlesnakes,  but I am not freaked out by them.  A rattlesnake bite will NOT kill you.  

Bill and I were out on one of our short (2 1/2 hours) hikes today.  After two days of rain, it was glorious to be in sunshine again, with the hills intensely green and lots of wildflowers out.   It was not a good day for seeing rattlesnakes!   They don’t like it in the cool, wet, damp springtime.   Normally around here, you don’t see them till it’s well and truly summertime, and usually we only spot them in the late afternoon when the ground is thoroughly warmed up by a hot sun.

This past weekend, we had a wonderful Easter, with very moving and solemn services on Good Friday, and then Easter morning, we were up at 4:30 am to drive into the mountains for an Easter Sunrise service at a place called Mt. Gilead.  It’s in the redwoods out near Russian River.  You park your car in a deep, dark redwood valley, then begin your hike up a fire road to the top of the mountain.  It’s very dark in the valley, and even darker as you begin your climb.  We never bring a flashlight.  Making your way up in the darkness is part of the experience (We think so, anyway!  Other people bring flashlights).  After quite a climb, you are finally on top, the trees thin out, and for awhile (till the clouds moved in) we could see the moon.  Very beautiful.    The service begins in darkness, then as the sun comes up, it gets brighter and brighter.   The birds begin to sing.   Because of the thick clouds (which turned into pouring rain a few hours later) we never got to see the sunrise this year, but that’s OK–it’s still gorgeous to watch the brightness building up.   We got to do a lot of singing (it was cold enough to see your breath!) and shout with joy, “The Lord is risen!  He is risen indeed!” 

Then Bill and I trotted down the mountain, watching the kids “kamikaze” down the really steep parts, and had the most awesome breakfast ever, a breakfast worthy of a thruhiker with a major case of “hiker hunger”, before heading for “regular” church services back home.  It is a day to enjoy!   In the evening, in our family, we have what we call a “Resurrection feast”, all of food which Jesus and his disciples might have had at a feast in their time, and we watch the “Jesus” film made many years ago by Warner Brothers and Campus Crusade. 

The next day (yesterday), Bill and I spent several hours carefully checking all the food in our resupply boxes to make sure that everything was there.  Yup, all is well.  Now we start adding the NON-food items, like maps and replacement shoes and stuff like that.  Bill lined up a rental car for us to drive from Petaluma to San Diego.   I finished making a new “town” shirt to carry in my pack. It was a good, busy day of “PCT Prep”.