Hiking

Us

Mike and the kids heading down the wash to check out the water and a "cave"

Checking out the "cave"

Carlee

Logan

Rattlesnake

We took the kids hiking this past Friday since they were out of school for Good Friday. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! The kids carried their own backpacks for the first time (snacks and drinks included)! Everything is so green, lots of things in bloom and the rain has done us a lot of good here. However, we did meet an unexpected visitor on our last .50 mile of the hike out. It was a VERY exciting way to end our hike! Carlee was hiking first and thought it was a stick, then saw it move so she jumped, screamed and ran. Logan was scared, so he pushed Carlee back towards the SNAKE! They were like two stooges! I immediately grabbed the kids to "take cover" and let Mike handle the situation. The rattler was spooked by us, after all he was just sunning himself and trying to enjoy the day, like us. By this time he was off the trail but he was coiled and rattling. He was very bothered by all that was happening (Carlee screaming, trembling and crying. No matter what I said to her I couldn't calm her down.) Mike threw a rock at the snake to get him to move along and the snake struck at him. So, now it was "game on". After a long battle, and more people that had joined in because they too were hiking on the trail, the snake lost. We didn't want him attacking anyone else after we had gone off since he had already struck at Mike. It was exciting, scary and and a good family memory. All in all, it turned out to be a good day.