[pct-l] fear - snakes

[losthiker at sisqtel.net (Deems)]

I'm not afraid of snakes, but have a healthy respect for the rattling kind.
In 1999 I was hiking up Wooley Creek in the Marbles with a friend, and I was
ahead of him by about 2 minutes. I met and was greeted warmly by a well
mannered rattler on a rock ledge head high about 5 ft away. He had his say,
and I jumped a bit, but I saw there was no danger. Since my friend was a
citified hiker, and out of shape, I waited in the shade about 50 feet up the
trail from R.Snake's address for him to catch up. I still get a little
chuckle from watching his reaction when the snake rattled the same warning I
had heard. He too jumped a bit,  just looked at him, and walked along; and
we both got a good laugh and a memory to share.
When hiking along snake street, which is just about any stretch of the PCT
in California, you can expect to see them, but mostly they'll just cheer you
along with their own song.