. I more than doubled my distance from it before allowing my attention to wander from it. At 4:00 a.m. But, you should also know, I have carried a proper snakebite kit in my pack just in case for all those years! Members who are knowledgeable about this destination and volunteer their time to answer travelers' questions. That’s what everybody says. The biggest thing is if you're scrambling over any rocks (particularly in the sun), just be aware of where you're putting your feet/hands. Not a lot, actually, just a handful. We have hiked all over the place for years and not yet encountered more than a rattlesnake track, so the advice is they are there, you need to watch where you walk and put your hands, but the place is not crawling with rattlesnakes. One of my snakebite kits may be 30 years old, and I should check it to be sure the rubber suction cups are still pliable. There are some nice sites along the river maybe 1/2 mile east of Pate Valley. I've been going since about 1984 in all seasons, and have seen exactly one. During their visit to Death Valley National Park as part of their 16 day road trip out west, Bud and Kim enountered this lovely little rattlesnake by the side of the road. At 8,000 feet in the seven o’clock hour on a chill morning I never thought to look for rattlesnakes. I know what I did. That was a close one! There is a bridge around "register creek", and another nearer the hill climb to Waterwheel. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. . I don’t think he knew that I knew he was watching me. If you’re going for speed (current Fastest Known Time held by Leor Pantilat is 13:38 for the car-to-car loop without shuttle. The split second moment he caught sight of the rattler as he passed. I walked past one and nearly stepped on another in as many days when out backpacking this summer in the Los Padres National Forest. The snake, just awaking, pulled back, half coiled and gave a little shake, then got moving. .here, where there are still the silences and the loneliness of the earth before man, . Rattlesnakes seem rather nonthreatening in my own experience except when pestered or when I come too close. The snake slithered out from the darkened void between the rocks and hung from the outcrop by what looked like only the last third of its body, wagging in the misted air of the waterfall back and forth above the pool, apparently looking for something. That extra burden of worry I had forgotten about, as every little spot in the forest I had walked over and passed by without regard a moment earlier, I now remember with frightened intensity can be hiding a killer serpent ready to strike. NPS. I stepped sideways all the way around, keeping myself facing it so I would be able to see what it was doing. .Of course, the ticks were happy to welcome us, as were the biting gnats. Most snakes are not interested in us and will avoid us if we don't disturb them. Not to say that you should go and pick one up or anything, but it's something to keep in mind. Don't cut yourself with the idea of sucking out the venom. I was still plenty far from it, but it noticed me and turned and coiled up right there in the middle. (ta && ta.queueForLoad ? This weblog is dedicated to the men and women who have fought or died in defense of liberty, that we may live in freedom, and read and write what we wish. The old cliches. Several of us in the group verified that you can jump 3 vertical feet with a 40 pound pack when startled by a rattler. Then they get aggressive or at least loud. It's not a huge deal, but you'll want to stay alert for rattlesnakes and bears. Enjoyed your blog today. Thoughts. Last summer I saw 6 or 8 when bicycling. It won't be easy, but the victim needs to sit down and place the bitten area lower than the rest of the body, and send someone for help. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. I wondered. He got vibed by the locals. i.e. .”. Getting excited speeds up your pulse and breathing, which will circulate the venom faster. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g143021-i2027-k3335902-l23856843-Snakes-Death_Valley_National_Park_California.html. The map shows only the one nearer waterwheel. Rattlesnakes are still prevalent, especially upstream of Hetch Hetchy to Pate Valley. Those twenty minutes or so after seeing a rattlesnake when hiking are always especially nerve wracking. Change ). Rattlesnake circled on the left, the line showing where I was loitering about, and the coffee cup on the boulder. Chances are you will never need this advice, so have a good time! ROUTES to Death Valley? You may find bunny rabbits or vicious puma in the crevices. 3473422984 / 347-342-2984. w. ann hewitt 1000 walnut st new york. The ranger told us there were some sites around Mosquito Creek, which still had running water in mid-September. LAS VEGAS one-day turnaround trips - what can we see? As Tet says, millions have survived, or at least so it would seem. WILDFLOWERS - will this be a superbloom year? While many claim this was a sister to Yosemite Valley, it was actually much smaller, less dramatic, lower elevation with a much different micro-climate, swampy, and it was mosquito and rattlesnake infested. CAMPING - where and when can we camp in Death Valley? This is the often recommended direction for this hike. But it’s more than usual. The settlers who stayed in this valley found day-to-day subsistence challenging. Several of us in the group verified that you can jump 3 vertical feet with a 40 pound pack when startled by a rattler. Can we meet them? Thank you. “I set the world record standing long jump of 25 feet on the Horn Canyon trail in 1984,” local hillwalker E.M. Walker writes of a day of glory long ago in the mountains of Ojai. Pate Valley itself is reputed to harbor many rattlesnakes, but we didn't see any on our trip through. Pate Valley is known for a high incident of bear sightings as well as rattlesnakes and more mosquitoes than you know what to do with. I didn’t even see it. The link PNWF gave isn't working for me. There were lots of rattlesnakes along that section of trail, some quiet, some loud, and all different sizes. He was not a herpetologist but he knew what he was talking about from his own common experience. Watch your front and your back when you’re out in them thar hills. The pupils of the eyes are vertically elliptical. Plenty of nice sites on both sides of the river in Pate Valley. 3473422785 / 347-342-2785. w. kenneth oberst 52 evans st new york. I’d look over at the snake every once and a bit and shudder again. I moved back a step or two and (s)he slithered into the underbrush. We’re between the 118 and Santa Susana Pass. Death Valley does have rattlesnakes, but they aren't seen very often. During our four days of backpacking, we seek to experience what Muir felt. There is unreasonable fear, and then there is common sense and a healthy respect for nature. The three are … Yes, I had been out there the week before, I told him. Rattlesnakes, an important component of the park’s ecosystem, help control rodent populations. Doing it the opposite way gives a brutal last day of elevation gain. There are some nice sites along the river maybe 1/2 mile east of Pate Valley. An interesting thing is most peole who are bitten by rattlesnakes are males 20 or 30 years old who have been drinking ! Prairie Rattlesnakes den communally, but range up to 7 miles from the dens during the summer. “He carefully keeps his venom to himself as far as man is concerned unless his life is threatened,” Muir wrote. Predators, whether bobcats or coyotes or snakes, control prey that can grow out of balance otherwise. And those 10 miles would be about 10 times harder than I anticipated. But there are acres and acres of There are many stories here for you. They farmed, hunted, tried bee ranching, gathered greasewood, cultivated vineyards and dodged rattlesnakes. The others are the northern copperhead and the eastern massasauga rattlesnake. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The most important thing to do is the hardest: stay calm. The type of rattlesnake in the Yosemite area tends to be less aggressive than the type seen in the desert areas. What else would you do? After you cross the Pate Valley bridges, there are a variety of good campsites near the Tuolumne River in Pate Valley. 5-stars Hotels in Death Valley National Park, Popular Death Valley National Park Categories. At 4:00 a.m. And two scary encounters with rattlesnakes. Depending on the time of year you visit Hetch Hetchy, and assuming you venture past the parking lot and dam, high chances are you will encounter at least one rattlesnake each day. Depending on the time of year you visit Hetch Hetchy, and assuming you venture past the parking lot and dam, high chances are you will encounter at least one rattlesnake each day. That’s a bummer man. I stepped back, it wasn’t interested in moving. By the end of the hike I was just stepping over rattlesnakes as if they were sticks, completely un-phased… Leaving Pate Valley I still had about 10 more miles to go to make my miles for the day. The biggest thing is if you're scrambling over any rocks (particularly in the sun), just be aware of where you're putting your feet/hands. Enter your email address and click the button to subscribe to Jack's blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. I don’t know. Oh, and FWIW, I’ve seen more rattlesnakes this summer than I’ve seen since 2016. Like flinching without thought at a loud noise, because when fractions of a second may mean the difference between life and death, the process of logical thinking takes too long, is a waste of time. Pate Valley is about 4,000 feet, so expect temperatures to be a LOT warmer than in White Wolf. By the end of the hike I was just stepping over rattlesnakes as if they were sticks, completely un-phased… Leaving Pate Valley I still had about 10 more miles to go to make my miles for the day. WINTER - does it exist in Death Valley, or does summer last forever? .”. The Los Padres Expatriate Hiker: Horn Canyon Vignette, Walker concedes, “Only a rattlesnake witnessed my jump that day.”, But he affirms, “That does not detract from the prodigious nature of the feat. Driving through Death Valley in August -advice please. Otherwise they mind their own business and keep quiet. Oh, you betcha. Another excellent read. ta.queueForLoad : function(f, g){document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', f);})(function(){ta.trackEventOnPage('postLinkInline', 'impression', 'postLinks-24296024', '');}, 'log_autolink_impression');Death Valley does have rattlesnakes, but they aren't seen very often. The closest I got to the ground over there was about 600 feet in altitude via Google Earth. Of course the venomous fangs and the terror triggered in a person’s head by a rattler’s presence alone, just the mere sight of one, can be impossible to ignore. My fellow hikers warned me of the high number of snakes (more specifically rattlers) present in the Canyon. We were backpacking along the Tuolumne River which starts at high elevation but in the Pate Valley it is about 4000 feet. A rattlesnake seen on the lower right of the frame here, coffee cup to the left, between the two I stood. Rattlesnakes are still prevalent, especially upstream of Hetch Hetchy to Pate Valley. Even now, writing this, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and a shiver shoots down my spine. No worries. Pate Valley is known for a high incident of bear sightings as well as rattlesnakes and more mosquitoes than you know what to do with. I suspect that in my stride through the narrow spot along the footpath my leg swiped by the snake within striking range. There is a bridge around "register creek", and another nearer the hill climb to Waterwheel. This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. COVID-19 isn’t stopping the mission of watching Santa make his rounds, but there will be one big difference this year. We ended up camping in Pate Valley and I think there were maybe 5 or 6 other groups that eventually made camp there as well. John Muir wrote of rattlesnakes in ways that match my own experience. I love and appreciate your social commentary on our local backcountry. We did spot one that evening at camp and a few others along the trail that weekend – but without … Eggshells and thin ice. Not to say that you should go and pick one up or anything, but it's something to keep in mind. She ordered a Life Flight helicopter, standard procedure for rattlesnake bites, and an ambulance stationed in Yosemite Valley, then asked Garrett to … And this was after umpteen backpacking trips in the Los Padres NF where I never once saw a snake! That wicked and malignant head attached by hair trigger to the latent deadly potential of a coiled body. Thoughts. We were in scrub in the hills behind Montecito. Not wanting to inhale their COVID-laced breath as they passed by, I moved onto the switchbacks a stood waiting for them as I admired the down-slope scenery to the north of me. We were backpacking along the Tuolumne River which starts at high elevation but in the Pate Valley it is about 4000 feet. http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/reptiles.htm buit the hills have eyes -lol-, Here is a recent thread about snakes in DV: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g143021-i2027, In general, snakes have no interest in you. So I wouldn’t say this year has been worse. linda pate 9450 lisbon rd new york. There are rattlesnakes in the hills around my city, a suburb of LA. He asked if I knew the place he mentioned. My closest encounter with a rattler (at least that I’m aware of) happened one sunny morning when I was working as a chainman for a local SB land surveyor, the summer after graduating from San Marcos HS. Rather than stopping in Pate Valley, we wanted to start the ascent out of the canyon and camp halfway to the top. Regarding rattlesnakes, I hiked the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne last year in August. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one. Boyle on getting out during the COVID lockdown, excerpted from a piece in the current September-October issue of Westways magazine. The type of rattlesnake in the Yosemite area tends to be less aggressive than the type seen in the desert areas. I was at some tight switchbacks that have been cut by MTBers when a saw a couple coming down trail. The surveyor, Jim, was making his way down a slope while I was standing near a crest with a surveyor’s rod. Only 10 acres of the original ranch are left. But they really don’t want to strike on something that isn’t food. Yosemite National Park is home to only one rattlesnake–the Northern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus oreganus). 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I finally took advantage of the status of the trail as old road and walked around through the low brush as far from it as I could. I decided to move from the rock I was on and started sliding down the side. I sat there for fifteen minutes or so marinating in the afterglow of having come so close to the hypodermic jaws of catastrophe, maybe death. Properly harnessed these ancient raw emotions can power extraordinary feats. Rattlesnakes are still prevalent, especially upstream of Hetch Hetchy to Pate Valley. “He may be just a tramp, a guy that likes to roam about this great country without any special aim, just to thank the Lord for these beautiful mountains.”, -B. Traven, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, “. .tales from one man's wanderings, regional insight and history. Neighbors also saw many. Below me, a loud rattle started up. To review the Tripadvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html. And it’s happenstance, surely. But my over-active imagination has me convinced that the Satanic reptile was on the verge of attacking. 3473422666 / 347-342-2666. w. ... matthew david 7055 w lonesome valley dr new york. 06:00 PM: Location: The fire is located within Wilderness in the Yosemite Creek drainage south of 10 Lakes trail and burning on both sides of the Tioga Road at 9,000 feet in elevation. The willies. After crossing the river, you'll go up a rather long and steady incline on the trail. The rattlesnake wasn’t as felicitous. The mere sight of its presence excited uncontrollable feelings deep within my biological machine and in a fraction of second. His question seemed odd. From White Wolf Lodge, warm up during the first ~4 miles over gently descending forested terrain, then begin the steep descent down into Pate Valley. There were many rattlesnakes along the trail, always on the uphill side of the trail. In other words, if it is warmer, they can go higher. Those were two of the closer encounters of my life, on a single short trip. When scientists deprived a group of snakes, including rattlesnakes, of food for six months, the snakes reduced their metabolic rate by as much as 72% to conserve energy, according to a … He had been eyeing me from across the dirt parking lot at the trailhead for some time. There’s something about snakes this season. I only found myself ignoring a small, but recognizable rustle from a bush when I noticed a curious order to the shadows under it. There were lots of rattlesnakes along that section of trail, some quiet, some loud, and all different sizes. . And those 10 miles would be about 10 times harder than I anticipated. The closest I got to the ground over there was about 600 feet in altitude via Google Earth. more, Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley National Park Destination Experts. Hence the rapid fire automatic flinch. i.e. I learned this as I was coming up my local trail in the Simi Hills. ( Log Out /  Rattlesnake, any of 33 species of venomous New World vipers characterized by a segmented rattle at the tip of the tail that produces a buzzing sound when vibrated. Prairie Rattlesnakes prey on a variety of animals, including mice, ground squirrels, and rabbits. A California mountain kingsnake hanging from a cascade in Manzana Creek in Santa Barbara County. Yet the communities that lie north of Los Angeles between the Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains once formed a vast, isolated, treeless, windstorm-swept dell. It turned with me as if on casters. I glanced over at some point and saw the viper wedged up in the soil and the pine needles, coiled, locked and loaded and ready to strike. We were warned by numerous fellow high campers of the dangers associated with the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. ET on […] WASHINGTON — Santa Claus is coming to town. Just like the past 65 years, the North American Aerospace Defense Command is tracking Santa as he makes his way around the world. I had stood and stepped around unknowingly so close to the snake that I might have eventually stepped on it had I not finally seen it. The Pate Valley section and White Wolf switchbacks are quite runnable . Bites happen when folks are not careful or smart (reaching into a dark area to retrieve a dropped item, showing off "Watch me kiss this snake", or as JimGin says *messing with the snake*). Hee hee, kenish--and here we always thought that drinking only made people SEE rattlesnakes (usually pink ones), not get bitten by them! We camped in one site that was nearby a good swimming hole with a beach. A full-body wet noodle shiver. There is enough water that a single 16 oz water bottle or small hydration vest is sufficient. LODGING - which Death Valley resort or hotel is best for us? Females give birth to 4 to 21 young in late summer; the young are marked similarly to adults, but colors are brighter. I ambled about my vehicle readying myself for several days in the woods. The last day's climb up from Pate Valley to White Wolf was definitely hard work for day 3, but was enjoyable nonetheless. Within a few minutes after the bite, that is no longer effective, and you risk doing more damage by cutting. Then the snake pulled itself up and slithered back where it came from. 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