Camping with Snakes (Pine Creek Gorge 7.17.09)

[fishin_musician]

I took the family over to Cedar Run In the Pine Creek Gorge last weekend on our annual camping trip to Petticote Junction Campground. We were looking forward to testing out the new bike rack we got for one of the vans and tubing on the "higher than its been in years", Pine Creek. We had lots of plans and plenty things to do. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon we never suspected that we would forever remember the trip as the year we went camping with snakes. I've been kicking around in the woods since I was old enough to open the screen door and in my 55 years had until last weekend only seen one rattle snake. That was over thirty years ago up on Forkston Mt. It is fun telling the kids the story about an early settler (Philip Tome) to the gorge who rounded a bend in Big Pine and spied a massive boulder covered with serpents. The story lives on at Rattlesnake Rock, the terminus of the West Rim Trail.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=52495916

Swerving back top our adventure. We had decided to take a bike ride up through the Grand Canyon section of the gorge. Starting at Blackwell and riding north towards Tiadaghton (tie-a-dot-un) with the kids, particularly Mike, we didn't expect to make all the 8 miles there. But we would go until the "my legs are tired" complaints started then head back down the trail for the van.

We eventually made about six miles for a nice round trip of 12. Early on I stopped to take a pic of the creek. I have shot this section before but it is so nice I can't pass it w/o stopping to take another. I told Mike to keep going I would catch up. The pics you will see were taken just after I caught up with my crew. I had just passed them and was about 100 yards ahead when I spotted the big black phase rattler lying along the bike path. I skidded to a stop and directed everyone to the other side of the trail and we took a bunch of pics. While my wife was snapping pics I said to be careful, she was backing up along the edge of the trail, there might be more. "In fact there was one laying in the leaves a few steps behind her where she might have stepped right on it! That one was the yellow phase one in the pics. The kids were scared at first but we kept on going with the instruction to stay in the center of the road and behind Dad. We encountered the big snapper trying to lay its eggs a few hundred yards further along. It was like Daktari out there Friday morning. There were 6 or 7 more rattlesnakes spotted but we had enough pics and they didn't seem so nerve jarring after out first encounter any more.

[HenryDavid]

Wow~!  Some adventure, props to the whole family for not freaking out.  Nothing like seeing 1 snake, then a bunch of others, I'd be walking on my tippy toes.

[geotracker]

Nice photos and great experience. Your kids are learning alot this summer with a lifetime of memories. Kudos to you and Mom. Keep up the good work.

[fishin_musician]

This is Rattlesnake Ranchero.

[HenryDavid]

I'd be more concerned about warning the kids, give them prodding sticks or something, you've got your hands full.

[tailgrabber]

My Dad's neighbor in NJ got bit by a rattle snake last week. He was riding his bike through a trail in Allamuchy Park, stepped off the bike right onto the snake. Apparently you have e a pretty good chance of not getting to messed up from the bite. He got a dry bite, he still said it hurt like hell and there was some swelling but not like what you  see on tv. Over half the times an adult rattle snake bites a human they don't inject venom. As long as your not antagonizing it.

[wylie]

Thats alot of snakes to see in a trip,I saw my first rattler last year when we hiked to the pinacle. I was with the wife, someone said be careful there a rattle  snake up ahead. The problem is its only a 2ft path and you dont know where the snake is. I finally spotted it ,she freaked out, not wanting anything to do with it.When I was a kid my fathers friend kept rattlers ,and knew were dens were he said they were like spagetti in there.

[zziipp]

  your like the snake charmer this year.great pics and a learning filled trip for the family.

[ranger22]

Great pics  in all time i've spent outdoors i have never seen a rattlesnake in the wild yet. And i'd like to keep it that way. lol

[johneedestructo]

Nice pics! for the children it's a great learning experience, learning about nature and a little bit of safety, kinda like killing 2 birds with 1 stone