SLC and rattlesnakes

After our time on the CA coast, we drove through the Sonoma and Napa valleys (we'll go back on another trip to linger), crossed the Sierra's by Lake Tahoe, spent the night in Carson City, NV, across NV on HWY 50 (a quieter alternative to I-80, nice but I-80 is ok too), and back to SLC.

As usual a day hike with Anna was on the agenda, back up Neff's canyon, as last time there was a lot of snow and we didn't get too far.  High water and lots of crossing and recrossing the creek balancing on logs - a very nice hike with an exciting conclusion.

Last crossing of the creek coming back down, and I'm in the lead crossing some logs that looked a bit easier than the ones we crossed on the way up.  I am almost all the way across, and am about to put my foot down before jumping off the logs on to terra firma, when I do a 180 spin on the log, and dance my way back across the log, managing to not end up in the creek.  Why would I do such a crazy maneuver?  Well, I was about to put my foot down right next to a large coiled up rattlesnake  - my most up close and personal encounter with a rattlesnake, and one I hope not to repeat.  Mr. snake did not budge through all of this, which is fairly amazing, since I was perhaps a foot or two away at most.  So after recovering from the shakes, I got out the camera with the 18X zoom, and took the accompanying picture.

Also, here is a good picture of Anna and Donna from that little hike.




Also, another fun piece of that visit is that we got to see Anna's picture (very large picture), which is on the side of one of the buildings on the Westminster College campus.  She is one of a few students they picked for this display.  Here it is.



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