xRyokenx
06-29-2008, 09:15 PM
My Uncle Mike and I went hiking these afternoon-evening at Sam's Point up here in Upstate New York and we had a pretty close call, but I'll get to that later.
I brought my new Casio Exilim 8.1MP camera that I bought myself for my birthday and snapped about 100 pictures with, some of which were blurry but I'm getting better with it. I figure that if I see something I like, I may as well take a bunch of pics of it as I don't have to buy film, and this thing's battery lasts forever. For $125 it's a VERY impressive camera. [/quick review or whatever]
It's been cloudy and raining on and off all day, but what's a little rain to stop people with good jackets? That and it rained lightly a couple times and then stopped. I enjoy rain anyway, it cools everything down, washes everything off, and feels good on a hot day like today was (but not so much on the mountain, it was about 10-15 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler).
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7061/hikeetc050vr6.jpg
We stopped off the trail to eat some of the blueberries that grow up here. Nothing beats a nice hike with a treat to go with it. Fresh blueberries are better than the most expensive cake you could buy, at least in my eyes (or taste buds).
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9238/hikeetc057ia4.jpg
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/796/hikeetc058iz7.jpg
Our destination was (key word: was) where the old fire tower was, but one of the natives decided he didn't like us very well and that none shall pass. He didn't have any limbs to speak of so the Monty Python approach wasn't going to work. That's right, it was a snake: a timber rattlesnake. This guy was basking in the lack of sun right on the left side of the trail in grass about four to six inches tall... not too tall but tall enough to not see him from a safe distance.
I just about stepped on this little dude (who was maybe 4-5ft in length). My Uncle Mike and I heard this noise, we both looked down, my uncle's arm shot out and he said "get back get back get back," and we pretty much danced backwards about twenty feet before stopping.
I tried taking a few pictures, but as I mentioned earlier, the grass was too tall to see the little bastard from a reasonable distance. His rattle was loud enough to hear a good distance away... about 1000ft I estimate.
So my uncle and I turned around and headed back, with the brown, diamond-spotted knight there, we were definitely not going to be able to get to the fire tower.
We did enjoy the scenery, blueberries, and the view of some sweet weather. But from now on when we go hiking, we're wearing some sort of boots along with something on our lower legs so that if we do get bitten, the fangs don't puncture our skin. After some quick research, rattlesnake venom is NOT something to mess around with. It causes permanent tissue damage, is an anticoagulant, and overall is pretty nasty... it would be a 911 call and a nasty end to a day if you got bitten. So if you ever plan on going hiking somewhere, do some research about the local wildlife and be prepared for a disaster, or be prepared to suffer the consequences of being unequipped. ;)
http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9013/hikeetc076up9.jpg
I may or may not post more pictures later. This was an exciting day. I had a lot of fun. And by the way, there aren't tons of those snakes up on these trails, this is the first my uncle or I has seen up there and we've both been hiking up there a lot.
I brought my new Casio Exilim 8.1MP camera that I bought myself for my birthday and snapped about 100 pictures with, some of which were blurry but I'm getting better with it. I figure that if I see something I like, I may as well take a bunch of pics of it as I don't have to buy film, and this thing's battery lasts forever. For $125 it's a VERY impressive camera. [/quick review or whatever]
It's been cloudy and raining on and off all day, but what's a little rain to stop people with good jackets? That and it rained lightly a couple times and then stopped. I enjoy rain anyway, it cools everything down, washes everything off, and feels good on a hot day like today was (but not so much on the mountain, it was about 10-15 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler).
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7061/hikeetc050vr6.jpg
We stopped off the trail to eat some of the blueberries that grow up here. Nothing beats a nice hike with a treat to go with it. Fresh blueberries are better than the most expensive cake you could buy, at least in my eyes (or taste buds).
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/9238/hikeetc057ia4.jpg
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/796/hikeetc058iz7.jpg
Our destination was (key word: was) where the old fire tower was, but one of the natives decided he didn't like us very well and that none shall pass. He didn't have any limbs to speak of so the Monty Python approach wasn't going to work. That's right, it was a snake: a timber rattlesnake. This guy was basking in the lack of sun right on the left side of the trail in grass about four to six inches tall... not too tall but tall enough to not see him from a safe distance.
I just about stepped on this little dude (who was maybe 4-5ft in length). My Uncle Mike and I heard this noise, we both looked down, my uncle's arm shot out and he said "get back get back get back," and we pretty much danced backwards about twenty feet before stopping.
I tried taking a few pictures, but as I mentioned earlier, the grass was too tall to see the little bastard from a reasonable distance. His rattle was loud enough to hear a good distance away... about 1000ft I estimate.
So my uncle and I turned around and headed back, with the brown, diamond-spotted knight there, we were definitely not going to be able to get to the fire tower.
We did enjoy the scenery, blueberries, and the view of some sweet weather. But from now on when we go hiking, we're wearing some sort of boots along with something on our lower legs so that if we do get bitten, the fangs don't puncture our skin. After some quick research, rattlesnake venom is NOT something to mess around with. It causes permanent tissue damage, is an anticoagulant, and overall is pretty nasty... it would be a 911 call and a nasty end to a day if you got bitten. So if you ever plan on going hiking somewhere, do some research about the local wildlife and be prepared for a disaster, or be prepared to suffer the consequences of being unequipped. ;)
http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9013/hikeetc076up9.jpg
I may or may not post more pictures later. This was an exciting day. I had a lot of fun. And by the way, there aren't tons of those snakes up on these trails, this is the first my uncle or I has seen up there and we've both been hiking up there a lot.