The military marching season is over, and we’re all allowed to stay in bed a while now… R and I well into the routine of cup of tea and latest novels, as Tom occasionally shouts out quotes from his latest book obsessions (we’re now channeling “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” but anything’s better than “Captain Underpants”). When he starts bouncing off the walls, we reluctantly shift from bed to breakfast table (that’s about four feet away), and so the day begins.
Loads more Bryce today.. under RV power. We drove all the way to the south of the park, fifteen miles down to Rainbow Point. I can’t keep saying how amazing and gorgeous and incredible these views are. Suffice it to say – you can see up to 200 miles from this bit – wooeee. Good solid walk dipping down to the Bristlecone Loop and on to the Riggs Spring trail. And some amazing sightings. I’ll leave Richard’s best for him.. till last…. But on the way, deer, wild turkey, chipmunks, horny lizards, and a few incredibly noisy locusts. Now, it’s over to him….
So, I had got ahead of PT and T and was scoping out a place for lunch. The trail was mostly through fir trees along the side of a steep ridge. The trees were beginning to thin and I was looking for somewhere that was a bit more “Bryce” – ie hoodoos and desert rather than mountains and forest, when suddenly I caught a small movement at the edge of my field of vision. I stopped and listened, and then moved slowly in the direction of the movement expecting a lizard. Then the silence was broken by what sounded like maracas being shaken by someone in a bad mood. It was a rattlesnake disappearing headfirst into a hole about three feet away me, its three inch rattle still sticking out of the mouth of its hiding place and shaking vigorously. I didn’t need to be told twice and backed off. The path was only about two feet wide so skirting around it was easier said than done, but we did, and found our lunch spot a little further on. I must say though, I was a little less relaxed for the rest of the walk!
Loads more Bryce today.. under RV power. We drove all the way to the south of the park, fifteen miles down to Rainbow Point. I can’t keep saying how amazing and gorgeous and incredible these views are. Suffice it to say – you can see up to 200 miles from this bit – wooeee. Good solid walk dipping down to the Bristlecone Loop and on to the Riggs Spring trail. And some amazing sightings. I’ll leave Richard’s best for him.. till last…. But on the way, deer, wild turkey, chipmunks, horny lizards, and a few incredibly noisy locusts. Now, it’s over to him….
So, I had got ahead of PT and T and was scoping out a place for lunch. The trail was mostly through fir trees along the side of a steep ridge. The trees were beginning to thin and I was looking for somewhere that was a bit more “Bryce” – ie hoodoos and desert rather than mountains and forest, when suddenly I caught a small movement at the edge of my field of vision. I stopped and listened, and then moved slowly in the direction of the movement expecting a lizard. Then the silence was broken by what sounded like maracas being shaken by someone in a bad mood. It was a rattlesnake disappearing headfirst into a hole about three feet away me, its three inch rattle still sticking out of the mouth of its hiding place and shaking vigorously. I didn’t need to be told twice and backed off. The path was only about two feet wide so skirting around it was easier said than done, but we did, and found our lunch spot a little further on. I must say though, I was a little less relaxed for the rest of the walk!
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