Close Encounters of the Reptile Kind

Just add this to the many reasons why I don't like Nevada....(we're well into Utah now, but this is the first time we've been near a computer in ages, and this story is kinda worth telling).

On our very last day in the desolate land of Nevada, Bethany and I had two fairly large climbs to make. It took us quite a while, and as a reward, we stopped for lunch on the summit of the second peak. Cute, right?

We propped our bikes against a flimsy metal reflector post, and then we had to sit on the ground, because there weren't really any other options. So, picture this: from the side of the road to the beginning of the grass/bush area is about 15 feet. It is all gravel, which is a lovely place to sit for lunch, but again...no other options. We sat down, broke out the NutriGrain bars and PopTarts (endorsements???), and each of us also had an apple.

We sat there talking about random things for a while, and I was half of the way through my apple. I'm not sure why you need to know how much of the apple was eaten, but it was one of the things I remembered, so I'm throwing it in. We're both sitting cross-legged on the ground, and I felt something rub against the outside of my left leg. Normally I would have swatted it, assuming that it was an ant or other small insect, but it didn't feel like little legs walking, it felt like.....a rub. So, instead of swatting, I lifted my leg and looked down and what had been touching me, and I saw........snake skin. At this point, Bethany had to tell me most of the story, because I went a little bonkers. Apparently I screamed "Is that snake skin?!?!?!?!", and immediately proceeded to throw my apple in the air and do a super-awesome backward volleyball roll to escape the encroaching snake (thank you Coach Renzi!! Who knew volleyball was going to save my life?!).

Bethany, bless her, jumped up faster than she has ever moved in her life. While I was jumping around like a little girl and brushing off my clothing, (just in case a second snake had somehow crept up my body without me knowing...ha), Bethany kept her cool. We noticed that it was a rattlesnake because of the, you know, rattle. It must have been pretty aggitated because it was rattling A LOT. And sticking its black tongue out at us. Poor Bethany had to listen to me ask her 15 times if the snake had bitten me. That would probably be something that I would feel, but I couldn't be too sure. The snake, lets call him Rocky, then made himself completely comfortable in the shade my CamelBak. He recoiled a couple of times when I got to close, but I was pretty sure that we were out of striking distance. Poor guy, all he wanted was some shade, but we ruined it.

At some point, one of us realized that I was going to need my CamelBak to continue the trip, so we would have to move Rocky. I had the bright idea to take my silly little BOB trailer flag to push him away, but I made Bethany do it instead. I'm not saying I'm a chicken, she just happened to be the one who was shaking less at the time. She pushed the CamelBak over and expertly guided Rocky back into the grass/bush (I have a pretty good video of it, and I can't wait to see it on the computer). When we could finally see his full length, we estimated that he was between 2 and 2 1/2 feet long. I don't know what that means in terms of age, but that thing was curled up under my thigh, so I can't really say that I would have cared either way. Wouldn't this have been a terrible way to end this trip? Hey, Mom and Dad, we're coming home because ERIN WAS BITTEN BY A RATTLESNAKE. Sadly, I'm pretty sure that most people would respond with...."Yeah, that sounds about right".

I really wish this story could have been recorded for all to see, because I'm certain that I am not doing justice to the hilarity that happened in those 5 minutes (plus, I really wish everyone could have seen my crazy cat-like reflexes). Just keep in mind that cars were driving past us during the whole incident, so it might have looked a little strange to see a girl jumping up and down trying to check herself for secondary snakes. Not to mention, I lost half of my apple, which made me a little sad. It was a really good apple.