- Trail: Lake Fork - Big Elk Creek
- Miles: 10.71
- Riders: Self - Mike K.
- Horses: Jack - Stuart
- Dogs: Hank
Notes: I've heard about timber rattler's but never encountered one until today. Mike K. and I hauled to Lake Fork TH and unloaded for a ride. Mike had been up this area before but had lost the trail at the frog ponds. He'd heard the trail had been cleared as a senior project and wanted to give it another go and see if we could make it closer to Horse Lake.
Mike was in the lead on Stuart. We were 1.5 miles in when I heard a hissing sound. Stuart stopped dead in his tracks and refused to go one. Mike doesn't hear well so he didn't know what his horse was balking at. I wasn't thinking snake. I've never seen a snake in the timber before. It didn't sound like any rattler I'd come across in the desert. It sounded more like an air leak. I considered it might even be a ground hornets nest or something equally nefarious. Mike urged Stuart but thankfully the colt refused to move. Mike then saw the snake in the trail. Jack is super reactive to rattlers and figured out in a hurry what was going on.
Normally, I would have let the snake go in it's way. It had given us fair warning and we were totally in it's territory. I don't have a problem with killing them either...especially that close to a public trail head. I handed Mike my .380. He dispatched it with one shot while I held the horses. He'd never skinned one before so I cut off the head and skinned it for him. He was excited to make a hat band out of it.
They aren't particularly pretty as far as rattlers go. The head is smaller - the body tapers up in the middle and then tapers back down drastically to the rattles. This one had nine buds. The fat middle section made you wonder if the snake had just swallowed something. As I'm making short work of it - the thought crossed my mind it might be full of babies. I told Mike if babies start squirming out of this damn thing I'm hucking it as far as I can... knife and all...just before I have a heart attack and die.
I washed my hands using the last of the baby wipes I'd carried in my saddle bags. We stuffed the snake skin in the empty plastic packet and went on our way.
It's a fairly technical trail in spots. A downed tree on an exceptionally steep section was particularly intense. You couldn't go over the tree. Your options were to go straight down or straight up. I opted to go straight down. Mike put Stuart on Jack's butt and Jack navigated down the steep, soft terrain like a true Man from Snowy River horse. Mike asked if anything bothered me. I said not much. I just take my feet out of the stirrups and close my eyes. Jack takes care of the rest. Mike didn't think that was very reassuring but was glad we made it down alive. Neither one of us wanted to think too hard on how we were going to get back.
We made it to the frog ponds. After a bit of bushwhacking - Mike picked up the trial leading toward Horse Lake. According to his GPS - we were 1.5 miles from the lake. We decided to turn around and make it to Horse Lake another day. Mike had a full day of moving cows in the morning and didn't want to wear out his colt. I was just happy to have somebody ride with me more than once so didn't argue either way.
We decided to try going around the downed tree from the upper end. The way we had come down wasn't just steep - the ground was super soft and deep, too. It would have been a struggle for the horses. Jack went into mountain goat mode and up the mountain we went with Stuart close behind. I don't know how those horses do it carrying our fat butts up that steep shit. (again - feet free - eyes closed). Once on top - I let Jack pick his way back down at a less steep angle. Mike led Stuart and we arrived at the trail without incident.
Jack picked up on the spot in the trail we encountered the snake. I don't know if he remembers that stuff or if he could still smell it. He snorted - put his nose to the ground and if horse could...almost tip-toed through that section of trail.
It was such a beautiful day; a good 10 degrees cooler than the valley and teeming with wildlife from timber rattlers to wild turkeys and nice bucks. I am looking forward to exploring this area again.
Later that afternoon - Mike called to tell me he had Googled how to skin a snake. He said we had done it properly. He would stretch the skin on a board to dry and Google how to make it into a hat band and would keep me posted on the results.
