LWH last weekend

[Alex]

I took my family down to Little Wild Horse canyon. We didn't do the loop, sadly, but still enjoyed every bit of it. LWH is better named Southern Utah Slot freeway, I haven't met this many scouts and people in a canyon before! But never the less, it was an enjoyable place to take the family and the kids. The Goblin Valley park was way full so we found bunch of bandit camp sites just 2 miles east of the LWH trail head on the south side of the road along the cliffs.

My 4 year old kid had to climb every climbable rock he could find, so we were moving at a very slow rate and didn't make far into the slot canyon. The weather was very hot, especially in the afternoon, I believe it reached about 95 degrees.

The Happy Family (notice my new 5.10 Canyoneers? I loved them!):


The kid climbing all over the rocks:


at least we made it through a few slots before we had to turn around:


Since we came across about a thousand people, and we were the slow ones, we had to make a bridge and let everyone go under us. It was the best part of the hike for my kid, waving at everyone and letting them go under him.


Luckily my wife brought a baby pack, because my puppy made it about 1/10th of the way into the slot and my wife had to carry him the rest of the way

[marc olivares]

hey alex, we should take the little guys climbing soon.
my little guy is always bugging me about taking him with other little guys...interested?
they'd love it


edit: oh and your snake photo looks like a bull snake to me, based on that photo, i'd say rattlers have more arrow shaped heads and typically more diamond shaped spots on it's back, and not squares, though not always the case.

[Udink]

Nice pics! I'm glad you were able to get a few without boy scouts in them.

I agree with Marc about the snake, looks like a bull snake. I saw two of them around Temple Wash last weekend, they must be all over that area this year.

[Alex]

Cool, thanks for the update, I never saw a snake make a rattling sound without a rattle... I guess I pissed it off enough. Well my kid had a blast chasing it all over, I am glad that he was safe since it was a bull snake

[Udink]

I never saw a snake make a rattling sound without a rattle...

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the first bull snake I ever saw was a baby, but it rattled its tail at me like a rattlesnake. I'd never seen any snake in the wild at that time, so I assumed it was a rattler. I didn't learn until just this month that what I'd seen then was actually a bull snake/gopher snake. I've read that they can make a noise in their throat that sounds like a rattle, but I've never actually heard what it sounds like.

[Tucker]

..

[stefan]

family + slot =

thanks for sharin'

[Alex]

Thank Tucker, that's exactly the behavior I observed last weekend!

[sparker1]

Glad you had a good family hike. I did LWH back in April and met lots of people then. It must have been during spring break.

[ratagonia]

Cool, thanks for the update, I never saw a snake make a rattling sound without a rattle... I guess I pissed it off enough. Well my kid had a blast chasing it all over, I am glad that he was safe since it was a bull snake

The bull snakes are pretty cool, and as much as they want you to think they are a rattler, are very non-aggressive. However, they are still wild animals and very unpredictable, and they have a nasty bite, sometimes leading to a nastier infection.

Yes, picking up and playing with snakes is a good way to tell the rattlers from milder species (not!). When you're at the hospital and they are shooting you up with anti-venom, you can tell them 'hey, I guess it WAS a rattler'.

Most rattler bites in the USA are 20-35 yr old males, handling the snakes. "Hey y'all, watch this!".

Tom (sounding like your father or something, just trying to keep the empire safe)

[rockgremlin]

Cool, thanks for the update, I never saw a snake make a rattling sound without a rattle... I guess I pissed it off enough. Well my kid had a blast chasing it all over, I am glad that he was safe since it was a bull snake

The bull snakes are pretty cool, and as much as they want you to think they are a rattler, are very non-aggressive. However, they are still wild animals and very unpredictable, and they have a nasty bite, sometimes leading to a nastier infection.

Yes, picking up and playing with snakes is a good way to tell the rattlers from milder species (not!). When you're at the hospital and they are shooting you up with anti-venom, you can tell them 'hey, I guess it WAS a rattler'.

Most rattler bites in the USA are 20-35 yr old males, handling the snakes. "Hey y'all, watch this!".

Tom (sounding like your father or something, just trying to keep the empire safe)

I don't think you're out of line Tom. I thought the same thing. What're you crazy for even approaching a snake that resembles a rattler?!

[Alex]

OK ok, you both have a great point.

I did have a 6 foot branch and was keeping about 8 feet away from it.

So do bull snakes bite? I've read somewhere today that they are harmless?

[utidcapaco]

So do bull snakes bite? I've read somewhere today that they are harmless?

The bull snakes are pretty cool, and as much as they want you to think they are a rattler, are very non-aggressive. However, they are still wild animals and very unpredictable, and they have a nasty bite, sometimes leading to a nastier infection.

Also, the Oregon zoo confirms what I was taught (although Wikipedia may disagree) that bull snakes have been known to kill rattlesnakes.
http://www.oregonzoo.org/Cards/Ed_Pr...fic_gopher.htm
Personally, I think this is a good thing.