Thursday, August 13, 2020
Charlie and the Rattlesnake
A couple of weekends ago, I was wrapping up a week-and-a-half dogsitting stint with one-year-old Charlie, a yellow labrador retriever. Charlie belongs to our church pastor, who had gone on vacation.
So this particular weekend, I figured that Charlie could handle two hikes. She had handled two the previous weekend, the 1.6 mile out-and-back Cliff Trail going to Cunningham Falls, and the one mile round trip hike to Thurmont Vista....all in the Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain Park.
This weekend, the two hikes would be the Chimney Rock and Wolf Rock loop, about 3.9 miles.....I figured we would at least do that.
We parked in the Catoctin Mountain Park overflow lot just across from the HQ and began the hike. Crossing the road (Rt 77), we came to the fork where the sign pointed to the right and uphill toward Chimney Rock. Charlie led the way on the adjustable leash, taking it to its limits. We met quite a number of people on our way up to Chimney Rock, and not a few dogs too.
Chimney Rock was a good hike, and Charlie enjoyed the treats I had brought along, as well as drinks from the plastic water bottles. And contrary to the prominently posted signs at Chimney Rock, we saw no timber rattlesnakes.
We continued our hike upwards to Wolf Rock and enjoyed meandering around on the rocks. We even took a selfie. Then it was time to continue onwards and we eventually made it back to the Catoctin Mountain Park Visitor Center parking lot. From there were were SUPPOSED to follow the path back to the park HQ lot where we started, but somewhere along the way, we lost the trail and started to create our own. With rattlesnakes in mind, I decided to play it cautious wherever I stepped. At one point, I thought I heard a noise as we passed a ledge, and Charlie took a look in that direction, but didn't stop to investigate and neither did I. Eventually, we made it back to the regular trail and to the car.
Then we went home nearby and had some lunch. And I figured Charlie might want a second hike. So, after lunch, we went back up to the park HQ lot, but this time, took the Cat Rock Overlook Trail, a 2.4-mile round trip hike. It seemed like a lot longer going uphill, but we eventually made it, and found a group of hispanic families relaxing at the base of the rock overlook. Charlie and I went up and had a look around, and then started back down.
As I was negotiating the rocks, I tripped and busted my shin on the rocks....so had to rest for a few minutes until the pain subsided. Then we continued on our way down to where the families were still resting. After a friendly adios, Charlie and I started on our way down the mountain, passing by a couple hiking toward the rock overlook. A little later, we crossed the firebreak and re-entered the woods.
Charlie was leading ahead at the end of the adjustable leash when suddenly there was a VERY LOUD hissing and rattling noise and Charlie jumped to the right side of the trail. That's when I saw the timber rattlesnake moving on the left side of the trail.
"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!" I yelled. And that's when I heard somebody downhill ask whether I had seen the snake.
The downhill friend came back up the trail and we compared notes about the snake, who remained coiled up by the uphill side of the trail. Apparently the snake had moved.
"I'm gonna hang out here and wait for some folks uphill who are coming down soon, a large group. I don't want them to be surprised and bitten by this snake."
"Good idea."
The friend was not about to try going uphill again, so left down the trail. I made an attempt to take some pictures on my phone, but between having to hold the dog still and still shaking from the scare, all I could get were blurry pictures.
Eventually the hispanic families came down the trail and I said, "Cuidado!" (Caution!) and showed them the snake. Then I carefully took the dog to the right (downhill) side of the trail and managed to pass the snake without getting bitten. The snake was NOT happy and his 2-3 inch black rattle buzzed to show it. Oh yeah, size....hmmm....at the moment where I took video, that snake was still very large in my mind, so when you watch the video, you'll hear me say something about a 4 or 5 foot or more snake. He or she probably wasn't more than 2-3 feet long, but it was hard to tell. Body thickness was somewhere between 2-3 inches at the thickest. Green and yellow striping were the striking features.
At any rate, it was time to leave, so Charlie and I left the hispanic families to figure out how they were going to get past the snake, and we went downhill. We warned people coming up the trail about the snake, including a pair of adult male twins. Made it back to the parking lot...and eventually so did the hispanic families and the couple who had visited the rock overlook just after we left.
Needless to say, it was a scary experience. I had never seen a rattlesnake in the wild before. Now I go out carefully and walk around, as they (and copperheads) have been reported in our neighborhood.
Wonderful....
Here is one video I took: https://youtu.be/LNOdY1bMXfQ
Here is the other video I took: https://youtu.be/4vmBJwn5pgc
