It was another fun filled weekend for me: BBQs, hiking, farmer’s market, and trail running. There’s much to talk about, but I’ll start with the trail run.
I had a long run of 8 miles on the calendar for the weekend. After a busy Saturday and a lazy Sunday morning, I headed to my favorite flat running trail around noon on Sunday. About half a mile into my run, I heard what sounded like a loud rattle on my left. I looked down and saw a pissed off rattlesnake just two steps away. Luckily I reacted quickly enough to stop and take a few steps back. This guy was coiled up, and I’m pretty sure when I first saw him, he was bearing his fangs at me (If you can trust the memory of one very startled trail runner). I have heard many stories of rattlesnakes on the Utah trails, but had never seen one myself, so I watched this guy for a while. He had the typical diamondback pattern, and he kept rattling at me while I kept my distance. I didn’t get a picture of him, but he looked like this:
My initial reaction was to watch him and wait for him to get off the trail, I still had 7.5 miles of running left, after all. He moved away slowly, but then started making his way up the trail instead of away from it. A few people came by, and I warned them about the rattlesnake. They made their way carefully around him as he rattled at them. I thought about doing the same, but then it crossed my mind that if it’s a good time of day for one rattlesnake to be out, then it’s probably a good time of day for other rattlesnakes to be out. I decided then and there that my run was done. As I started to run back, I couldn’t stop thinking about snakes on the trail and my almost running into them, so I slowed to a walk and carefully made my way back to my car.
So, no long run for me this past weekend. The logistics of driving to a different place to run, getting my errands done, and getting home in time to host a BBQ made things too tight on time. I figure my hip could still be eased into longer and more frequent running, so I was mostly okay with the change of plans. If you’re curious, as I most definitely was, here’s what you’re supposed to do if you get bit by a rattlesnake.
The rest of the weekend was less dramatic. On Saturday Troy and I went on a short hike to Summit Park Peak. Yep, my neighborhood has its own peak! Here are some snapshots from the hike:
I rounded out the rest of the weekend with a visit to the first Farmer’s Market of the year, and two BBQs. It was a Summer weekend well spent. Then today there was this:
I call this Winter’s last (hopefully) gasp. This high today at my house was 45F, the high on Friday will be 76F. This is just typical crazy Utah weather!
Irene Jean 