We met an older local couple who had come in search of birds.
She was good spirited and friendly and made her friends clear out of our frame, so we were thankful for all of that. We strategically asked her to photograph us and joked with her about why we asked her to take it instead of any of her buddies. One girl spoke loudly several times of her uncontrollable urge to photo bomb strangers’ photos. They were clearly locals who frequented this hike as their register entries just before mine said things like, “Here again” or “Another day at Black Mesa.” They seemed unaccompanied by adults and identified the obelisk base as the perfect spot to enjoy their sandwiches. Also, dozens of high school students may greet you at the summit. A buff would come in handy to guard against this.Īn obelisk greets you at the summit, showcasing the direction you’re facing and the mileage to whatever view you’re taking in. It was a bit windy and dusty by extension – I don’t tend to walk with my mouth open, but I was definitely licking dirt and salt off of my teeth at the summit. At the top of the elevation gain, the hike flattens out at the top of the Mesa. Along the way, you’re rewarded with cactus and interesting insects like shiny black grasshoppers that have red wings only visible when flying.īlack Mesa marks each mile with a bench displaying the mile marker carved into its back. I was on a mission.īlack Mesa is mostly flat with one brief demanding section between miles 2 and 3 where all of the 775 feet of elevation gain happens inside of a short distance. I wanted – needed to see these large, powerful coils in their home land. I was honestly hoping to see some of these mystical creatures I’d been so nervous about. Before my brain could process what I was saying, I heard the words come out of my mouth, “I’m hoping to see some rattlesnakes today.” After I’d said it, shocking both me and my husband, I realized it was true. Four weeks passing without any surprise snake encounters was apparently all I needed.Įarly in the journey, I started chatting with another hiker. I pushed it out of my head until the day of. The answer – I tried not to think about it. How would it be possible to remain calm after that? If you’re bitten, wouldn’t your normal impulse be to scream, run, I don’t know, swat at it with your hiking poles in defense, probably provoking it further? How was I going to survive over 8 miles in rattlesnake country now that I was a little rattled (pun intended) by snakes? The advice that concerned me most was if you’re bitten, remain calm because getting upset will move the venom through you more quickly, reducing your chances of survival. I read everything I could get my hands on, particularly about rattlesnakes. Snakes, never a previous concern, now became my obsession.
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This was rattlesnake country and every hiker needs to be prepared for how to avoid getting bitten, and then understand what actions to take in the event of a bite. After that, everything looked like a snake to me: a coiled wire discarded on the ground, a piece of string, a curvy stick near the sidewalk.
Though, more likely, it was adrenaline that propelled me a distance I otherwise would not have managed to clear. Maybe I can credit this superhuman catapult to my former Parkour training. I realized after the fact that I had instinctively jumped over my shrubs in one gigantic leap. The snake slithered right next to my foot (I was in flip flops), which freaked me out. I moved my garbage can so I could pull a few weeds near the house, which trapped me in a small area bound by my house and shrubs on the non-garbage can sides. I’ve been fortunate never to have had a concrete fear… until a month before Black Mesa.įour weeks before this trip, I had a surprise encounter with a snake in my yard. Most people have some major fear – flying, heights, public speaking, spiders. I’ve held a few, seen countless varieties and sizes on hikes, and have never once been squeamish around them. The months leading up to this hike were no big deal I wasn’t afraid of snakes. Nearly every source I read about hiking Black Mesa cautions hikers about rattlesnakes.
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