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scatman said:
A little Mount Wire action with the family today. On our way down, along a game trail, we ran into two rattlesnakes that quickly disappeared into a hole between some rocks.

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Hey @Ugly - Are these the snow fleas like the ones you posted a few days ago? This is the first time I have ever seen or heard of these. They were on the trail heading up.

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Another shot of them

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About halfway to the top

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Grandview peak to the north

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Had to climb the beacon

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Group shot up top

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Hard to make out, but there are two rattlesnakes in this shot. I was bent over taking a picture of some Milkvetch when I heard a familiar sound. It started off slow at first but when I pivoted to my right I could see the first one pretty clearly. Upon further inspection, I realized there were two of them and they began rattling at me pretty good before retreating into the rocks. First time I've seen them in April along the Wasatch Front.
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Yep sure look like snow fleas. Most of the time you can walk right by 'em, cuz they do not rattle like the other trail encounters.
I need to take my youngest son with my into the foothills in the morning it looks like. He loves rattlers and all snakes. If we do not find any down here in the south end, then I know to take him up Wire.

Good stuff!
 
Artemus said:
Nice, Scat! How many times have you climbed Mt. Wire? WIshr you had aG close up of those purple animals.....
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That was my twentieth time to the top of Mount Wire. It is third on my list of most summited peaks. Olympus is number one with approximately 35 followed by Grandeur at twenty three. I'm sure Wire will overtake Grandeur pretty soon and probably Olympus at some point. I've been hiking up Olympus and Grandeur for a long time now though, while I didn't start hiking up Wire until 2013. It is such a wonderful spring and fall hike, plus I've been heading up once in the winter too. In the spring, it gets me in shape and ready for what I refer to as @Artemus territory. :D

I used to not give the foothills above my house much respect, but over the years I've learned to enjoy them very much. I've seen deer, elk, porcupine, rabbit, coyote, gopher snakes, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and bobcat, though the cougar and black bear have eluded me thus far. :(
 
Ugly said:
Yep sure look like snow fleas. Most of the time you can walk right by 'em, cuz they do not rattle like the other trail encounters.
I need to take my youngest son with my into the foothills in the morning it looks like. He loves rattlers and all snakes. If we do not find any down here in the south end, then I know to take him up Wire.

Good stuff!
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Great place for rattlesnakes is along a portion of the route up the north summit of Mount Olympus. As you head along the ridge east towards the summit, you have to drop down due to a cliff and work your way over to a chute that takes you right up to the summit, Between the ridge and that chute is rattlesnake heaven.
 
I scrambled up a saddle below Pine Valley Peak on Kolob Terrace Road
Great views up from there

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The wash crossing on the Connector trail with ice-cold water and running swiftly was not so fun at all. On the way back the water was even colder as new meltwater made its way down from the higher elevation. On the way back the water went to my knees.
This wash on the Connector Trail is usually bone dry.

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After riding the Tour-de-Brewtah yesterday and sampling some fine beers, we chose a short but steep hike today up Jack's Mountain.

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Scatman on the mount.

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Buddha on the mailbox

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Hat on the Scat. Time for some fruit chews.

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The Scats, on Jack's Mountain
 
Miya said:
Um um um did you bring the Buddha? Or is he always there...??
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The current Buddha has been there since 2016. Originally, back in 2013, this guy was at the top - a smaller version.

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He was there again in 2014, but in 2015 there was no Buddha, only to be replaced in 2016 by the current one.
 
scatman said:
I used to not give the foothills above my house much respect, but over the years I've learned to enjoy them very much. I've seen deer, elk, porcupine, rabbit, coyote, gopher snakes, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and bobcat, though the cougar and black bear have eluded me thus far. :(
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Nice, I've think I've seen almost the exact same set of animals in the foothills, minus the bobcat but add a fox and of course many moose! Also still waiting on bear and cougar.
 
I had to have my Siamese cat (Blue) of sixteen years put down yesterday which really put me in a funk. The best thing thing that I could think of to get her off my mind was to hike, so my family made our way up Grandeur Peak via the Dragon Tail Route this morning. Along our way, we saw a hawk, a chukar, a grouse and a rattlesnake. This rattlesnake was pretty good sized, and much bigger than the two we saw two weeks earlier coming off of Mount Wire. Again, we saw lots of sign of elk on this route. I have never seen sign of them along Dragon Tail before.

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That way!

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Hard to see, but there is a rattlesnake in the middle of the image. He started buzzing at me, and at first I
couldn't located him even though he was very close. Nice camouflage kept my eyes from picking up on
him right away.

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His rattle is visible in this shot if you can make it out. He had started crawling into a crevice when I was
my camera out to take his picture.

04.jpg
Katie, making her final push to the summit

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On top, along with a Painted Lady
 
scatman said:
I had to have my Siamese cat (Blue) of sixteen years put down yesterday which really put me in a funk. The best thing thing that I could think of to get her off my mind was to hike, so my family made our way up Grandeur Peak via the Dragon Tail Route this morning. Along our way, we saw a hawk, a chukar, a grouse and a rattlesnake. This rattlesnake was pretty good sized, and much bigger than the two we saw two weeks earlier coming off of Mount Wire. Again, we saw lots of sign of elk on this route. I have never seen sign of them along Dragon Tail before.

View attachment 77901
That way!

View attachment 77902
Hard to see, but there is a rattlesnake in the middle of the image. He started buzzing at me, and at first I
couldn't located him even though he was very close. Nice camouflage kept my eyes from picking up on
him right away.

View attachment 77903
His rattle is visible in this shot if you can make it out. He had started crawling into a crevice when I was
my camera out to take his picture.

View attachment 77904
Katie, making her final push to the summit

View attachment 77905
On top, along with a Painted Lady
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your furry family member. Don’t know why it has to be so hard but it is. Getting up on the mountain is definitely good therapy though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Also very sorry to hear about your cat. Something about Siamese that really grabs at your heart. They're really smart.

I came through the SLC area on the 8th and kept running into what looked like butterflies by the score, esp. further north near Brigham City, but I never could make out what they were. Are the Painted Ladies migrating through? I felt terrible - I must've killed several dozen. By the time they got close enough to try to identify, they'd turned into windshield decor.
 
Last edited:
scatman said:
I had to have my Siamese cat (Blue) of sixteen years put down yesterday which really put me in a funk. The best thing thing that I could think of to get her off my mind was to hike, so my family made our way up Grandeur Peak via the Dragon Tail Route this morning. Along our way, we saw a hawk, a chukar, a grouse and a rattlesnake. This rattlesnake was pretty good sized, and much bigger than the two we saw two weeks earlier coming off of Mount Wire. Again, we saw lots of sign of elk on this route. I have never seen sign of them along Dragon Tail before.

View attachment 77901
That way!

View attachment 77902
Hard to see, but there is a rattlesnake in the middle of the image. He started buzzing at me, and at first I
couldn't located him even though he was very close. Nice camouflage kept my eyes from picking up on
him right away.

View attachment 77903
His rattle is visible in this shot if you can make it out. He had started crawling into a crevice when I was
my camera out to take his picture.

View attachment 77904
Katie, making her final push to the summit

View attachment 77905
On top, along with a Painted Lady
Click to expand...
Good bye Blue...
 
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