come on growing up here all we had to do was go jeeping, shooting,archery, blowing up things w/dynamite found in old mine shafts(if i had only known how unstable that stuff was back then),drinking beer and riding horses and chasing lil doggies down for ranchers whose cattle slipped away.
this was like mayberry r.f.d. !
we used to take a jeep or p/u and a pair of water skies down the canals. shoot carp w/our .22's etc.
when dirt bikes mini bikes rupps and mini trails and yz-60's arrived we thought we had died and gone to heaven. the world was wide open and off onto the rez we went exploring.
bottomline on rattlesnakes. the big ones i mean 6-7-8 footers will bang you with a dose of venom only about 25% of the time. the other 75% are dry bites. green mojaves the WORST!
its the lil baby fuchers that bang you 100% of the time right out of the womb!!!!! and those usually are the fatalities even on a healthy human let alone kid or elderly!
what you really have to watch out for are coral snakes. no rattles to warn you!!!! and also dont think a rattler is always going to warn you with a rattle. alot of times they have lost them to a predator. or shedded its skin and skin wrapped around tail. so if you find a shed............somewhere close is a snake.
snakes are out now. weather has been fluttering since late feb from 70's-sometimes 90's. once 110 degree days arrive they go back into their nocturnal routine. walking around at night here at my house DEMANDS A FLASHLIGHT. i am in the middle of the sonoran dezert. not some foo foo enclave gated community with side walks and crap. been here 26 years and look out where we used to camp as kids............the boulders! which is now a 5-star resort. with all the building going on snakes and pack rats constantly on the move looking for food and bed. so its an ongoing problem. had my roomate from chicago last year come outside one night to view 4 footer coontail(crotalus-diamond-backius-ouchiness). he about flipped! coiled up cuz we was poking it with full automatic(i have a license) true temper round-nose shovel. then i made him KILL IT! his bravery faltered! finally had to tell him your locked out of the house until its DEAD. 1/2 hour later he killed it and chopped his head off and placed head in dumpster as per my implicit instructions, so my dogs cant get hold of head and be bit.
he now has a nice hat band for his kowboy-peudner hat!
so ask me anything about the southwest. been dragged all over hells acre by folks chasing down indian artifacts. been all through grand canyon. my favorite is lees ferry. monster blue ribbon trout heaven! i mean MONSTER TROUT! usually taken on san juan worms , mini puff balls red or green, and skuds. no live bait! and you get caught w/a worm. that will be the most expensive worm you ever had. also z-ray's copper/silver/and orange work well.
oh yea no offense to any mormons reading this. i was raised catholic. i was an altar boy!(unmolested). i went to jesuit high school(brophy prep) and went to jesuit college(regis in denver colo.)
i AM A RECOVERING CATHOLIC! i hate all religions! i repeat I HATE ALL RELIGIONS! all there damn good fer is molesting people and killing people in the name of the lord! its all crap!
i subscribe to what the "ancient ones" did. the anazazi indians. the sun the moon the stars the lakes the weather the rivers the animals the breeze the clouds the mtns. its much simpler and i like a simple uncomplicated life.
this is my north face mtn-25 4 season tent. about 400 bucks give or take. will handle 100knot wind! if yer foolhardy to want to experience that! i tend to watch the weather but when in colorado, mtns tend to hide things especially during july /aug/sept/ when guacaa-muggies(monsoons) roll thru. and we have been nailed in some downright nasty if not scary thunderboomers that had my hair standing on end from so much cloud to ground lightning! 6.6 pounds stripped down for back pack. best damn 2-man tent i have owned EVER! note: GLOCK folding shovel right of tent....wayyy cool!