This juvenile Crotalid (helleri) lurked at the edge of the trail, unseen by four folks headed down and two folks slowly hiking up, laboring with heavy loads.
Ice House Canyon trail, just below Columbine springs at 7:15 p.m. 120725. The trail was bare of other hikers my whole way down from Ontario Peak, til I passed two couples a few switchbacks above the spring. As I tanked up with extra to take home and enjoy, they leapfrogged down the trail. A few minutes later I resumed the down hike, and encountered a couple in their forties trudging up to camp.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted slight movement near a rock as I passed. A juvenile rattler curled up in the setting sun began to uncoil as I halted and began to deploy my camera. Silent and sinuous, he stretched out heading for the adjacent rocky crevices. Darn this powerup lag... A quick look with my paired three inch hiking pole baskets gave a quick estimate of 20-22 inches.
Time enough for a few shots and a switch to movie mode for a quick clip. Later review of the vid shows surprising speed once his head was into the crevice. Disappeared as quickly as a spaghetti strand inhaled by a teenager. Unfortunately the vid host yielded a choppy stuttering jerky upload. (site mirror of uploader person? 8-p )
I'll see if another host platform yields a smooth post.
He has just uncoiled from the rock at right, and was clearly heading for a crevice retreat.
My hiking poles rested against my hip, I hoped they wouldn't fall toward him as I tried to shift my shadow clear of the field, and the dangling lens cap out of line (I was shooting steeply down, about two feet from my toes.)
Nicely stretched out, he is plumper than he appeared with my squint through the viewfinder:
Some key features for identification for C. helleri : 1. toward the tail, the polygonal patches will become bands. 2. The bands usually lighten caudally. 3. The terminal band is usually wi-i-de.
This guy has had a couple of sheds.
Almost certainly he had remained curled up next to the rock as the other hikers passed by. He was obscured from view while down hiking until you passed abreast of the rock; the trail was easier going on the right side for up-hikers, yielding a wider comfort zone for him. Only when I stopped and zeroed in on him did he decide to curl up indoors rather than face a yahoo.
Here's a shot up toward Columbine Springs taken from the snake sunning stone:
Now time for the yahoo to head home to curl up after a shower, a fresh bleuberry smoothie, and a bowl of pho.
