This is a large and old prairie rattlesnake taking a morning snooze. That brown area right in front of him is the trail. The same trail Norm was walking on, and at the last moment before stepping right in front of his face, she leaped like a gazelle into my arms. Norm has had countless encounters with venomous reptiles in the last few years, I am thinking about not letting her go hiking anymore. Three other fellow hikers showed up and they were as freaked out as we were. Finally Mr. Snake had all he was going to take and struck out at no one in particular, which I took as our time to move on toward the summit, ASAP. On the way down she got another opportunity to practice her leaping skills as a large green snake was laying all across the trail as she was leading the way.
We saw a large number of these horned toads.
I think Norm is peeking around this nice monument from the Colorado side. Our next destination. You can also see New Mexico and Texas from here.
Nomads2 