Poisonous snakes

Most of the places I hike I don't need to worry about poisonous snakes, I mostly hike in western WA and we don't have any poisonous snakes here. I do hike in other places, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and eastern WA that do have poisonous snakes. I grew up in Idaho and saw a number of rattlesnakes, none particularly aggressive and not worrisome. When I was in Utah in Fall 2005, I saw a small, pale rattlesnake in Arches NP along a trail. It was moving away from the hikers as fast as it could. Last June in Zion I saw a red and black banded snake near a trail. I could not remember how to distinguish a King snake from a Coral snake and none of the other hikers close by could remember either. I took a picture and later decided it definitely was a King snake. Still, it was a type of snake I had never seen before and interesting.

My closest recent encounter with a poisonous snake was in WA state along the Methow River a few miles upstream from Mazama. One fall afternoon I was hiking back to my pickup along a rocky trail. I was tired and hot, the sun was heating the rocks, and I wasn't paying much attention to the trail. I looked down at one point just in time to avoid stepping on a large snake. It was coiled, poised to strike. I couldn't see its tail and it wasn't rattling. I thought it was a pine or bull snake, they look similar to rattlesnakes and may mimic their behavior. I stepped back anyway and the snake uncoiled and moved back into the rocks. When its tail became visible, it started rattling. I was a lot more aware of where I was walking for the rest of that hike. I shouldn't have been so surprised to see a rattlesnake, I know the Methow Valley has them and and several nearby trails have warning signs. Besides, the area around the trailhead for the trail I was on is called Rattlesnake Camp.