Hikes, Snakes, and The End of America

[dalthauser]

* So - Landa park & Panther Trail this morning.  I don't know where my monitor is at the moment, but I remember the trail being 41 minutes (15 of them carrying a car tire.....).  The stroll around Landa park was about 20, but it doesn't count for exercise since I kept stopping to take pictures and watch the squirrels.

* Finally got around to shopping for my new glasses and contacts.  I love my glasses - they are meant for people like me who tend to sit on and drop their glasses off bridges.  They come with cool magnetic clip on sunglasses.  I was happy when the clerk said my insurance covers them 100%.  The contacts were $50 something a box of 6 which weren't covered.  They will arrive in about 10 days or so.

Panther Canyon Trail is a very easy hike, but there's lots of rocks and uneven terrain, so you still have to be careful.  You wouldn't come to New Braunfels just to hike it - but it's a good day if you combine the hike with a walk around Landa Park and maybe a picnic (or Tubing!)





SNAKE!!.......  He almost slithered over my shoe.  My mind raced to remember the snake riddle...... and I swallowed hard when I came to "red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow".  Pretty sure that means he's a Coral Snake (Probably a Texas Coral snake considering the obvious)  He had no interest in killing me though - he just quietly slithered off.  My heart monitor jumped to 160 at some point during this encounter. :-)



I took this because there was a buck climbing the hill who stopped to look right at me, but I now can't see him.


The one and only flower on the whole trail.


When the trail loops back around you come down from up there.


On the way back I spied a car tire down in the ditch - I thought I better rescue it.


Tire and I make our way back (does that picture make my butt look big?.... wait, don't answer that)


Tire striking a pose - I may draw a face on him at home and keep him as a companion (like Tom Hanks' volleyball)


Coming to the end of the trail - back where I started.


"Bob" and I called it a day......



* Since this is no longer Happy Week - I will post a link to the full featured documentary THE END OF AMERICA. It's about 70 minutes long - but it's scary and thought provoking stuff.  Probably nothing any of us haven't already been made aware of, but it's presented well. 

Comments

[reyvin.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, I used to have a pair of glasses like that, complete with magnetic sunglasses attachment. They were great.

Gorgeous photos. What a beautiful place to hike. And yeah, it looks like your camera was shaking a bit on that picture since it's a little blurry. :P

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

They are men's glasses, but the clerk said a lot of women buy them. They're called super flex or something (supposedly difficult to break.....we'll just see about that)

[scottishdiva.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photos, wow - I'd love to hike somewhere like that :)

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

I've seen some of your pictures - you get to see herds of sheep on your hikes. I'd love to hike in Europe.

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

That's a very pretty snake! And it did what most snakes do - slither out of your way. That's interesting that you were able to monitor your heart beat during the encounter!

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

Only because I had my heart rate monitor on and it as beeping as it does when you go over or under your cardio target. :-)

[vertamae.livejournal.com]

I applaud your tire rescue! And thank god you survived the brush with the snake. :)

Not sure I can stomach that documentary, but I'll keep it in mind, thanks for the link.

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

It's really a shame that people litter and vandalize trails. In this case I think the tire came from above (there is a road high above the canyon) - still.

[vertamae.livejournal.com]

I think the tire came from above (there is a road high above the canyon)

I'm glad you qualified that... I was thinking maybe heaven. Tires from heaven, hah!

[lostpony.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Yep, that's a coral snake. Aren't they beautiful? They are poisonous - if you are bitten by one, you probably won't feel more than a pin prick. But hours later (even up to 12 hour later), you will find out if you got the poison. Much different from a copperhead bite.

What a lovely place to walk!

Have you ever seen Basquiat (the movie)? At one point, an interviewer (Christopher Walken) asks Basquiat "What is that?" and he responds, "That's just a pile of tires I painted." Good movie if you haven't seen it.

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't seen that one yet. I'll have to keep my eye out for it.

It was stunning, but it scared the pants off me. There is was right in the middle of the path!

[thealmightysei.livejournal.com]

mama.. that snake is deadly.. yeah?
"Red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow. Red touches black, you're okay, Jack."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_snake




Victims of Eastern and Texas Coral snakebite should be transported as soon as possible to a tertiary level hospital which can provide constant monitoring of neurological and respiratory symptoms for 24 hours or more and if these symptoms occur be ready and able to sedate, endotracheally intubate and mechanically ventilate such patients for up to a week or until neurological and respiratory paralysis resolves.

[eats-veggies.livejournal.com]

Yikes - good thing I didn't pick it up and cuddle it huh? :-)

[walksbeauty.livejournal.com]

The End OF America video with Naomi Wolfe is what got me really going on things these days... like I really saw the bigger picture!

Lovely park! Didn't see any big butt anywhere!