About 6:30am I was admiring the way the morning sun brushes the mountains. After breakfast and a few chores we drove a few miles north and entered the Angeles National Forest for a walk in the woods.
We passed what was clearly a stream bed strewn with giant boulders. We had in mind an easy, gentler walk.
Soon we arrived at the nearest trail head.
We found a narrow smooth path which led down to the modest little stream. At least, it’s modest this time of year after so little rain. But as you can see from the size of the rocks, there has clearly been enough water to move pieces of the mountain.
Near the stream is red-barked manzanita, and a modest little bush which seemed beloved by bugs, bees and many bumblebees.
The sun was getting hot so we decided to pick our way through the rocks and return to the main path. However, we were frozen in place by the very loud sound of a rattlesnake. Here’s what we heard. We walked backwards, very slowly. I didn’t get a picture. Even after we were safely back in the car, we felt quite shaken.
MK pix 
That certainly is a very spooky sound.
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Even from about 4′ away, it was quite loud and intimidating.
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That is an unnerving sound…did you see it too?
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No, we didn’t see it. There was a small boulder ahead, which we were walking toward. It had a shady space, which is where I’m sure the rattler was resting. After we backed up a distance, I thought of trying to get a picture of it with the zoom lens. But in truth I was too unnerved.
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I can understand that! 🙂
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