[pct-l] PCTA TrailFest Hike

[Bighummel at aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

Switchblade,

This sounds just like the place that, in '77, I had just crossed the tracks 
and was heading up the canyon when, from around the bend, I heard first and 
then turned to see two railroad workers in the classic railroad garb on a push - 
pull cart coming up the tracks "hoooo - haaaa,  hoooo - haaaaa, hooo - 
haaaaaa"  . . . when out of my right ear I heard "ssssszzzzzlllll,  ssssszzzzzlllll" 
and snapped my head around to see a curled and ready to strike rattlesnake 
under the next step that my huge boot was about to come down on!!!!!  In 
mid-stride, in one of those weird superman instanteous events, the adrenalin screamed 
thru my veins and I lept high into the air beyond the snake!  The snake, 
looking up at this huge, ugly, heavy being about to smash it into the next life, 
skidadled away in another burst of snake adrenalin!  

There is a great quote in "The Pacific Crest Trail - Escape to the 
Wilderness" by Ann and Myron Sutton, 1975 in which they put it to you, that should you 
be fortunate enough to be walking along the San Andreas when it happens to 
move, then you will be one of the fortunate few who get to experience this great 
geologic phenomenom in the midst of nature where few natural hazards exist to 
harm you. 

Greg

In a message dated 2/6/2006 7:45:06 AM Pacific Standard Time, Hiker97@aol.com 
writes:
We come up this hill on a dirt road  right next to the train tracks.  The 
train track and road bend at this  point at the top of the hill.  Just at 
that 
moment a train comes up the  tracks from the other side.  It scared the 
living 
daylights out of  us.  The optical illusion made it look like we were on the 
tracks facing  the train.  Like the dirt road crossed the tracks at that 
point 
and we did  not notice it.