Ice Box Canyon ( Red Rock ) Pictures

These go along with the Trip Report:

Very nice. My backyard.

I thought this large rock was interesting, as far as rocks go:

I had an interesting experience on my way to Ice Box Canyon about 10 years ago. I had parked the car off the road and began the mile or so trek slightly uphill. I passed through a small clearing of rock, then entered the area with the four-foot-tall scrub brush. There was a trail through it, and I stepped into it. I was hiking alone.

Just as I stepped onto that trail, I heard a sound I interpreted as Ch-Ch-Ch, and I thought, "Oh, I'm upsetting some mother bird nearby. I'll step back." As I was stepping back, part of my mind let me know, without me quite realizing my predicament, that "I have heard that before. That is not a bird; you are in trouble."

I finished stepping back and saw, about five/six inches from where I had stepped, a really huge rattlesnake that maintained its Ch-Ch-Ch. I tend to underestimate animal sizes, and this snake was five feet long. So I took another couple of steps back, maybe four/five yards, onto some big stones in the clearing, and I gave myself a Native American couple of minutes, with me talking to the snake, thanking him/her for not striking, and just kind of taking in the moment. Then I figured it wasn't my day to hike to Ice Box Canyon, and I turned around and headed back to the car. Along the way, I saw a couple hiking in my direction, and I let them know to not take the obvious trail because a humongous rattler was hanging out.

So that was my last Ice Box Canyon experience. I need to get back there sometime. Not alone, and wearing hiking boots with snake guards, not running shoes.

Quote: redietz

So that was my last Ice Box Canyon experience. I need to get back there sometime. Not alone, and wearing hiking boots with snake guards, not running shoes.

Or go right now in January ? Rattlers can't be very active in these temps ? Or maybe they can ?

Quote: JohnnyQ

Or go right now in January ? Rattlers can't be very active in these temps ? Or maybe they can ?

In Arizona, snakes sometimes seek out parked cars as sources of warmth. Had a five foot Diamondback camp out under a lamp a few weeks ago.

Quote: redietz

So that was my last Ice Box Canyon experience. I need to get back there sometime. Not alone, and wearing hiking boots with snake guards, not running shoes.

I'll pm you next time I am back in town.

Quote: billryan

In Arizona, snakes sometimes seek out parked cars as sources of warmth. Had a five foot Diamondback camp out under a lamp a few weeks ago.

Pretty sure Arizona has more subspecies of rattlesnakes than any state in the union. I like rattlesnakes, I think they're pretty cool. That doesn't mean I would kiss one on the lips.

Last spring, when they were starting to come out around a local casino, I was trying to save one from the middle of the road, he was warming himself, and it was in a tough spot where traffic was just coming around a blind spot. But that's me, always trying to save animals. Suddenly the Tribal Police turned their red lights on me and pulled me over, wanting to know what I was doing. I told them. They essentially, in so many words, called me an idiot and told me next time I get a ticket. They let me go, and I drove back to the snake. Too late. Run over and bleeding.

Went back a couple days ago. But didn't make it to the "falls". One of our hiking companions was having slot machine withdrawal. Oh well.