High Sierra Topix

TehipiteTom: I’m glad you saw my report. Your posts on High Sierra Topix, your photo albums elsewhere on the web, and your response to a PM I sent you earlier this year provided us not only with the good route for getting into Red Rock Basin but also other useful information. Without that information we wouldn’t have done this route or anything like it. So from me and the others on the trip, thank you!

Cameron: Yes, there’s something going on with the rattlers. My understanding of the upper limit of their range is about the same as yours. But when some of us were hiking a variation on the High Sierra Trail last year, we saw this one about 30 feet away from the eastern shore of Moraine Lake – elevation 9290!
There was also a dead one on a large rock nearby – trophy or warning, I’m not sure. And we saw another live one two days later near the Kern River ranger station, but at that lower elevation it wasn’t surprising.

My guess is that some of them are moving uphill in response to changes in temperature or precipitation patterns due to climate change. I may look for a rattlesnake expert on the web to see if others are observing this or have any thoughts.

-Andy

Hi Andy,
OK, the Moraine Lake snake clinches it for me; being accustomed to scrambling off trail, I think it'll behoove me (and others) to keep in mind that something that looks like a rattlesnake may, in fact, be a rattlesnake. I'm used to bumps and bruises, but a snake bite is something else. Yes, I know there are folks on HST who regularly carry a snake bite kit, but I had always thought that elevation was the best bet for avoiding adding that to my gear. Depending on the route, that may no longer be the case. Thanks, Cameron

Great find, Maverick - thanks! Guess there's nothing new about the rattlers being at higher elevations. Cameron, I think I'll be with you in keeping more of an eye out for them.

Well Mav, as Andy commented, that is a sobering read. I need to re-trace the evidence trail that led me to think that 7,000ft was roughly the upper limit of the rattler's range in the Sierra. Regardless, I will be a bit more-paranoid than I have been about keeping my eyes peeled. I've personally seen the damage scorpion bites do, but never a rattler (photos look bad enough). And, thankfully, no scorpion sightings (yet) in the Sierra for me.

Also, I thought that it was interesting that Shellenbarger was one of the folks commenting on a high-elevation rattler: have you ever made it to the lake of the same name?

cgundersen wrote: ↑Thu Sep 20, 2018 10:04 am I don't need to see any more rattlers and the fact you saw them above 7000 ft has me a bit concerned.

During a geology summer field class on the Log Cabin Mine Roof Pendant in 1972, I saw a rattler at >10,000 feet. It was morning and he wasn't moving yet. I half expected to see him in the same place the next day but he was gone. I've seen a lot of rattlesnakes on my trips over the past few decades, but I can't remember any in the country I've visited east of Courtright and Wishon and west of the LeConte/White Divide.

Nice trip report. Your friends who had to take the easier route did most of what I think would be a cool trip - ascending the Middle Fork from Tehipite Valley all the way to its highest source at Muir Pass. Maybe I'll get to do it someday. The Middle Fork Kings River is the largest watershed in California that is completely protected as Wilderness - from the highest peaks all the way down to its confluence with the South Fork.
-Phil

Yes, a very interesting route. I have run into rattlesnakes on the trail to Merced Lake in Yosemite, at above 7000 feet. This summer I ran into many down near Pate Valley while doing Grand Canyon of Tuolumne. There are lots of rattlesnakes in Wyoming, so I got used to them. Bites are serious, but rattlesnakes really are not aggressive; they would just as soon slither away if they know you are coming. In early season, as things are just warming up, the rattlers are very sluggish; in that case I throw a few sticks or rocks at them to get them to move. Like most bears, if they know you are coming they will generally move away. I have accidently come very close to a rattlesnake on the side of the trail, and they hiss and rattle, but have never struck at me. If I am in tall grass, I poke ground ahead of me with my trekking pole. You definitely have to slow down and really keep an eye on the ground. Personally, I do not avoid backpacking in rattlesnake habitats. The real danger is to dogs and small children. It takes a really large rattler to put enough venom in an adult to kill them. Our dog gets regular rattlesnake venom vaccinations and has been to "snake avoidance" classes. We occasionally run into rattlesnakes on the bike trail down on the American River where we regularly walk our dog. I have nearly run over one while riding my bike!

I have only run into one rattler that really sacred me. That was one that was 5 feet long and as thick as a wine bottle. It was on top of the Wellsville mountains near Logan Utah, a very surprising place to find a rattler. It simply looked at me, hissed and rattled, and I moved away.

agfhst wrote: ↑Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:19 pm Great find, Maverick - thanks! Guess there's nothing new about the rattlers being at higher elevations. Cameron, I think I'll be with you in keeping more of an eye out for them.

In 1864 Brewer & his party ran into a rattlesnake near Granite Pass.

agfhst wrote: ↑Sat Sep 22, 2018 7:39 pm TehipiteTom: I’m glad you saw my report. Your posts on High Sierra Topix, your photo albums elsewhere on the web, and your response to a PM I sent you earlier this year provided us not only with the good route for getting into Red Rock Basin but also other useful information. Without that information we wouldn’t have done this route or anything like it. So from me and the others on the trip, thank you!

Thank you! I'm so glad I was able to help.