Tight Quarters

So Friday night I went on a walk between Providence Canyon and Logan Canyon in order to scope out some cliffs that I have been considering bolting for a while. It turns out that the cliffs ended up not being anything spectacular, so I continued down the path. After another few hundred meters, I found a trail that cut strait up the mountainside into an outcropping of quartzite. Out of curiosity I pursued the thin trail and found that it lead to a couple of old abandoned mine shafts. I explored the first only to find that it ended after about fifteen meters. The entrance to the second shaft is pictured above and opened up into a small room that split into four shafts. I decided to explore the deepest looking one. After five meters, I came to another fork in the mine. Upon stopping to consider my options, I heard the sound of several small rocks being displaced on the floor directly behind me. I quickly turned and shined my dim cell phone light in the direction of the noise. There I saw a small rattlesnake about a meter away, with its venomous head only four centimeters from where I had just stepped seconds before! HOLY CHEESE DOGS IN THE MITTENS OF BULIMIC CARPENTERS!!! (I believe those were my exact thoughts, though it's hard to tell because the carpenters may have been reading a book about rubber pants assembly) After considering my plight, I decided to just wait until the snake had passed to the other side of the mine shaft (which was only about three cubits wide) and then carefully edged my way around the coiled, hissing and rattling reptile. What a story! phew!