6-22-06
Start: Somewhere between Lamar & Hasty, CO
Destination: Las Animas, CO
Miles: 20.5
Weather: High 80's, Late Storms
Some days are just a lot of walking. Today we were able to notice a lot of little things. First of all, mom and I have both had our eyes glued to the horizon - we're waiting for the mountains to poke up above the hills and trees. Locals tell us we'll see them 5 miles east of La Junta - that should be tomorrow or Saturday. I'm so excited!
When we realize we just aren't going to see them yet, we walk on. Let me tell you about one critter that surprisingly has become a source of entertainment for us - ants. They are so funny! There are huge anthills all over, and they are big red ants that occupy them. I know they can carry a lot more than their own weight, so we're having fun seeing what they carry. We got a short video clip and a photo of an ant trying to carry a kernel of corn. That's been the funniest so far. They carry dead bugs 4x their size, and we even saw one carrying a small piece of wire - now what the heck would an ant use a piece of wire for? And he was walking in circles. Maybe that one stumbled upon a littered booze bottle??
We saw what I think was a horned toad today, too. What a cool looking creature. He had little horns on his head, and he just stood there for a minute staring at us with his beady eyes and tilting his head back and forth. We saw jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits - oh! and a crazy snake! We were just being warned at our morning coffee break in Hasty about the rattlesnakes. Apparently with the heat and drought, they are really cranky - just great, right?! Well I don't think this was a rattler, only because I didn't hear a rattle, or "buzz" as one gentleman told us to listen for. I was walking the ditch side of the road and mom was on the traffic side. I saw the snake sticking out of a bush right in front of me - he was standing straight up about one foot off the ground, tongue just a' going, staring directly at me. I stopped right in my tracks and backed up - right into mom. She didn't see him but knew I saw something. "What? What is it?" she asked. "Snake - there - see - snake."! I pointed. When she saw him she backed up, too. He was in strike mode.
We went to walk around him and cars going by probably thought we were nuts staring into the grass and walking around it into the road. I wasn't getting anywhere near that thing. Finally he just disappeared into the grass.
The afternoon brought severe weather. There was quarter-size hail and tornadoes that touched down in the county we were in yesterday. So we just missed the worst of it all again. We got to a hotel just before the storm hit Las Animas. I hope we're not getting soft - I guess if there's an option for shelter during a storm, then that sounds good to me. I don't like the thought of large hail on our thin tent walls. Tomorrow might get stormy, too, but not as bad, so we're going to try to tent camp. Hopefully it'll be nice. But for now, a soft bed and a good night's sleep are in my near future!
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