The daytime temperature was flirting with 110 degrees Fahrenheit and the sun was baking all that was exposed. The rocks and the pavement would blister the skin if touched. We were in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas (the Big Bend region) and we wanted to see all that it had to offer.
There's snakes in them there hills.
The day turned into evening and Dick, like every evening, had to stop for a sunset photograph (or 20). I agree, it was a pretty sight to behold, but he knows I hate to stop for sunsets. Especially when we are in a state that's larger than some countries and we had a long ways to go to be anywhere. But he's getting older and that means one thing; he really gets pleasure out of seeing me squirm.
Dick Bartlett hypnotized by the turning of the earth.
I guess I'll take a photo too...since I'm here.
Once night had fallen we cruised the heat-emitting blacktop for several hours with little to show for it. We know that sometimes activity in the desert can result in very late nights that lead into early mornings. I remember looking at the thermometer gauge and seeing 92 degrees and then looking at the clock and seeing it was after midnight. This was going to be one of those late nights.
Eventually we tired of sitting in the car and needed a good leg stretch. So we put our state required reflective vests on and headed for a large roadcut. This particular cut was about 10 feet high and 50, or so, yards long. It was mirrored on both sides of the road and busy with crevices and cracks. It screamed "snakes!"
Dick took the north side cut and I took the south. I am not a very fast walker, but compared to Dick, I was Speedy Gonzales. This cut went over a hill and turned to the south, so he was eventually out of sight completely.
I looked ahead and could see the roadcut was tapering down to its distal end. Since there wasn't much left, I turned off my headlamp and looked up at the night sky. The low humidity and almost zero light pollution in this part of the country makes for some amazing stargazing. This night was no exception. The Milky Way sat directly overhead and there were so many stars that it was hard to focus on just one. I shook my head in amazement and then turned my headlamp back on. I walked only two or three steps when I saw the obvious outline of a snake at the base of the cut. I put my headlamp on a higher power setting and aimed it at the snake. There, in the beam of my light, was a beautiful River Road Gray Banded Kingsnake (Lampropeltis alterna). I watched it for a moment and could see it was just cruising the base of the cut, poking it's head in the crevices and quickly retracting it when no prey was present. It was my very first trip to West Texas and this was my very first wild alterna. It was a hefty 30 inch "alterna" phase female. While I was pretty excited to see this animal, I resisted from telling Dick immediately. We had several more nights in this area, so I bagged the snake for some better photographs and we left for the hotel.
Summertime in the desert can be awe-inspiring.
The next day in the hotel room I pointed to a bag that was sitting on the floor and asked Dick if he would open it and see what was inside. He obliged by opening and peaking in. The look on his face when he glanced up from the bag was priceless. I nonchalantly said "oh yeah, I found that at the roadcut." Dick isn't the only one who knows how to ruffle some feathers.
A typical West Texas roadcut.