Chris Cordes
Expedition Leader
So the trip started later than originally anticipated as meetings for my friend and I ran late and we didnt hit the road until nearly seven. By the time we reached Camp Verde it was completely dark so flipped on the aux lights and headed off the pavement. The drive to where we planned to camp takes between an hour and a half to two or more depending on the speed and bumps you are willing to endure. We took closer to two since it was dark and the ARB has already endured a deer strike. The drive was relatively uneventful with the occasional javelina trotting across the road. Arriving at camp there was a jeep with a few people camped out not too far from our spot so we greeted the neighbors (very drunk neighbors) and began setting up the tents. We came down to fossil creek to visit the Verde Hot springs which is about a mile walk from where we parked. Given that there were four of us we decided that it would be relatively safe to hike the route to the springs and spend an hour or so there before heading to bed. Nature had other plans as we would soon find out. 90% into the hike we started down a steep hill to cross a dried up area of a creek bed. We stopped mid descent as we watched the bushes bending and cracking as something (large) moved towards us. Hoping it could be another camper we called out repeatedly to only see an increase in pace. Whatever it was it was moving faster than a human could over the large boulders covering the area. We quickly made sure our k-bars were in easy reach and started walking (swiftly haha) back towards camp constantly checking around us for any sign of movement. As we hurried back we were a little too attentive to what could be lurking around us instead of where we were walking. It wasnt long before every member of our group stopped dead in their tracks to the sound of a rattle. In the center of the trail was a rattle snake with its eyes focused right on us. The trail was only the width of a person with a river on one side and large rocks on the other. We didnt want to turn back at this point as we didnt know what was waiting for us if we did. Continue it was. We slowly climbed the rocks on the side of the trail keeping our eyes on the snake as one by one we slipped by. By the time we returned to camp the entire group was ready to just sit by the fire and relax. I enjoyed a hot dog or two then headed to bed (thankful to be sleeping in that roof tent). I was so tired I failed to hear the neighbors bring the party to the waters edge (aka our campsite).
