One of the things I plan to do this year near the Whipple Section off-road is search off-trail for places to meditate. Since I have topographic maps and already know where the section's surface water is, I feel that I have a good start on knowing what areas are too steep to access on a bushwhack. I'll also be able to use my GPS to mark waypoints and begin to chart any brier patches. Once done, that information will be uploaded to my Personal Section Supervisor's Page here on Blogger.
As for the location of any Rattlesnake dens, NFS wouldn't release that information (probably out of conservation fears), but in the last year, I smelled, but I've never seen one. That took place on a gated skid road that intersects County Road 9 (C9) this past summer when I was making my last inspection before the Whipple Work Weekend arrived. The cucumber like smell came from just off the west side of the skid and lasted for about 15 seconds before it quickly dissipated.
If there's any concerns about encountering them, I could do the search when the temperature is high. To be more comfortable, this will drive them to become nocturnal. Or I could do this as the first order of business in March when the snow melts, but the daytime high is still too low for them to come out of hibernation.
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