Hiking R Mountain

August 10th we spent the day hiking R Mountain. We decided to do this because it is just something people do in Rexburg, and we haven't hiked R Mountain in our time of being here in Rexburg, and it was coming down to we have to hike it now or it is not going to happen because the snow will be coming and it will be freezing before we know it. (Not looking forward to that one bit, but at least it is our last winter here in Rexburg that we know of).
Here is a picture of R Mountain (Menan Butte) at the beginning of the trail. From looking online it didn't seem like the hike was too bad, but once we got started we realized how extremely steep it was.

Along the trail we saw many different critters. At the beginning of the trail and in the morning we saw a lot of these lizards. They would take off running when we got close, so it scared me at first until I got used to them running past us really fast.

Another critter that we saw on the trail was one that wasn't so inviting. While walking along I heard a very distinct rattle. I had never heard it before and before I heard this sound I sometimes thought I was hearing it when the grasshoppers would make their buzzing sound, but it is a very distinct sound, I know that for a fact now. We had run into a rattlesnake! This was the first time either one of us had run into one. When I heard the rattle I FROZE, seen where it was and how it was starting to rise up and took off down the trail. Once we were away from the rattlesnake it stopped rattling and we waited for it to go further into the sagebrush. I then thought it would be cool to get a picture so Chris got a picture while it was slithering away. The rest of the hike I was paranoid with the grasshoppers jumping around. Every little movement I seen or every sound made I would jump. I have been in areas with rattlesnakes but have never seen one before so I was on guard the entire hike looking for them.

After our steep hike up the side of the butte we finally made it to the top!

We had a great view and hike around the crater in the middle. This view is one of my favorites because it has the Grand Tetons in the background. I love the Tetons after living in the Teton Valley while I interned at HD Dunn & Son Angus Ranch in Tetonia, Idaho before we were married.
Chris with a west view of the sagebrush
The crater; we hiked all the way around it.This was after we had hiked around the crater and getting ready to head back down
While on the way down we had another encounter with a rattlesnake. We were walking right along and all of a sudden a snake came out of the sagebrush in front of us and was slithering across the trail. He must of thought that we weren't a threat to him because he didn't rattle or anything, just went on his merry little way. I had to tell Chris to stop because he wasn't paying attention to the ground (like I was because I was paranoid we would run into another one).

All in all we had a great hike and we can now say that we have hiked R Mountain and seen some rattlesnakes, however I hope that was the first and only time seeing rattlesnakes, but who knows where our adventures will lead us. At least it is better than running into a bear! And at least rattlesnakes give you a warning, we both like that about them.