Hiking and a Rattlesnake

On Saturday we decided to take a hike up in the mountains. It was so nice! The weather was beautiful, it greatly improved my mood, and it gave all of us some really good exercise. We hiked over 4 miles. My little guy Logan who is 5 years old, did the whole hike as well. What a trooper.

One exciting and scary thing happened though. We were on a path that was very narrow, so we were walking single file. Logan was leading the way with Tanner behind him, then Miguel, Emerald and me. All of a sudden we heard "chkchckhckhkchhckhckch." Tanner quickly pulled Logan back. There was a HUGE rattlesnake right in the middle of the path. We all crowded around and waited for it to move. It SLOWLY slithered into the bushes, and we went on our way.

I have never seen a rattlesnake in real life, except at the zoo. I was amazed at how loud the "rattle" sound was. I am also very grateful for the warning to stay back. It would have been an extremely scary and dangerous hike back if someone had been bitten. We were about 1 1/2 hours up into the mountain. That means another 1 1/2 hours back down, with a lot of rocky terrain. Not the kind of thing you want to run down.

This experience also made me think of how blessed we are to have a living prophet. Heavenly Father did not leave us here on this earth to just flounder around without further guidance and direction. He gave us the First Presidency and a living Prophet. When we are on a narrow path, and danger comes our way, IF we look to the Prophet and follow His counsel, he will pull us back, away from danger, we will be safe. The Prophet, lives in our day and time, and knows the struggles and trials of this day and age. He can give us direct counsel, even revelation to what we all should be doing. Do you see what a blessing that is? Do you see the magnitude of help that brings into our lives. Do you see the Father's love in giving us this gift? I am so grateful.