This morning I hiked up the back of Shaw Butte from Mountain View Park. I have done this trail numerous times in the last twenty five years. It's one of my favorites. I like it because it's pretty steep, with six separate inclines up to the top. It takes about 90 minutes from my house. The trail passes by the old foundation that had been the restaurant, Cloud Nine. In the early sixties, jeeps ferried customers up the dirt road to the restaurant and bar from the end of 15th Ave. Back then, customers sitting out on the patio would routinely be visited by rattlesnakes. The diamondbacks would be quickly dispatched by the staff who would toss them over the side of the mountain with a stick! No rattlers today, though I have seen a six rattle, three footer with his head smashed in the middle of the trail on a previous hike. Several summers ago I almost got tagged by one, lower down, as I passed an outcropping of rock. He warned me off with his rattle and I gave him a wide berth. I snapped this ocotillo branch on the way down.
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