Goodwater Loop Reminders

[Philius413]

Just wanted to remind anyone going out to ride/run LGT to watch out for...uh..."critters?" I guess that is the best word to clump insects & reptiles together when speaking redneck? Anyway, during my last two trips out there, I came across 4 rattlesnakes, so keep your eyes open. I've also seen a couple of corals out there, and although they are a little less dangerous, they still aren't fun to have close at hand.
Next, and I'm sure this goes for many trails this time of year (as does snake-watching), but "check yo-self fool" for lil' hitch-hikers after the ride. I had a tick for each trip last week--so 3 total. Luckily, 2 were still crawling when I noticed them & hadn't latched on anywhere yet. And the one that did--well, let's just say she didn't quite make it to "paradise" before she got to sucking, which is fine with me. However, a couple of them were deer ticks, which are known to be carriers of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, so be careful. One other thing--during the stage of life that the ticks are most likely to transmit the disease they can be as small as 1 mm in diameter. So if you find something you believe to be a flea or chigger, but then develop any symptoms, get some antis early on, as there is no cure for Lyme's once it is full blown.

[DirtFace]

Thanks for the info. We've been geocaching and I admit I've been a little nervous poking around in the grass where we've been hiking. We were at Walnut a couple weeks ago and got chewed up by chiggers. We've taken more precaution now and are bite-free. However, I am glad you brought up ticks and snakes. On a couple of hikes we have just refused to walk into some areas. Although we haven't been to Gtown, the critters are everywhere. We've come across some angry scorpions on our hikes. I'd hate to get one of those in my pants.