It was very appropriate, after spending the night at the Gila River, that one of the first things I saw the next day on the trail was a Gila monster! It was a very beautiful specimen, with brilliant markings, and not camera-shy at all! He let me get up-close and personal with the pictures.

The views on the trail the rest of the day were not as impressive and we did a long 32 miles. The morning was scorching hot while the late afternoon felt like we were in a wind tunnel. Thankfully we saw even more amazing reptiles, including a large diamondback rattlesnake and a coachwhip, in addition to the Gila monster earlier.

#rattlesnakealongthetrail #wildlifeonthetrail #2017AZT