Day 10
   
   5/7/01
   Mile 1046
   Lamar, CO
   
   I had no idea of the predicament I was in during the night.  I awoke
   at 6:30 and began my usual rustlings, crawling out of my sleeping bag and
   stuffing it into it's sack.  I poked my head out of the tent and began
   packing up.  The moment I collapsed the tent, a rattlesnake reared up
   less than a foot away from it, rattle buzzing, and striking at the
   air.
   
   I have no particular fear of snakes in and of themselves, but this of
   course caused me to be, let's say, alert and highly focused (read:
   running away).  I had just had my hands down there to undo the poles,
   surely within striking distance.  Also, I had already taken the rain fly off
   the tent, and I am perplexed as to why that action didn't trigger a
   response.  Had I rolled over in the night and pinched it, it could
   have easily bitten through the thin tent fabric.
   
   How big was it?  About 3 feet long, I suppose.  You can judge yourself
   from the photo I took showing it next to the tent.
   
   Today's safety tip: make sure all tent flaps are completely zipped up
   before retiring for the evening.
   
   I finished packing (after dragging the tent to a safe distance) and
   left the snake to go find a nice mouse for breakfast.  I soon reached
   the Oklahoma border, at which point I gleefully burned my Texas map.
   Ahhh, 2 ounces less weight.  It was a chilly morning, about 48 degrees.  I
   was glad I hadn't shaved my beard off like I was tempted to in the
   heat of west Texas.
   
   The Santa Fe Trail crosses through this area, where thousands of
   wagons made their pilgrimage a century and a half ago.  Herds of wild deer
   run about the hillsides.  It's easier to sneak up on wildlife on a
   bicycle, since it is nearly silent.  At the Colorado border begins the Comanche
   National Grasslands, which are exactly like they sound.  There is
   essentially nothing over about a foot tall as far as the eye can see.
   
   I crested out at around 4400 feet, then began the gradual descent to
   the Arkansas river at the town of Lamar.  It was another great day,
   and I spent the afternoon blasting across the plains at warp speed.
   
   Q. How does Eldon send his email?
   A. Via a Sharp TM-20 and the Pocketmail service.  The unit is PDA-like
   with a small keyboard and backlit screen (text only).  It contains an
   acoustic coupler that is placed against the handset of a payphone.
   See the pocketmail.com web site for more details.
   
   Disclaimer: since the unit is acoustic, stray noises are the cause of
   any typos or misspellings in emails that I send.  Such errors in
   transmission are also responsible for any bad grammar, dangling
   participles, or stylistic deficits.

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