“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”—Henry David Thoreau
Thirty minutes south of the San Jose urban center, is Lexington Reservoir County Park that serves as a water supply for the area and is available for recreational purposes such as rowing, fishing, paddle boating managed by the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department. The 950-acre lake in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains is home to the San Jose Row Club.
One you arrive at the base of the reservoir from the Los Gatos Creek Trail, the mostly paved road traces the outline of Lexington Reservoir
As the road pitches down, the ride gets really interesting. In the beginning I used to be a timid descender anxiously clutching my brakes. But, having hydraulic brakes installed a while ago, accompanied by the large contact to the road afforded me by my fat tires, I am more confident careening down the mountain side at about 30 MPH. Bill has a more expensive Specialized bike that offers him the same advantages. Located at 17770 Alma Bridge Road in Los Gatos Lexington Reservoir is considered one of the top 15 best lakes in the San Jose area. I love the seasonal scenic vistas made more beautiful with the wildflowers as seen in the photos I took.
As we rounded the reservoir on the last leg of our ride, Bill pointed to a snake on the road. I had circled back to take a photo of what appeared to be a dead snake.
I use the words "appeared to be” dead because there are what’s referred to as "zombie snakes,” snakes that pretend to be dead or “play possum,” so to speak.
When a snake is feigning death, it will flatten its head to make it appear larger and then hiss, fill its body with air, roll over on its back and open its mouth and let its tongue hang out. luckily those type of snakes are not known to be harmful to humans.
Nevertheless, I have an active imagination and the snake on the road which looked like a Western rattler made me think of a story I read in Smithsonian magazine a few years ago about a Texas resident who discovered a Western diamondback rattlesnake nestled in some flowers in her back yard, causing her to let out a scream. Her husband quickly came to her rescue and decapitated the snake with a shovel. When he bent down to pick it up several minutes later, the severed head of the snake turned around, grabbed onto his hand and, bit him releasing all of its venom. He was air lifted to a hospital, went into septic shock, experienced internally bleeding, and nearly died. So when Bill stomped his foot on the ground and yelled out (Hah!) I nearly jumped out of my bicycle seat. We continued our ride and decided to make our way down the less trodden path to the edge of the water to take it all in. The skies were blue, the water was tranquil and aside for a few men fishing in the distance, we had a mindful moment of oneness with nature which is by far one of the joys of riding.
