Bruce hits the brakes and pulls over. Before I can ask why, he jumps out and runs into the desert. Behind us, his brother, Jim, also stops his vehicle and runs into the scorched landscape.

By the time I catch up, Bruce is running back. Where he was standing, a three-foot (.9 m) western rattlesnake is rising up to strike, rattling its tail in warning.

“He doesn’t like you very much. I’ve never seen one get this aggressive,” says Jim, as he strides over to the snake and expertly catches it with a specially designed long-handed gripper.

“I think he just wants a closer look at me,” says Bruce.

Campers soak in the natural hot pool at Virginia Springs.

After showing us the snake’s beautiful diamond pattern and counting the segments on his rattle, Jim releases the feisty reptile into a clump of sagebrush.

Jim is a herpetologist and biology instructor at Clark College, near Portland, Oregon, and he’s the reason I’m out in this desert chasing, and being chased by snakes. He convinced me this would be fun.

Every June, the two brothers take a trip into Nevada’s backcountry. A part of these trips is dedicated to gathering specimens for Jim’s college laboratory, where he keeps dozens of types of snakes, lizards, turtles and frogs. This year he doesn’t need any more specimens. We are just catching them to take a look, make some notes and release them, away from the hazards of the highway. I’m assured I’ll get a look at some truly beautiful reptiles, such as the leopard lizard and the king snake.

It’s not the type of holiday most people think of when they consider Nevada. Las Vegas and Reno are packed with exciting casinos and nightclubs, but for a different side of Nevada, the state’s northwestern corner, with its Thousand Springs Canyon (a mini Grand Canyon), mountains and mesas will take your breath away.

Our base camp for exploring is the Virgin Valley Campground, an oasis in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. The campground is maintained by the Dufurrena Mining Company, which operates within the refuge. The drive in takes you past company offices and equipment yards, and you can camp free for up to 14 nights. The campground has outhouses, drinking water and a hot springs swimming pool to soothe and refresh travelers. The adjacent rustic shower house and other outbuildings are beautifully constructed of red sandstone, built under President Roosevelt’s Depression-era make-work program.

Before the turn of the 20th century, the valley was a watering hole for cattle and sheep, and some vestiges of ranching still operate on the outskirts. Remains of homesteads and ranch houses are scattered through the preserve.