Hall County Commissioner Billy Powell had a near brush with death when he stepped on top of a coiled red diamond rattlesnake while on an annual fishing trip with his buddies this summer, including Gainesville attorney Steve Gilliam. Low water in drought-stricken California made fishing along the Kern River in the Golden Trout Wilderness area of the Sierra Nevada mountains less than ideal. As Powell waded and hiked his way downstream one day looking for a good pool to cast his line in, he took a fateful step that immediately shot a bolt of fear through his heart and mind.