Another new hike for me! Yay! It was a tough lil’ climb, but nothing compared to Big Iron last week. Today it was Rattlesnake Peak. Once again, I was on the trail with buddies Jeff & G. I’m pretty lucky to have met these guys, as I’m having a lot of fun hiking with them.
First of all, if you’re not watching for it, the trail we took is hard to find. We started from where Shumaker Road ends. We walked the road for about 1.5 miles, then hooked up with an elusive, intimidating trail. Well, the initial several yards were intimidating. Not wanting to be the whining girl, I tentatively asked Jeff, “Um…is it going to be like this the whole way? “ I was referring to the steepness and lousy footing. He assured me that it would not remain that way. Don’t get me wrong; sections of the hike were quite steep, but not as bad as the start!
Anyway, we climbed and climbed. I believe we gained about 4,000 feet in 3 miles. It made for a great leg workout. We couldn’t see much, since the clouds were so low and thick. In some ways I was grateful for the cloud cover, as I was unable to see the several steep climbs we had to make, and then of course go right back down as we followed the ridgeline. I’m always up for a butt-kicking workout, but sometimes it’s just best not to know what’s coming.
It was pretty damp today, so whoever led the way got soaked by the moisture on the manzanita and other brush. And, if we were not leading, we were still plenty wet. We made the summit in about 3 hours. There, we sat, snacked, and waited in vain for the sun to come out. I did some Yoga stretches (very typical for me) and we just hung out. Finally, we decided to head back down. We had thought about heading for South Hawkins, but now that our clothes were finally drying out, we decided against it, knowing we’d be in for a lot more, wet bushwhacking.
On the way down, it was time to spruce up the trail a bit. One of the guys used some nice clippers to get rid of some of the overgrown brush. All three of us moved some rocks, strategically, in spots where it’s easy to lose the trail. With some nice TLC today, there was a marked improvement on the trail! So, even though we couldn’t see much today, we had fun, did some cleanup and enjoyed the day.
Thanks again, Jeff, for getting me onto another new trail! Maybe one day I’ll be part mountain goat, like you two guys!
Pics, gray as they are, can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/33777171@N06/sets ... 555768107/
My first time! Rattlesnake Peak 4/11/09
Hi liz,
That's a nice lolipop trip up Rattlesnake. Looks like you hit good weather. That hike is brutal with full sun.
By the way that ridge is officially called "shithead ridge"
A few years ago my partner and I were sitting on top of Rattlesnake when a young hiker wearing army camis and I think what was a rucksack had just come up from that side and we asked him where did you come from? He was carrying up a ton of weight and he looked worn out big time.
He answers back "shithead ridge"
and explained what he had just been through.
Back then very few people did that route and it was in bad shape.Word got around and now it's a lot more popular. It's been cleaned up a lot since then.
I think the Sierra Club hps even call it that.
That's a nice lolipop trip up Rattlesnake. Looks like you hit good weather. That hike is brutal with full sun.
By the way that ridge is officially called "shithead ridge"
A few years ago my partner and I were sitting on top of Rattlesnake when a young hiker wearing army camis and I think what was a rucksack had just come up from that side and we asked him where did you come from? He was carrying up a ton of weight and he looked worn out big time.
He answers back "shithead ridge"
and explained what he had just been through.Back then very few people did that route and it was in bad shape.Word got around and now it's a lot more popular. It's been cleaned up a lot since then.
I think the Sierra Club hps even call it that.
Was that the eary model of the Predator 50? I don't remember being offered a weapon as an add-on option when I bought mineTacoDelRio wrote:8)Zé wrote:was that Taco?!
I was keeping in shape to re-up before that all came to a halt.
It's a small world. When was that? Around 2006 I think. I remember hiking down with that Sierra Club that came up after us. There was one lady there that thought you might be doing target practice on her as we went down.
February 2nd 2006
I remember that woman talking about Kilamanjaro or something.
My hearing is horrible, but I heard her talking about how myself carrying a rifle was a fire hazard. Dunno how a .308 168gr HPBT Matchking is going to start a fire...
I stopped explaining myself and my hobbies/actions to others long ago.
Were you one of the guys intent on heading to South Hawkins, caching water etc?
I remember that woman talking about Kilamanjaro or something.
My hearing is horrible, but I heard her talking about how myself carrying a rifle was a fire hazard. Dunno how a .308 168gr HPBT Matchking is going to start a fire...
I stopped explaining myself and my hobbies/actions to others long ago.
Were you one of the guys intent on heading to South Hawkins, caching water etc?
TacoDelRio wrote:Soon, this thread will be about penguins.
Good memory. We ended up stashing some water further on down the north ridge of Rattlesnake later and about a month later ended up doing the traverse from Rattlesnake to South Mt. Hawkins and back. There was still some snow on Hawkins. Didn’t end up needing the water though, it was a cool weather day. Simple enough to follow the ridge, just a lot of ups and downs. Ended up coming down Rattlesnake in the dark.TacoDelRio wrote:February 2nd 2006
Were you one of the guys intent on heading to South Hawkins, caching water etc?
Good times
Sorry about hijacking your thread Liz. Unintentional
