Villager and Rabbit Peaks
Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:24 pm
After completing my 3rd Skyline on Saturday, Tinaballina and I headed down to Patti's house for DELISH lasagna dinner and a rather short night of rest before heading down the S-22 to the TH for Villager and Rabbit Peaks.
The participants of this hike were:
Norma, Tina, Robin, Steve, Patti, and Me.
We made our way through the darkness, across the sandy flats before crossing the drainage and heading up the foot of the ridge that makes its way up to the two peaks. In the dark it can be a bit confusing trying to find the start of the switchbacks. Luckily, Steve and Tina had done the hike before and pointed the rest of us in the right direction.
The initial section switchbacks for a few hundred feet before becoming a series of rolling hills that rise steadily until arriving at Villager Peak. The trail stays almost directly on the spine of the ridge and at one point hugs a very steep cliff-side with visible signs of erosion. We snacked atop Villager and cached our extra water before beginning our trek across to Rabbit Peak.
Directly after Villager the trail drops down and follows the continuous ridge towards Rabbit. There were about 5 "humps" between the two peaks.
*Word to the wise, pace yourself and keep in mind you're going to have to make the elevation again on the return trip. *
The steepest portion is right before the summit. The summit itself is nothing too special. I was disappointed that there weren't any good views of the Salton Sea, being obstructed by trees and the dome shape of summit. We ran into another group of hikers at the top of Rabbit.
The descent went smoothly, everything started to blur, all the cactus, sand and rocks begins to look the same after a while. We reached the bottom of the wash right as the sun set and were back at the cars in no time. Good times.
The participants of this hike were:
Norma, Tina, Robin, Steve, Patti, and Me.
We made our way through the darkness, across the sandy flats before crossing the drainage and heading up the foot of the ridge that makes its way up to the two peaks. In the dark it can be a bit confusing trying to find the start of the switchbacks. Luckily, Steve and Tina had done the hike before and pointed the rest of us in the right direction.
The initial section switchbacks for a few hundred feet before becoming a series of rolling hills that rise steadily until arriving at Villager Peak. The trail stays almost directly on the spine of the ridge and at one point hugs a very steep cliff-side with visible signs of erosion. We snacked atop Villager and cached our extra water before beginning our trek across to Rabbit Peak.
Directly after Villager the trail drops down and follows the continuous ridge towards Rabbit. There were about 5 "humps" between the two peaks.
*Word to the wise, pace yourself and keep in mind you're going to have to make the elevation again on the return trip. *
The steepest portion is right before the summit. The summit itself is nothing too special. I was disappointed that there weren't any good views of the Salton Sea, being obstructed by trees and the dome shape of summit. We ran into another group of hikers at the top of Rabbit.
The descent went smoothly, everything started to blur, all the cactus, sand and rocks begins to look the same after a while. We reached the bottom of the wash right as the sun set and were back at the cars in no time. Good times.
Zach, i could have sworn i was there too????????????? next time i WILL touch your sunburned legs dude... with an Ocotillo whip. 
