Rattlesnake Peak

Let’s start this one off by saying…DAMN! I had heard, read and seen all about this trail, but had yet to attempt this beast. Funny thing is I had received the AllTrails app as a Christmas gift and Rattlesnake Peak was the first trail I saved as a trail to do in the area. I knew nothing about how difficult it was or anything. Over the next few months I saw a few posts about it on IG and read more details on the app. I was learning how steep, loose and challenging this peak was going to be. So on a Monday morning I set out to solo hike it!

First of all there was not a single sole besides myself on this trail the entire day. This surprised me due to the fact I always run into at least one other hiker per hike. What I quickly found out was the first mile is a pretty steady fire road style incline and then you make a HARD left turn and the fun begins. This turn is very easy to miss so make sure you have the trail downloaded or are paying very close attention to a map. I made sure to keep my app open and ready as I was approaching this turn.

From the very start of this, you climb up a short steep, loose dirt trail. (*Picture to the right is what the HARD left turn looks like.) At this point I could only imagine how the rest was going to be. It flattens out as you snake around to the spine where the REAL fun begins. From here to the peak you will gain almost 3000 feet of elevation in less than 3 miles. For those avid hikers…you know what 1000 feet of elevation gain per mile feels like and knowing this is more elevation and less miles gets you thinking. Finally I spotted the peak. I then realized how high and far I needed to go.

The trail was very maintained for such a lightly trafficked trail in my opinion. Easy to follow along and no real discrepancies on where to go. I pushed myself to not stop and keep trekking up as I climbed up this loose dirt, sometimes rocky trail. There were 2 sections of rocky points you must go up and then down the other side. And I HATE going down when I’m climbing a mountain. This means there will be UP on the way back down. Haha. Fortunately neither are large descents, but enough to give you a rough time on the way back down.

There are a couple false peaks as you approach the real peak. Which is usually not an issue for myself because I use the app to determine how close I am. But this trail got me towards the last half mile. I was about a quarter mile from the summit and I was so sure I was about to be there, I quickly realized I was wrong. A big part of this was how steep the trail is AND how warm it became. I was exhausted and ready to be at the top. Also I only stopped for a couple pee stops and one boot adjustment. So there weren’t any true rest stops on the way up. (Which is my style of hiking)

The entire trail was 4131 feet of elevation gain in 8.6 miles at 4 hours and 45 minutes of actual hiking/moving time for myself. Due to the steep grade on this trail, the descent wasn’t a lot quicker than the ascent. I even slipped about 15 times and managed to fall to my butt 3 of those. Thankfully I bought my trekking poles…otherwise I would have been on the dirt more than just 3 times. I highly recommend bringing at least 1 gallon of water, trekking poles and plenty of sun protection. The entire trail is sun exposed, minor bush whacking and even had a single rattlesnake on it. Lucky for me I saw the snake and was able to go around it without disturbing it as it sun bathed. It is Rattlesnake Peak, so I wasn’t surprised to see one!

Overall it was nice to have the summit all to myself and to be able to conquer such a challenging hike in a decent amount of time. I did not attempt the loop. I made this an out and back. So for those of you interested in doing the loop, check out AllTrails or give good ol’ Google a search.

As always...pack it in and pack it out!

Tag me @likes.to.hike