Rattlesnake Peak -SGV ANF

Rattlesnake Peak- 02/12/2016

Started the morning at around 6am. Packed plenty of snacks and 90 ounces of water, made a mistake by forgetting Gatorade. Last attempt I ran out of water and made it only 65% up on a 95-100degree day. The early start helped reduce heat stress which I am always susceptible to.i doubled my water quantity from last attenpt and it was barely enough and  had about 8 ounces when I returned to the bicycles. The ridge is so exposed with rocks composed of iron and get really hot peak hours it made me think of hell on earth if it existed. 

Mountain biked up Shoemaker Rd. for the first 1.6 miles so the return is nice and easy we locked the bikes at some water reservoir and some large evergreens around a knob by the  trailhead entrance before you cross drainage to approach the ridge.

I wore shorts, bad idea , the plants were pretty much Scrub Oak, Yucca, Chamise, Buckwheat, Gum plants that smell like bubble gum a bit, Manzanita, Spanish Broom and other smaller herbaceous dicots. My shins suffered with cuts for on overgrowth returned after the fire 3 years ago.

Summited at around 11:30  with plenty of breaks, friend ended up dropping a backpack off a cliff near the summit  and had to detour for 20 minutes. No heat log or box at peak just a USGS medallion and a nice rusted trailhead pole marked 45 with excellent view of Iron Mountain, Baldy, Bridge to Nowhere trail/River, San Jaconto Peak , Baden-Powell, really good 360 view

Maximum temperature:88-92 degrees F *

Wildlife: some bugs like gnats, horseflies and western fence lizards, did manage to see a horny toad lizard. Mid afternoon brought out a few Ravens cawing in the distance.

Returned to parking lot at around 2:30pm my head hurt and my shins were stinging from blazing through brushy patches.  

I very much enjoyed the last 1.5 miles as it's the hardest push and give you plenty of false peaks. And knife sharp ridge approaches. Trekking poles a must and I've also been here when there's snow 

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