Rattlesnake Canyon/Heartbreak Ridge – May 28-29, 2011
May’s run was attended by Dennis and Liz Yard in their Beautiful Defender 110, Dan W. in his RR Classic, Peter M. and Mom, and myself in my LR3. The group met at the usual location and started up the 15 to Bear Valley road and onto the 247. The first portion of the trail was on Rattlesnake Canyon road which lead us onto private property owned by ranchers who have been kind enough to allow offroaders through to the main wash. Once we hit the wash the terrain changed to deep sand and the occasional rock pile. As we gained altitude the trail got rocky
and tight in some spots. Melting snow made for small streams and puddles which added to the beauty. About half way through Dennis’s 110 decided it needed a quick break, so we followed suit and broke for lunch. Full of sandwiches and chips we preceded up the wash. Joshua trees gave way to pines and sand turned into rocky sections as we gained altitude heading to Viscera springs road. We then headed south to Burns Canyon road where we would turn westbound for a small section of Heartbreak Ridge. This was the most technical part of the run, and though relatively east provided a challenge or two. Once we completed our small loop at Heartbreak it dumped us back out to 2N02 where we gathered and said our goodbyes to Peter and decided that it was time to find a camp spot.
After trying Juniper Springs campground (occupied), and Holcomb Campground (full), we defaulted back to the campground we normally stay at just west of Holcomb. As we were setting up camp we noticed that the temperature was plummeting and without a fire ring it was going to be a cool night. By the time we finished dinner it was time to figure out how we were going to stay warm. I had brought along a little table top propane heater which suited us just fine, everyone huddled around and had good conversation and a couple of nightcaps. The next morning was a bit chilly, so after breaking camp we decided to have breakfast in town. The local Denny’s was the place of choice. We had a great breakfast, (thanks Dennis!) before heading home.
Check out pictures of the trip here
