Rattlesnake Canyon Climb –by Jungle Jim Carvin

It was a very foggy, misty ride out of Orange County, frequently requiring the window wipers well beyond Santa Ana Canyon. The sun didn’t come out until the 60 met I-10, just as the descent toward Palm Springs began. From the weather reports, I knew it was going to be a sunny day in the desert.

Reaching Hwy 247, while gassing up, I picked up the last remaining item needed which was a Subway sandwich. I reached the meeting place about 45 minutes early and cruised up the trail a short ways to change into my shorts. A few minutes later Bruce and Jay showed up and did the same.

At 9:00 in the morning, the sun was already beating down. According to my thermometer, it was already 84 in the shade. I put out a folding chair in the shadow of my Jeep and waited for the others to arrive.

Those participating were:

At 9:30 the sun’s intensity was already becoming uncomfortable, so with a little air let out of everyone’s tires, we began our trek up “the snake.” I think the canyon may be named more for its shape than for an abundance of rattlesnakes, having never seen any there.

The canyon starts off as a mellow sand wash, with occasional boulders sticking out. Most of them nothing more than significant speed bumps.

Tom had a very large rig, but made it through sharp turns and over rocks just fine.

A couple of times we needed to chop back thick vegetation with my trusty machete. As Jay reached to take it from me, concerned for his safety, I asked if he had ever used one of these things before. His reply was, “I was a marine.” Gladly, I handed over the machete and watched for once. I liked the way he handled it.

I kept watching for the spot where we had a problem the last time we came down the canyon. At the top end of the canyon, I radioed back to Bruce and asked if he had noticed it. He thought he saw the spot and that it looked like sand had collected there, partially submerging them.

Having negotiated Rattlesnake Canyon, the steady climb to the forest began. Onward we went through an extensive grove of Joshua trees and into oaks and small pines. The steady climb brought us up to a trail marked “most difficult” by the National Forest Service. As I followed the sign, I reassured the group that we would stop for lunch well before the trail lives up to its rating. On last years Onyx Excursion prerun, Bruce and I traversed this trail as far as we could, coming to a place where even a seasoned fourwheeler, piloting the most serious machinery, would think twice before proceeding. We turned around.

After about a mile, we found a real nice spot where Joshua trees grow next to medium pines. We had lunch here last time, so I knew what to expect. It was much cooler here and we enjoyed a very leisurely time, eating and hanging around. After a time, we reluctantly picked up our things went back down the trail. I would have been content to linger there at least another hour.

As is often the case, there is more than one way to go, the easy way and the interesting way. I have a feeling that at least one of us would have preferred the easy way out, but we took the interesting route.

Upward we climbed, higher and higher, pines growing taller, and we came to a cabin. I don’t know the original purpose of this cabin, but I do know that, at one time, homesteading was allowed in the area and sections are not marked as national forest. There are remains of other cabins in the area. This cabin was about a $1,000 structure with a multimillion dollar view. Spectacular. We poked around a bit, used the facility and the swing, and were on our way.

There was one last hill climb in our final stretch to the summit. This was fairly steep, but what made it a challenge was loose dirt combined with staggered ruts in the trail. The week prior, I had my springs reworked and disconnected my sway bar, so I enjoyed feeling my axles articulate as I went up the middle. The easy way would be to put one wheel in the center of the trail, avoiding the ruts.

I figured there must have been some slippin’ and slidin’ going on behind me because it’s not an easy hill. As I reached the top, I got a call on the walkie talkie that Dave was on his second attempt. I radioed back, to drive off to one side, which may have helped. The next thing I heard was that he made it.

We gathered at the top, where our trail came up to a main road. As Bruce came to a stop, his Jeep stalled. On the verge of overheating, we thought that the heat itself may have been the problem, so we hung out for a while waiting for it to cool. After a time, it still wouldn’t start, so I thought to check the fuses. I noticed that there was a fuse, or something that looked like a large fuse or relay marked “fuel pump.” The units next to it had the same part number and Dave suggested that we swap another for the fuel pump. After doing that, the rig started right up and we were on our way.

We reached Onyx Summit, where it was cool and beautiful. Using Bruce’s portable pump, and my onboard compressor, we aired up our tires and went our separate ways.

As you can see from this last photo, it was a somewhat surreal journey on the highway back down the mountain toward civilization. I was in no hurry to return, and stopped a couple of times on the way back.

This was a great trip through a variety of trail conditions and environments. There were no real problems and the weather was beautiful. Those of you who missed this event are invited to join us next time.

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