WES SHELBERG - San Diego |
behind some agave, and "pioneered a new route" up
Whale Peak from the north (TRANSLATION: I got lost but still made the peak).
About 0.5-mile east of the summit and about 200-ft lower, I was buzzed by a
monstrous, fat, long, nasty, reddish, western diamondback. A couple of tossed
pebbles made her assume the classic vertical laid back striking posture.
Incidentally, a fabulous way to observe a rattlesnake is to back-off perhaps
20-30-feet and use 7/50 binoculars. She then appears in marvelous detail and
seems to be only a few inches away. It's scary to see her triangular face only
a few inches away even though you know you're safe. For an eerie thrill, reach
your hand out for her while you are looking through the binoculars.
Hey
Ron Jones, how about honchoing a rattlesnake fry-shish kebab sometime instead
of a burro roast! After all, the proposed former event compares to the latter
the way a large desert rat compares to a small desert mouse. Have heard that
the Mojave Green Rattler is tender and juicy. She abounds in the high Mojave
desert as you know. A weekend trip could hunt snakes on Saturday and "cook-em"
Saturday night. Canned rattler purchased from a gourmet source could be used by
those squeamish "chicken" types, or in the event that the hunt is unsuccessful.
Sycophants (sic) could eat a can of albacore, white-meat tuna and make believe
it's rattler, but that would be cheating. |
WHALE PEAK
(ANZA-BORREGO) --- A FIRST RATE DESERT CLIMB
Whale Peak is popular and climbed by easy routes.
However, a climb up the south side is neither common nor "easy". The southern
route shown on the accompanying topo reproduction is strenuous, reminiscent of
a Rosa Point escapade, and very rewarding. The topo maps are Whale Peak and
Agua Caliente Springs, both CA and 7.5 Min. Elevation gain is 4157-ft, one-way
distance is 4.7-miles, there is no Class 3 or 4, and most certainly there are
no "ducks". The solo trip was sunrise-sunset for me in March 85. The route
provides the greatest reward of remoteness and loneliness.
The first
part of the route up the bajada goes through an extensive area of cacti of all
types and all seemed to be blooming. A bighorn sheep skull with horns was found
on a ridge about half-way up.
Needless to say, Whale Peak (and all San
Diego County) is prime rattlesnake country. Back in 1969, I rode my trusty
Yamaha 250 trail bike (Yes - a motorcycle, contrary to DPS purism/elitism) to
Mapaha Flat, stashed it |
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