Route Editor
Route Scout
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DESTINATION La Barge - Battleship Saddle Loop 15 Photosets 2022-03-18 2022-03-10 2019-02-24 2018-10-27 2018-03-09 2018-02-24 2018-02-11 2017-12-16 2017-12-07 2016-04-16 2016-01-30 2014-03-02 2013-11-10 2013-10-23 2012-02-20 |
| HAZ Member survivordude's 136 Photosets 2018-10-25 2018-10-18 2018-10-11 2018-10-04 2018-09-20 2018-09-06 2018-08-30 2018-08-03 2018-07-19 2018-06-28 2018-06-07 2018-05-25 2018-05-17 2018-04-13 2018-03-22 2018-02-08 2017-12-21 2017-12-14 2017-12-07 2017-11-30
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off. Good thing this hike starts out with a nice incline to get the blood moving. Reaching the first saddle about a mile and a half in, affords great views of Battleship to the south and Canyon Lake to the north. The decent into LaBarge was rocky but easy going. There were a few large camp areas just before the trail heads over the saddle. I chose to continue down LaBarge Canyon. No trail, mostly rock hopping, until I reached a few areas where it was really choked up with enormous house sized boulders. After 15 minutes of climbing and maneuvering there was a surprising amount of water in the creek. The section of really high narrow walls was really cool. Awesome rugged rock formations up top and super slick rock near the creek below. I explored the area for a while but that wind was twisting through there something fierce, so I went back and hung out at the fantastic camp site right there for a while. After I got tired of having frozen fingers, I headed up the saddle which was right by the camp spot and really easy to find. Passed the first person of the day near the top of that saddle and then saw a couple and a dog on the other side at Boulder Creek. The actual trail on Boulder Creek was the easiest part of the hike by far and it started to warm up nicely. As I got back to the northern saddle I decided to keep going up Boulder Creek the whole way back. Still debating if that was a good idea.. 
After 30 mins of rock hopping and back and forth on both sides of the creek, it got real thick with bamboo, where it was impossible to get through without almost swimming through the straight, tall stalks in calf deep freezing water. It took a good 15 minutes to get though about .1 mile right there and then it was back to rock hopping for another hour. Finally got to a spot with some very large pools and had no way around but to kind of hug the wall at the shallowest spot, which was up to knees, not that bad until you slip and dip the fellas in.. it got cold again real quick. Really pretty area, though. Another rock hopping session led to a sharp left turn and into the waters of Canyon Lake. Climbed up the 200 ft cliffside and found a small use trail to make my way back to the main trail and back down the hill to the marina. Had a great adventure out there today, cant wait to get back out. I love this time of year when everything close to home opens back up for hiking!
