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| Hiking | 16.69 Miles |
3,887 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.69 Miles | 10 Hrs 23 Mns | | 1.86 mph |
| 3,887 ft AEG | 1 Hour 26 Mns Break | 14 LBS Pack | | |
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[ show ]
| partners | | With the forecasted cooler temps, we opted to stay closer to the valley, while we still could.
We parked on the shoulder of FR143, a little over 7.5 miles off of the Beeline to access the Ballantine Connector Trail.
Ballantine Connector Trail.
This trail gently roller coasters 5 miles to the Ballantine #283 trail. The interesting boulder formations are the highlight, but as this is also/mainly used as a motorcycle track it's rutted with slippery marbley granite.
Ballantine #283 Trail
Thanks to the efforts of @mt98dew and @Anekantavada, the memories/fears I had of catclaw were put to rest. They did a lot of trimming the prickly jungle, past the lower western corral. It's just the pesky foxtail that's annoying.
Things were easy enough to follow until you get to the upper eastern corral. After that, there are many areas of Manzaninta Maze.
The highlight of the hike was lunch at Rock Tank. Good views plenty of filterable water, butterflies, and frogs. I went down to the edge of the tank and was shocked to see a frog jump 15' down, into one one of the pools below.
Leaving the Rock Tank area, fighting through some brush, I got rattled but could not tell where it was coming from. Not until I saw it strike at and miss me from a rock wall. A first for me. My impression, as I was soiling myself, was a black. Joe said he saw some white on the snake.
More manzanita until we hit the pines. The trail through the pines was a lot less distinct from the last time we did this in 2012.
At the saddle the unforecasted rain, hail, lightning, thunder became our companion for much of the 6 miles back to the truck. |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Wide variety of flowers |
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Rock Tank |
26-50% full |
26-50% full |
| | | Plenty to filter from | | _____________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Dave Barry  |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
