Mineral Peak (Rattlesnake)- May 9, 2026

Leaders: Elizabeth Smith, Forest Dean

Participants: Tony Lebaron, Russell Blessing, Josh Kasch, Leah Miller, Aaron

We gathered at 7:00am on this fine spring morning at the main Rattlesnake trailhead. Got our bikes prepped and started up the trail.  It took us about an hour and a quarter to get to the Franklin Bridge and the Mineral Peak trail just beyond (about 8.25 miles). Stashed the bikes and started hiking.  Quite a bit of downfall on the trail, but only a couple spots where we considered it “bad”.  It definitely was hard to get a rhythm going though! Made our way to a spot about 700’ vertical below the summit where we were able to transition to skis (Tony and I) and snowshoes (Elizabeth, Russell, Josh).  Certainly could have just booted as well, as snow was mostly firm. Reached the top around noon and climbed to the top of the lookout tower for excellent views, and lunch. Two other folks (Leah and Aaron) caught up to us as we lounged about. One way hiking distance was about 4.3 miles. The ski down wasn’t really worth carrying skis all the way up there- but it was still skiing! The snowshoers probably had the right idea. Hike back to the bikes was uneventful. The bike cruise out was fun.  Finished at about 5:00 for a roughly ten hour day. Headed to the Spring Fling BBQ for food and drink!  Forest Dean