Triangle Peak (Rattlesnake)- July 25, 2026

Leader: Tony LeBaron

Participants: Neil Simpson, Forest Dean, Frank Dean

We met at the main Rattlesnake trailhead at the painfully early hour of 6 AM hoping to beat the scorching hundred degree temperatures forecast for the day. By 6:15, we were rolling up corridor trail #99 on mountain bikes and made it to the wilderness boundary around 8:25. The early morning start paid off, as we did the entire ride up in the cool shade of the canyon walls. 

After a quick break to change shoes and take off our swampy bike shorts, we stashed the bikes and started hiking up a poorly maintained trail #515. The trail was lousy with deadfall and strangled with brush, but we moved forward efficiently and pondered coming back in the near future to do some trail maintenance. 

After about 3 miles on trail 515, we crossed a creek and started bushwhacking east up a slope toward the summit ridge. Along the way, we found a couple ripe huckleberries, the first of the season for any of us! The berries were a nice treat as we fought our way through the thick regrowth taking over the slope after multiple past wildfires. Expert scouting and relentless optimism led us to the ridge and eventually to the summit of Triangle Peak at 11:20. For Frank and Neil, this was the last peak they needed to complete the list of Rattlesnake summits. Way to go fellas!

We enjoyed a nice lunch break at the summit, and then descended more or less the way we came up. Back at the bikes, we coasted downhill into intense afternoon heat. A quick swim in the creek at Franklin Bridge provided the necessary refreshment to ride the last 8 miles to the trailhead for a 3:45 PM finish. All in all, a great day with a stellar squad!