Rabbit Peak

12-Dec-70

By: Fran Smith

On December 12 the second annual dawn to dusk climb of Rabbit Peak was made. For the second straight year 29 people expressed an interest, 19 started, and 15 signed the register. Starting from the "dump" roadhead at 6:30, we took a route that went fine except for an unwanted and unnecessary drop of 200 feet. Three climbers dropped out at the 3000 foot level and a fourth decided to wait for the party at the top of the main ridge. The main group reached the summit in varying degrees of exhaustion between 1 and 1:30. A cool clear day made viewing the surrounding ranges, the Salton Sea, and the Coachella Valley agricultural areas quite enjoyable. Jay Wiley led a faster group of returnees, and the leader brought up the rear echelon. Latest time of return to the cars was 6:30, a rather delayed dusk, but offset with a magnificent moon.

Our group ranged in age from 10 to 61 years. Bruce Jones, ten years old, has 170 peaks to his credit and is possibly the youngest climber to conquer Rabbit in one day. Our two experienced participants, at 61, wisely knew their turnaround points. Wayne Vasey enjoyed (?) the 1969 climb so much that he repeated in 1970. Many thanks to Jay Wiley for protecting the rear guard going up and the front guard going down. Four eager beavers remained in the area overnight to join the HPS climb of Quail and Queen on Sunday.