Goat Peak

Hiked: 6/27/2019
Distance: 3 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 1728'
Elevation Gain: 1167'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 24 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Quiet Valley Lane
Difficulty: Easy

I drove to Poway for a short hike to Goat Peak, one of the small mountains on the opposite side of highway 67 from Woodson and Iron Mountain in San Diego County. I parked east of Goat Peak in a cul-de-sac at the end of Quiet Valley Lane. A trail took off from there, following Poway Creek. There were several dry crossings and it was easy to follow even though vegetation was intruding slightly into the trail. The bottom part of the trail is shared with horses who left ample evidence of their passing. I climbed steeply out of the creek toward a small plateau. As I neared the plateau, I spotted what I thought was a fresh pile of horse scat, but as I got closer saw was a large red diamond rattlesnake. Red diamonds are my favorite brand of rattlesnake and although this one was more brownish than red in color, it was beautiful. This was the first red diamond I'd seen in the wild. It was coiled and resting on the edge of the 2' wide trail, facing the trail. There was thick brush on both sides so I tapped my hiking pole on the ground but could not get it to move. After a few minutes, I gave in, bushwhacking uphill behind and around it, getting back to the trail about 25' beyond. I marked a waypoint on my GPS so I wouldn't stumble on it on the way back.

Start

Red diamond rattlesnake in the trail

Close up, what a fine looking snake!

Goat Peak ahead

From the plateau, it was a short hike to the base of the summit rocks, then a short class 2 scramble to the top. There was a small register in a glass jar. I signed in an ate the peanut butter and honey sandwich I brought. Goat had nice views of the more popular Poway mountains and hazy views of larger mountains to the south. The June gloom burned off into a sunny morning. I had to get back to pack for a trip to visit family, so I started down. I slowed to a crawl as I neared the mark where I left the snake. It was harder to see from this side, but I found it exactly where I left it. I decided to persuade it to move by rolling small rocks on the ground at it. The first one bounced off it with no reaction, the second one missed. The third one turned it into an anger ball. It flipped into striking position, ignited the rattle, and slowly backed down the trail, loudly hissing at the same time. The display was very impressive and the combination of the rattle and hissing was visceral. This was a proud and fierce representative of the species. I tried to get a video, but bungled my camera from adrenaline. Still kicking myself over that. It retreated into the brush on the right, but continued to rattle and hiss. I couldn't tell where it was so I ended up bushwhacking on the other side to give it plenty of room. All I had accomplished was pissing it off and moving it from a comfy spot. That was a poor outcome for both of us. The rest of the way out was uneventful. Goat was a fun little peak, with or without the red diamond friend.

Summit

Woodson and North Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain

Looking back down the creek