Mt. San Jacinto sits at a staggering elevation of 10,834 feet, and has a prominence of 8,311 feet above the desert areas surrounding it. The steep escarpment of its north face, above Snow Creek, climbs over 10,000 feet (3 km) in 7 miles (11.3 km). This is one of the largest gains in elevation over such a small horizontal distance in the contiguous United States. The mountain is quite rugged in places, with several outdoor hazards that hikers may be unprepared for, including high altitude, severe weather, steep rock faces, and wild animals. Hikers and climbers die or are harmed every year.
The easiest route to the summit (and the one that many people take) is actually to take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to 8,516 feet and hike to the summit from there. Did we decide to take that route? OF COURSE NOT! :D Instead, we started in Idyllwild at Humber Park and took the Devil's Slide Trail. The distance from the trailhead to the summit is 8.1 miles, and the elevation gain is 4200 ft.
We started from Humber Park around 2:30 Saturday afternoon and made our way up countless switchbacks up to the head of Strawberry Valley, with good views of Suicide Rock to the west, to the five-way Saddle Junction. From there, we took the Pacific Crest Trail northward and found a nice spot off to the side of the trail to set up camp for the night. We managed to get the tent set up and our gear unpacked before we lost light.
The camp site was in a pretty good location (not really visible from the trail, etc.), but the wind was BRUTAL Saturday night. Even though we put the rain fly on my tent to help block some of the wind, we ended up having to also put heavy rocks over every one of the stakes to keep the damn tent from blowing away.
Aside from the relentless wind shaking the tent all night, we both managed to get a decent amount of sleep and woke up early Sunday morning to get our start towards the summit. Since our camp site was almost completely hidden from the trail and neither one of us felt like carrying our 40-50 lb full packs to the summit, we packed up the essentials and left everything else at camp.
We continued on the Pacific Crest Trail towards Wellman's Divide. This was probably the nicest stretch of the entire hike. The elevation gain was gradual, the trail was relatively free of debris, and there was plenty of plant life and scenery. In fact, right after starting out on the trail, we got to try something I saw on Man vs. Wild (my favorite show, on Discovery Channel). Many Native American tribes used to clean their teeth by using the rough leaves of the manzanita bush. So, we did the same. :) I have to say, it actually works really well!
A ranger in Idyllwild had pointed out a location on the trail map that MIGHT have water, but said there was no guarantee since it's been such a dry year. We both left about 1.5 liters of water at camp so we had it for the return trip from camp to the trail-head. We both took about 1.5 liters with us when we left for summit, hoping that would be enough in case there wasn't any water along the trail. Well we got to the spot the ranger was talking about and were pleasantly surprised - there was water!
There wasn't MUCH water, but there was enough to refill our water with. A section of hillside next to the trail had fallen away and showed the exposed roots of some California corn lilies. On the hillside above the trail, a whole field of them was growing and had a good amount of water flowing through the soil and onto the trail below. I was lucky enough to have found my water purifier before this trip, so I decided to break it in. :)
I had a plastic grocery bag with me, so we decided to use that to collect the water. The exposed California corn lily roots had plenty of water dripping off of them, so that's where we collected the water from. After giving the water a minute or so to sit in the bag and let any sediment settle, I primed the water purifier and started pumping. I drank the last of the water I had with me and refilled my water container with the purified water. I decided to be the guinea pig and tried the water first. It was AWESOME! In fact, it was some of the coolest, cleanest water I've had in a long time. :) We filled up Spud's containers as well and then hit the trail once again.
At Wellman's Divide, it joined with the trail coming up from the tram station. We took the trail up the last switchbacks to "the summit". Or not... Turns out that the trail ends below the summit boulders. Therefore, after already punishing our knees getting up to that point, we realized we had to scramble up the boulders to get to the highest point. Ignoring any pain and deperately wanting to get to the absolute highest point of the summit, that's exactly what we did. Nearly everyone we saw left their packs at the bottom of the boulders to make the scramble easier. However, since my photo gear was in my pack, I left it on and did the scramble anyway. :D
After having some food and taking some pics at the summit, we headed back down the trail at a pretty quick pace. It's amazing how much quicker you can go when you're walking downhill instead of up. ;) We got back to camp around 3:00 or so in the afternoon and packed the rest of our gear up. After all the hiking we had already done that day, heading downhill with our full packs ended up pounding the hell out of our knees. It seemed like the last sections of trail would never end, but we finally made it back to the trail-head around 5:30 or so and nearly collapsed.
Nothing makes you truly appreciate the conveniences of modern life quite as much as not having them. Water becomes your most-prized possession. You become extremely thankful for EVERY meal. I think some time in nature could do quite a few people good. :) All-in-all, it was an AWESOME trip. Spud and I both pushed our own limits, had an epic climb, and reached the summit of So Cal's 2nd highest peak. :) Besides, between climbing Mt. San Gorgonio two weeks ago and now Mt. San Jacinto, I've marked two more things off my list of 100 things. :) Enjoy the pics and leave me some comments! ;)
Bad Shot of Elevation Marker - 10,834 ft
Spud Watching Over His Subjects...
Contemplation...
Victory
Spud On Top of the World
Spud at Mt. San Jacinto's Summit
Me, Sitting Along the Edge of the Summit
Me, Next to the Mt. San Jacinto Summit Sign
Morning Shot of California Corn Lilies Along the Trail
The ONLY Source of Water on the Entire Trail...
