C2C / San Jacinto
Forum rules
- This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
- Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
- Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
- Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
- nyker
- Posts: 3235
- Joined: 12/5/2007
- 14ers: 58
- 13ers: 25
- Trip Reports (69)
C2C / San Jacinto
For those of you who have done this from the desert floor, what time of year did you do it and how hard was following a route up there in the dark?
-
- Posts: 2736
- Joined: 11/21/2007
- Trip Reports (2)
Re: C2C / San Jacinto
I did it this past April. Tips:
1) I parked along the street right at the art museum. Wasn't 100% sure parking was free/secure in the covered lot. Probably was, but street worked for me.
2) Route was easy for me to follow in the dark, but I would for sure watch some of the route videos on youtube beforehand. They helped me with the intro section of the trail. It's not like the lower route is heavily braided, but there were a very few spurs. They all lead back to the main route anyway, no big problems. The white dots lower on the trail helped; probably not necessary, but comforting when you're alone in the dark. A decent headlamp is a good idea, as are spare batteries. It'd be pretty frustrating in true darkness. This time of the year you also could be descending in the dark off the summit and into the trees.
3) No water on the lower section of the route, but there is at least one rescue stash of water battles on route. But you're super experienced, you know the water drill.
4) Biggest tip, wish I knew beforehand: Stop at the ranger station and get a map of the upper (post-tramway) section, or bring one with you. I topped out and just started cruising up. I expected the much more heavily used section to be a snap. Excellent trails, but there are a lot of them, and only near the end were they marked for the summit. You can be going along and have arguably confusing trail signage, with no summit option listed as a choice. I muddled though just fine, but probably lost 20+ minutes on a wrong turn. Worth getting a simple map. Not a maze up there, but way more choices than lower down.
Super cool hike, great workout. Have fun, be safe!
-Tom
1) I parked along the street right at the art museum. Wasn't 100% sure parking was free/secure in the covered lot. Probably was, but street worked for me.
2) Route was easy for me to follow in the dark, but I would for sure watch some of the route videos on youtube beforehand. They helped me with the intro section of the trail. It's not like the lower route is heavily braided, but there were a very few spurs. They all lead back to the main route anyway, no big problems. The white dots lower on the trail helped; probably not necessary, but comforting when you're alone in the dark. A decent headlamp is a good idea, as are spare batteries. It'd be pretty frustrating in true darkness. This time of the year you also could be descending in the dark off the summit and into the trees.
3) No water on the lower section of the route, but there is at least one rescue stash of water battles on route. But you're super experienced, you know the water drill.
4) Biggest tip, wish I knew beforehand: Stop at the ranger station and get a map of the upper (post-tramway) section, or bring one with you. I topped out and just started cruising up. I expected the much more heavily used section to be a snap. Excellent trails, but there are a lot of them, and only near the end were they marked for the summit. You can be going along and have arguably confusing trail signage, with no summit option listed as a choice. I muddled though just fine, but probably lost 20+ minutes on a wrong turn. Worth getting a simple map. Not a maze up there, but way more choices than lower down.
Super cool hike, great workout. Have fun, be safe!
-Tom
-
- Posts: 90
- Joined: 8/5/2009
- 14ers: 58 7
- 13ers: 94
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: C2C / San Jacinto
San Jac can be a fun 50K 10,000 foot plus up and down each way adventure in Oct-Nov, or if you like snow about from the tram station/ranger station in March-April. It can get hot in and above Palm Springs outside those months. In the fall, it is very dry, and I carried 100 oz of water for the ten miles to Long Valley - the same is recommended from Ramon Street or the museum in the spring. From Palm Springs to Long Valley and the stations is pretty easy to follow - you might wander on a few side trails, but just staying on trails close to or on the ridge works. The last couple of miles to Long Valley can be a bit misleading due to some varients in the steep sections below LV, so just keep going up. I used an ice axe and crampons in March for the snow in this section (and to the summit above Long Valley). It was called the Outlaw Trail at one time - supposedly because the land management agencies knew there was no constructed/maintained trail above the mile or two above PS, and rescue would be very difficult - the eight miles of trail is way too rough for horses, and LZs for choppers are almost nonexistent the entire way to Long Valley.
The signed trail above LV to the summit is an easy to follow freeway in the fall, crowded with hikers who come up on the tram, but is harder to follow in the snow in the spring unless you have tracks of previous hikers or have been in the area before and know the terrain in the five plus miles to the summit. In the winter or spring, tram hikers go a couple of miles from the tram and ranger stations up to Wellman Divide so it easy to follow in the snow. Above the Divide, fewer hikers and the snow can make getting to the summit much more interesting.
Some roundtrippers from PS bail out at the tram when coming down, and do about 20 miles instead of the 31 back to PS. Coming down from LV to PS is perhaps the easiest section to get off the main trail. Paying attention to where the trail goes on the way up, makes it easier on the way down. IMHO. the important part is turning right on the trail at the bottom of the quarter mile steep section immediately below LV. It is fairly easy to keep going down after missing the trail turning right, and ends up in some very rocky cliffy areas. I have had to yell at a couple of hikers who missed the turn - it can be a dangerous area to get lost in.
I left PS at 4 AM, took about seven-eight hours to get to the summit, and a bit less to get back down to PS. Note it will get warmer as you get lower, so a full tank of water is still a good idea coming down even though you will be in San Jac's shadow in the late afternoon. Its a fun trip - Enjoy!.
The signed trail above LV to the summit is an easy to follow freeway in the fall, crowded with hikers who come up on the tram, but is harder to follow in the snow in the spring unless you have tracks of previous hikers or have been in the area before and know the terrain in the five plus miles to the summit. In the winter or spring, tram hikers go a couple of miles from the tram and ranger stations up to Wellman Divide so it easy to follow in the snow. Above the Divide, fewer hikers and the snow can make getting to the summit much more interesting.
Some roundtrippers from PS bail out at the tram when coming down, and do about 20 miles instead of the 31 back to PS. Coming down from LV to PS is perhaps the easiest section to get off the main trail. Paying attention to where the trail goes on the way up, makes it easier on the way down. IMHO. the important part is turning right on the trail at the bottom of the quarter mile steep section immediately below LV. It is fairly easy to keep going down after missing the trail turning right, and ends up in some very rocky cliffy areas. I have had to yell at a couple of hikers who missed the turn - it can be a dangerous area to get lost in.
I left PS at 4 AM, took about seven-eight hours to get to the summit, and a bit less to get back down to PS. Note it will get warmer as you get lower, so a full tank of water is still a good idea coming down even though you will be in San Jac's shadow in the late afternoon. Its a fun trip - Enjoy!.
- nyker
- Posts: 3235
- Joined: 12/5/2007
- 14ers: 58
- 13ers: 25
- Trip Reports (69)
Re: C2C / San Jacinto
Thanks Tom, gzrrnnr,
So parking on the street outside the museum was ok, ie not subjecting your vehicle to getting ticketed/towed, etc? (I've never seen the museum, so not sure what exactly the parking/street situation is like there).
I'm planning for potentially mid-December - will have to watch the weather and see how conditions are. I've climbed San Jacinto in the snow before from the Tram, but would be nice to not have to lug all my snow gear up from the desert!
Good tip about the map from the ranger Station!. Are those still self-issue, on-the-spot permits there? (meaning I don't need to wait until the ranger station opens to get one?)
So parking on the street outside the museum was ok, ie not subjecting your vehicle to getting ticketed/towed, etc? (I've never seen the museum, so not sure what exactly the parking/street situation is like there).
I'm planning for potentially mid-December - will have to watch the weather and see how conditions are. I've climbed San Jacinto in the snow before from the Tram, but would be nice to not have to lug all my snow gear up from the desert!
Good tip about the map from the ranger Station!. Are those still self-issue, on-the-spot permits there? (meaning I don't need to wait until the ranger station opens to get one?)
-
- Posts: 2736
- Joined: 11/21/2007
- Trip Reports (2)
Re: C2C / San Jacinto
I'm not sure about getting the maps (I didn't get one, oops...). Gotta think someone somewhere has posted it online.
I agree with gzrrnnr, there is plenty of signage. The problem is, it's not that helpful IMO for a summit hiker. All the signs down low by the tram station don't indicate the correct path to the summit, just to the junction with the next trail. A couple of signs near the ranger station were so comically bad I almost stopped to photograph them: A fork in the trail, two different signs, but affixed to the exact same side of the square post so they pointed in the identical direction. Pretty funny.
I found the parking no big deal, but probably worth a quick recon the day before.
Good luck!
-Tom
I agree with gzrrnnr, there is plenty of signage. The problem is, it's not that helpful IMO for a summit hiker. All the signs down low by the tram station don't indicate the correct path to the summit, just to the junction with the next trail. A couple of signs near the ranger station were so comically bad I almost stopped to photograph them: A fork in the trail, two different signs, but affixed to the exact same side of the square post so they pointed in the identical direction. Pretty funny.
I found the parking no big deal, but probably worth a quick recon the day before.
Good luck!
-Tom
-
- Posts: 90
- Joined: 8/5/2009
- 14ers: 58 7
- 13ers: 94
- Trip Reports (0)
Re: C2C / San Jacinto
Tom is correct - the trail is a bit confusing in maybe the half mile above the ranger station, but if you can keep going on the trail to the CG and Wellman Divide, you should be OK. You can also get water at the RS, in addition to the permit. One of my trips was to be on the summit at sunrise, so we passed through the RS at 2 AM and had no problems getting the permit and water when no one was there - pretty good self-services stop. Regarding the ice axe, it is a bit amusing to come back down to the desert in the spring carrying the axe. One other thought about bailing out at the tram station - I don't know if the tram still charges for just the tram trip down the hill or they don't ask about people going back down to Palm Springs, so carrying $20-30 might be wise. Besides, a snack or lunch or whatever might be desirable. Then you can get a cab or whatever from the bottom Palm Springs tram station to your car with a credit card.