1/30/11 The first full attempt at summiting San Jacinto via the Cactus to Clouds route in the winter. Doing this route in one day is considered a pretty serious accomplishment in dry conditions. 11,000' of total gain in around 22 miles. I'm determined to do it in the snow. I just wasn't anticipating trying it in an actual snow storm...
1 First light at the Desert Art Museum. This time I was determined to get closer to the summit, so I planend to be at the trailhead by sunrise. I lost about 15 minutes because I left my trekking poles leaning against the car and had to go back to get them. But otherwise, I was right on time.
2 Sunrise over Palm Springs. I didn't take too many pictures on this trip below Long Valley (8400'), since I already had a bunch from the previous trip. And unfortunately the focus problem on my camera is getting worse.
3 I always wonder how people stop long enough to make these elaborate trail markers.
4 Cool view of San Gorgnio above a sea of clouds.
5 Nice hazy mountain shot. You can see the first signs of the incoming storm approaching from the right-hand side of the picture. There was a chance of snow for the following day, or late today, but it looks like it's coming in early. That could be a problem.
6 Chapparal tunnel. There was snow at this point last time.
7 The first official snow patch. Somewhere around 7000'.
8 I still love the rock formations up here.
9 The sub-alpine zone starts at about 7500'. Into the pine trees now, but still with a view of the valley over 7000' below. Hard to believe I was just down there not long ago.
10 Good view of the tram. You can see the support tower and the gondola just to the left of it.
11 This was a pretty risky snow traverse last time, but it's only patchy snow now.
12 The snow starts to become more consistent as I reach Long Valley. The last mile or so would be pretty solid, and quite icy.
13 Another pic of the granite rock that looks like it belongs in Yosemite. I think it's called Coffman's Crag.
14 Made it to Long Valley, and in excellent time. It's barely noon. I don't remember seeing this sign last time. Not that it would have mattered.
15 The path up to the tram lodge at Long Valley. There is no chance I'm going in there this time. Once you get in that nice warm lodge, with hot food waiting for you, it's way too hard to leave. Better to just push on for the summit.
16 This is the official Long Valley ranger station. I guess the little room in the lodge is just a sattelite station. You have to get your day-use permit here to continue up the mountain. When I told the ranger I was headed for the summit, he warned be that the storm was coming in faster than they originally thought it would. He also said it could still be blue skies on this side of the ridge and then in an instant the storm would break over the ridge and start dumping snow, and I would not want to get caught in that. I thought it sounded fun...
17 Long Valley Creek winding through through the snow. It's in the 30s at this point, but the sun is out and it's perfect snow trekking weather. Conditions are pretty icy, but I have my YakTrax on. They're definitely not like wearing crampons, but they're much better than MicroSpikes, and they're perfect for today's conditions.
18 Another creek view.
19 The cascades are half frozen into iceicle waterfalls with the water flowing at the same time. The water must be barely above freezing.
20 I make it to the meadows at Round Valley, a popular backpacking camp site. This snowman would be a very welcome sight on the way back.
21 Snow fields melting into the meadows. You can see the storm starting to blow in at this point. I have only very light snow gear with me since I started my hike from the warm desert! And because I have to move so fast up Skyline, I have to pack small and light, which means no crampons or heavier snow gear.
22 3.3m to the summit. The snow is pretty deep here, but there have been good tracks to follow, and I'm still making pretty good time. I'm still hopeful that a summit today is possible.
23 Flowing water for the backpackers I guess.
24 2.3m to go. It's starting to lightly snow and starting to get darker (though it's still middle of the day). I'm hoping the storm doesn't get too bad, or my summit hopes could be in jeopardy. Just past this point, I encounter a group of three Asian trekkers decked out in full mountaineering gear. They look like they know what they're doing. They're on their way down and they question me about proceeding on to the summit with the storm coming in. They ask if I have crampons with me (I don't). They ask if I have extra batteries for the GPS (I do). They ask if I have headlamp, etc. (I do). They ask why I'm starting so late from the tram station. I tell them I started from Palm Springs! They're shocked. I hear them muttering amongst themselves in Japanese. I guess they were satisfied I wasn't a complete novice and then proceeded on.
25 It's now starting to snow harder and the wind is howling. Temperature is now in the low 20s. I have a wind shell jacket on, but only sweats on my legs. And a beanie, but no face protection, so my nose is start to get really cold in the wind.
26 You can't really tell in this picture, but there are these amazing patches of blue ice that look like they're almost glowing blue.
27 More snow and ice.
28 It's snowing really hard now and the wind is whipping. The tracks from my YakTrax are not very deep and they're dissapearing very quickly. I've been breaking trail for a while now, and I'm starting to get worried about finding my back without tracks to follow. I would normally be fine with coming down in the dark, but not in these conditions.
29 With no tracks to follow, the pace is much slower, which means I'm getting much colder. Summiting doesn't look too realistic for today.
30 Jean Peak will have to be my summit for the day. It's only a couple hundred feet vertically below the summit, but still about a mile away. It's a little after 3:00pm, which means about 2 hours until dark (I left Long Valley over 2 and half hours ago, and I won't be making 2:1 time going down). I just don't know the area well enough yet to push on. So here's the obligatory summit video.
31 I normally don't get too panicky in conditions like this, but I was starting to get pretty worried here. It's amazing how you lose your sense of direction when you have no landmarks to use for orientation. I can't see the summit, or San Gorgonio, or Baldy, etc. I have never been on this section of trail before, so I don't know the terrain at all. It's just trees and snow in all directions, and it all looks the same. And it's really, really cold. As long as I'm moving, I'm OK. But stopping even briefly is not fun. And even though I have a full insulation kit for the water bladder in my pack, the bite valve has frozen completely solid and I can't get any water out of it. I try sticking it in my armpit, but that's not working fast enough. I can't put it in my mouth for long, because I can't breath deep enough with my mouth closed. The compass on my GPS is not calibrated (it has to be constantly re-calibrated), and I'm too cold to want to stop to mess with it. And I'm extremely pressed for time. This is when you're mind starts to turn stupid. In better conditions, there are probably a hundred things I would have thought to do. In these conditions, I basically just wandered around blindly trying to find the trail. I started worrying about not making the 9:30pm closing of the tram, and started thinking about having to spend the night up here. Not good considering my lack of warm gear. I quite literally wandered in circles for an hour. Finally I just went old-school, pulled out the compass, knew I had to head SSE, and went for it. I finally intercepted the trail about 30min later. Whew. I would be dissapointed later in having got so panicky, but I learned a lot of good lessons about orienteering in these conditions.
32 The sun tried to break through briefly, but not for long. You can see the huge snowflakes against the sun.
33 It looks like a pouring rain, except it's snow. It's snowing about as hard as when I was snowshoeing at the top of Icehouse Canyon with my dad, except a bit less windy. But at least I'm back to where I can see larger tracks than mine, and I'm starting to hit recognizable waypoints.
34 The snowy forest.
35 A short video of the snow conditions above Round Valley.
36 I finally make it back to the tram lodge just as it's starting to get really dark. Definitely a major relief.
37 A look out from the balcony at the lodge. No amazing views of Palm Springs this time. Just howling winds and freezing temps. I eat a huge dinner at the lodge, lounge around for a while, and then head down the tram. An old couple notices all my gear and starts asking me a lot of questions about my day. They're amazed I do this for fun. Next time I will summit!