first timer newbie

[Nickrp]

My wife and I are planning to take the tram up this sat for the first time and we are interested in trying to make it to the summit. We are both pretty new to snow hiking (other than some snow shoeing in big bear) and I have a few questions. We both are in decent shape and have hiked around the local mountains, just not too much snow stuff. I have some friends who did it a while back and said it was pretty easy, much easier than the baldy hike we did apparently.
First question, Bad idea all around?
Other than snowshoes/poles any other gear recommended?
How long does the roundtrip from the tram take? Distance?
Best source for weather info for up there?
Any advice?

Thanks for your help in advance
Nick

[tinaballina]

Hi Nick, welcome to the board.

First question, Bad idea all around?
No, if you don't get out there to try it how will you know...go for it and taking the tram up to go to the peak is probably one of the best areas to try.

Other than snowshoes/poles any other gear recommended?
Since we might be receiving more snow tonight into tomorrow i think snow shoes and poles will be your best bet. I am assuming you know what to wear clothing wise. Big bear can be cold but the top of san jac is colder, just be prepared for wind chill while you are up there and the wind throwing the snow around as well.

How long does the roundtrip from the tram take?
We did it saturday breaking trail took about 5.5 hours. but we were not in any hurry either, hung out in the hut for a bit as well.

Distance?
Hard to say exactly. if you follow the trail it will shortcut you to the peak, bypassing a majority of the regular trail that is 10 miles.

Any advice?
Go prepared, stay warm, stay on the trail (i am sure it will be broken up for you) and have fun.

Just my two cents.

[guest]

Hi Nick,

Currently the conditions on the ground / snow are decent for making it to the summit if you follow one of the trails, which is considerably easier than breaking you own on new snow.
That being said, you should have good navigational skills, or be good with gps (although I never like to rely on electronic devices alone), and be in good physical shape.

If you follow the route that heads up the drainage ( approx. 1/2 mile from ranger sta.) this takes you into Tamarack Valley & heads almost directly toward the saddle between Miller peak & San Jac.
This is a steep, almost straight up climb, making it about 4 1/2 miles. Once to this saddle, the tracks veer left NW to the summit.

If folks have broke the regular route, you will veer left at the drainage, head toward Round Valley, then left at jct. (tr. sign may be buried, look for 2 small structures), up to Wellman's Devide, (i mile climb), right (north) to base of San Jac & up that way, (closer to 5 1/2 miles).

Good gaiters, outer shell jacket (can be windy at top), decent, insulted boots & gloves & hat etc.

Round trip can be anywhere from 5-7 hrs. for average fitness. Look at the photos posted to familiarize yourself with some landmarks, like Cornell peak, the open areas by Tamarack & Round valleys etc.

If you go on a wkend, there will be others on these routes.

As our messageboard admin. states, you can always turn around & attempt the climb another day.

Always expect the unexpected, and plan accordingly.

The mt. shelter is a fun stop to warm up & fuel up for your trip back down.

Here's a couple WX sites.

Have fun if you go.

ss

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en

http://www.pstramway.com/cams-weather.asp

[zippetydude]

Hi Nick. Those were good answers, and I bet you'll be fine.

That being said, I've done the trail several times in the summer, but was still a little surprised where it cuts off and heads north towards the peak. Until you get to that point, there can be so many footprints going all over the place, it can be a little tricky to find where the trail is. As was mentioned, if you go on a weekend, you have a real good chance of following/running into other people heading up to the peak who know the way, and that makes it easier.

Once you're out of Long Valley and onto the trail, the footprints are really obvious and it would be much harder to wander off the beaten path.

Hope you have fun. If you post here, and especially if you head up on the first tram on a Saturday, you'll probably end up with some of the hikin' fools from this board alongside to show you the way.

z

[Norris]

One word of caution: the trails left by previous parties do not always go where you think (or hope) they are. Sometimes you can follow these and get lost. I first snowshoed up Jacinto from the tram in 1983 or 1984, and historically, in most winters, immediately after any given storm, some group (often rangers) would break a trail to Round Valley. So folks would follow that, and various trails would take off from there to the summit. In recent years, more folks (lots of them from this board) have been going up a much more direct route to Tamarack Valley, that starts right where the summer time trail crosses the log bridge over the creek. So much so, that groups now tend to break this trail first. So if you just follow tracks out of Long Valley, and don't really have any idea where they are heading, you are liable to end up in either Round Valley or Tamarack Valley or somewhere in between the two without really knowing where you are. A couple of weeks ago (just prior to the big storm) there was such a wide trail broken to Tamarack valley and an almost indiscernible trail to Round Valley that lots of first-time snow hikers were ending up in Tamarack thinking that they were in Round Valley. Last weekend, several of us accidentally got off track and ended up going the wrong way out of Long Valley, being led astray by other's tracks (at least in my case ) It's no biggie if the weather is good and if you know what landmarks to look for (like Cornell peak) and can adjust your route based on that, but personally I would take a GPS with a known good track, and know how to use it, or go with someone who has done it before. The woods around Round and Tamarack valleys can be quite dense and spooky for a first-timer.

[Norris]

I would also add that Tina and some of the other regulars here are in killer shape, so to be conservative, add an hour or two to their times. If you take the first tram up and leave the ranger station by 8:45 or so, you should be able to get to the summit by noon if you keep a steady pace and don't stop for rests or get lost and backtrack or spend time trying to navigate. But many folks take longer, more like 1:00 or 2:00 before getting to the top. Getting back down typically takes 1 to 2 hours.

[KathyW]

Via Tamarack Valley/Miller Saddle it's a 6.5 to 7 miles round-trip as compared to the 11 mile round-trip if you go out to Round Valley and Wellman's Divide before heading on to the summit.

I'm an average paced hiker (certainly not fast) and it took me about 5.5 hours to do the round-trip from Long Valley to the summit and back to Long Valley on Saturday and I didn't have to break trail. If I had to break trail, it would have been a much longer trip. One time when a friend and I broke trail most of the way, it was 7 or 8 hours round-trip that day.

As far as comparing it to Baldy, it really depends on conditions. In the winter, there are times when doing San Jacinto from the tram is harder than doing Baldy from Manker Flats - it all depends on snow conditions.

Making it to the summit isn't that important anyway - just getting out there and enjoying the snow is what matters.