June 5th solo hike trip..

[Robk732]

I'm heading to Mt. Rainier in 2 weeks and thought i'd do some hiking at San Jacinto. I wasn't aware there was still snow up here, or at least as much as there was. I took the tram up and got to the ranger station around 11:30am. There was no snow most of the way to round valley, then i saw the trails were covered. At first i was a little upset because I drove from San Diego and only brought trail runners with me. People i passed had treking poles, ice axes and crampons. I didn't have a GPS or anything so i wasn't sure if i should continue much further because i didn't really know where i was going and how to navigate. From round valley, i decided to just go up as high as i can and see where i am. After finding a trail, i followed it for a bit. With all the snow i kept losing the trail but eventually made it to the top at 2:30pm. On the summit there was billions of bugs and ladybugs so i only stayed for a short period of time. After jumping down all these bolders I found a trail and followed it for about a mile. Bad idea, turns out it was a trail towards Idyllwild. After backtracking towards the summit, i found the way i came and headed back. Following the same trail i took, i ended up at the Wellman Divide and found my way back. My trip up I didn't see the Wellman Divide, turns out i just went up and cut a big part of the trail. So i decided i need to get a good GPS because i could have got lost.

Did I bump into any of you? I was wearing a red t-shirt, beige shorts, trail runners and a camelbak.