Trail Conditions from Humber Park to San Jac?

[mike92126]

I'd like to shoe to the San Jacinto summit on Monday 12/26/16, but tram tickets seem hard to come by. I'm thinking of trying from the Idyllwild side. Can anyone provide trail beta (specifically snow conditions between Wellman's Divide and the summit)?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

[Norris]

Hi, until this last storm system it was tending to rain at elevations below 9,000 ft or so. So there won't be much of a snow pack. The Long valley cam shows quite a bit of snow now though: https://www.pstramway.com/long-valley-cam/ And web cams in Idyllwild show a fair amount of snow too: http://www.idyllwildcalifornia.com/idycam2.htm Hopefully those will give you some idea of what to expect.

[Ed]

I'd like to shoe to the San Jacinto summit on Monday 12/26/16, but tram tickets seem hard to come by. I'm thinking of trying from the Idyllwild side. Can anyone provide trail beta (specifically snow conditions between Wellman's Divide and the summit)?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

I'm not an expert on the tram, but my experience is that if you arrive at 7-7:30am, you can buy a ticket on the first car up, even when the on-line tickets are sold out. If you have information to the contrary, I am sure there are people on this discussion board, including me, who would like to know it.

The question I have is whether there is enough snow on the Sid Davis route to cover the manzanita. I kind of doubt it, but I could be wrong. Perhaps the rangers at the Long Valley Ranger Station can tell you, if you can get through to them.

[Norris]

Hi, I snowshoed to the summit yesterday, and encountered 6 or so other folks who also made it to the summit via various routes.
Most of us had some post holing problems on the way up. However, it is possible to do it with zero post holing if you pick the right route.
I am sure of that because on the way down, by refining the route I took on the way up, I was able to avoid all post holing.
I recommend following the usual winter route only as far as lower Tamarack valley. Instead of continuing to upper Tamarack and getting onto the Miller face, instead take a more southerly line through Tamarack which stays in the trees and then follows the main gully / drainage which runs up to the wooded area at the base of Jean peak. This drainage although almost always dry these days, is shown with a blue line on the topo map. Not the Long valley creek drainage, the one north of that. This is well to the climbers left of the usual winter route and in big trees, where brush doesn't grow. When you encounter a more open area with a steepish promontory in front of you, ignore the fairly well beaten track which continues up (my ascent route, along with another party). If you continue up, the track will split into two directions (I went left, they went right) but both encounter bad post holing conditions. So instead go left while still in the big trees and take a line which will intersect with the main trail. Then follow the line of the main trail. When you get to the flattish area where the long switchback to Miller saddle starts from, you will see various tracks coming up on your right but those lines all have post-holing problems. From this point, all the tracks converge to follow the main trail to Miller saddle and from there the track goes up the summit ridge to the summit in the usual way.

[Ed]

Great directions, Norris. But if I converted it to a bulleted list with supersize fonts, I would still manage to screw it up. I think I will wait for another storm.

[pkirkham]

Hi, just got back from a summit attempt from Humber Park to San Jac....forgot my snowshoes = BAD move!!! Post holing following two other guys doing the same, from Saddle junction to the junction with the PCT and Wellmans/San Jac Pk. trail. Couldn't take it anymore!! If I'd have had snowshoes it wouldn't have been much of a problem, except for the usual problems associated with snowshoes of course! The snow was anything from 6" to a foot deep in place, averaging about 9". I'm guestimating it would be even deeper higher up. I couldn't believe no one had broken trail from the Saddle on up since the last storm last Saturday. I used microspikes on Devil's Slide trail as it was compacted and icy/slippy early in the am....you don't need snow shoes on that section of trail. Having said all that, we're forecast ( I live in Idy) to get snow on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Weds next week so all these conditions may change quite substantially!? Have fun and be safe out there folks!!!

[Ellen]

Howdy pkirkham

Thank you so much for the snow update on Devil's Slide. I haven't been on the west side trails of the mountain since the first snow. I am not surprised that no one had broken in the trail from the saddle to the PCT junction -- post-holing and even snowshoeing on a trail is a heck of a lot of work. Hoping for more snow this winter -- I want to snow camp in the San Jacinto wilderness.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[pkirkham]

I will be going up Devils slide trail to San Jac peak on Saturday. I will update the trail conditions after that.....we are supposed to get more snow tonight/tomorrow so we'll see.......Cheers!!!

[Ellen]

Howdy pkirkham

Long Valley received 1.5 feet of new snow -- bring those snowshoes tomorrow. I'll be tram shoeing and going XC to the peak, conditions permitting.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[pkirkham]

Howdy Ellen and other Mtn peeps!
A group of three of us hiked Devils Slide to near Tahquitz peak Saturday am. I broke trail and it was exhausting. I used snowshoes from the parking area in Humber Park and it only got deeper from there. It was about 9" to 1.5 ft. in places, unconsolidated, brand new snow. It took 2 hrs just to get to Saddle junction, my previous slowest in any conditions was about an hour LOL!! People coming up behind us where all smiles, if only they knew! We abandoned our initial idea of trying for San Jac peak due to the amount and conditions of the snow.....will try again in a few weeks after these next forecasted storms and let it consolidate a little.