hemet to Idyllwild (Tram)

[guest]

Hi Scott,
Sounds like a fun & somewhat lofty goal! Not sure about trails / roads leading up to Idyllwild, so that would make the difference.
But, as you may know, you'd have to walk a long way on pavement, through town and up hill, to reach Humber Park / Devils Slide.

Deer Spgs, begins right next to Hwy 243, and close to a possible camping area. It's my fav trail up there, (huge Cedars), but that, like Marion, (which also starts pretty close to the Hwy and may not require much town walking), commits you to heading up to Wellman's Divide, then to the tram.
It's quite a bit easier to head to tram via Hidden Lake, as you top out around 8,800 ft. instead of 9,700 (Wellmans). Have not been that way since the fire, heard parts have become painfully over grown with some thorny stuff. I was on the Round Valley / Summit trail last summer, and it was in crappy shape from flooding, use, lack of maint. etc.

South Ridge tr. requires a long slug from Hwy 243 to trailhead, but it puts you in close prox. of Saddle Jct & the route to Hidden. Plus, you can check out the Fire Lookout tower while your up there.

If you plan is to ride the tram down?, remember their still on a reduced schedule, (I believe, last tram down at 8pm).

Keep us posted on the route you come up with, sounds interesting. S2

[Sose]

Willow creek to Hidden Divide is in good shape and a beautiful walk. Some whitethorn around the Laws Camp split but otherwise great, with water.

[hawkbill666]

Hi Scott,
Sounds like a fun & somewhat lofty goal! Not sure about trails / roads leading up to Idyllwild, so that would make the difference.
But, as you may know, you'd have to walk a long way on pavement, through town and up hill, to reach Humber Park / Devils Slide.

Deer Spgs, begins right next to Hwy 243, and close to a possible camping area. It's my fav trail up there, (huge Cedars), but that, like Marion, (which also starts pretty close to the Hwy and may not require much town walking), commits you to heading up to Wellman's Divide, then to the tram.
It's quite a bit easier to head to tram via Hidden Lake, as you top out around 8,800 ft. instead of 9,700 (Wellmans). Have not been that way since the fire, heard parts have become painfully over grown with some thorny stuff. I was on the Round Valley / Summit trail last summer, and it was in crappy shape from flooding, use, lack of maint. etc.

South Ridge tr. requires a long slug from Hwy 243 to trailhead, but it puts you in close prox. of Saddle Jct & the route to Hidden. Plus, you can check out the Fire Lookout tower while your up there.

If you plan is to ride the tram down?, remember their still on a reduced schedule, (I believe, last tram down at 8pm).

Keep us posted on the route you come up with, sounds interesting. S2

Thank you. Yes, absolutely plan to take the Tram down!
I should not need to walk all the way through town to reach Humbar Park right? There is the Ernie Maxwell Trail head off of Tahquitz road I plan to take, unless you see a reason why not. That will still requite a 3.3 mile walk through town from "The Hub" trail head.

And its looking more and more like I will be going via Willow Creek through the Saddle Junction and then through the Hidden divide (although Deer Springs was my 1st choice). Per your point not only do I save having to go up the extra 1100 feet of Wellmans, I have been through Wellmans multiple times from my C2Cs, and just want to see something new.

Thank you!

Scott

[hawkbill666]

Willow creek to Hidden Divide is in good shape and a beautiful walk. Some whitethorn around the Laws Camp split but otherwise great, with water.

Yes, this is my plan, thanks!

[Florian]

Another option would be Bee Canyon up to 4S10 (Indian Creek Rd) to 4S06 to 4S05 to 243 hwy to Black Mtn trail to Boulder Basin. Then Black Mtn road to Fuller Ridge trail to SJ Peak and down east side to tram. I think that is what i would do.

Map .. https://caltopo.com/l/TUD6

[hawkbill666]

Another option would be Bee Canyon up to 4S10 (Indian Creek Rd) to 4S06 to 4S05 to 243 hwy to Black Mtn trail to Boulder Basin. Then Black Mtn road to Fuller Ridge trail to SJ Peak and down east side to tram. I think that is what i would do.

Map .. https://caltopo.com/l/TUD6

Thanks Florian!
That Caltopo link is supposed to have a trail on it right? (I am new to Caltopo, thanks Eileen for referencing it earlier in this thread!).
I see a trail from Mountain Center that comes out at North San Jacinto into the Banning area - is that what you were showing?
I like this if I were just trying to go over Mt San Jacinto - but my child hood dream for 45+ years now has been the Hemet to Palm Springs hike .

The problem I have with starting at Mountain Center is its too far away from Hemet and another couple of thousand feet up. The "trail head" that represents the Hellrazor mountain bike path I am trying to start at its less than 4 miles from East Hemet, so it still meets the spirit of what I am trying to do. One reason I did multiple C2Cs is to establish the 1st half of this trip - and that is going down skyline - which is now more of a known to me (even though I am only shooting for the tram at this point). And if I started at Mountain Center others recommended the ridge trail which would take me to the Tram. But again, not starting that far away from Hemet.

Thanks again! And for the advice you and everyone on this forum have given me over the past decade+! But my little thing is I need to make it from Hemet to Palm Springs .

Scott

[Ed]

Best of luck, HawkBill. If you can hike a mountain bike trail without being terrified of a bike bearing down on you at full speed, I certainly would not worry about walking through Idyllwild. I recommend the Tom Harrison map, available in both 'paper' and digital versions. The latter with the Avenza app, which is free, and available for both iPhones and Androids. The TH map won't cover the first leg from Hemet, but it gives you a good street map of Idyllwild, and everything from there to the tram, and you can load a CalTopo map into Avenza for the first leg.

[hawkbill666]

Best of luck, HawkBill. If you can hike a mountain bike trail without being terrified of a bike bearing down on you at full speed,.

Ha, I get it. I plan to be off that trail long before the sun comes up . I know some hardcore mountain bikers. They will rarely go in the dark and when they do its speed reduced .

[hawkbill666]

Best of luck, HawkBill. If you can hike a mountain bike trail without being terrified of a bike bearing down on you at full speed, I certainly would not worry about walking through Idyllwild. I recommend the Tom Harrison map, available in both 'paper' and digital versions. The latter with the Avenza app, which is free, and available for both iPhones and Androids. The TH map won't cover the first leg from Hemet, but it gives you a good street map of Idyllwild, and everything from there to the tram, and you can load a CalTopo map into Avenza for the first leg.

Thanks, just installed Avenza on my droid, looks good.
I already have the tracks loaded for the 1st part on GAIA GPS, but it will help to have Caltopo loaded also, thanks!

I already paid for GAIA GPS. Is that not enough to offline navigate from Idyllwild to the Tram? Happy to pay for Caltopo or Tom Harrison maps for additional layers and protection if that is what is recommended here.

[Ed]

I have never used Gaia, I am sure it is fine. But Avenza is free, the Tom Harrison maps work only with Avenza, and Avenza works with many other maps. I am a bit reluctant to rely on online maps when the area is covered by Tom Harrison maps, which I think are more reliable.