Devil's Slide to San Jacinto Summit

[sethly]

I am planning on day hiking the Devil's Slide trail to the San Jacinto summit and back on May 3. I've only ever been in the Suicide and Taquitz areas this time of year and no further. Any idea what I can expect this time of year?

Thanks in advance,
seth

[guest]

Hi Seth,

Expect snow from at least 9k ft on, although a lot of that trail(s) is south & west facing, which will help it melt between now & then.
I was at 8,500 ft. to 8,800 ft. around Long Valley (tram) and surrounding areas Wed, and experienced 40-60% coverage in many places, generally good, tractable snow, except where sun seldom shines.

Night temps may begin staying above freezing below 10k which will help.

At this point, it's hard to predict whether snow shoes or cramp-ons or both will be needed, keep checking the board.

[Torben Thomsen]

A young couple from San Diego made that journey last weekend. They had a hard time finding the trail on some sections before Wellman Divide. They had planned to camp at Round Valley, but could not find the trail down [it was getting dark] , so they camped at Wellman Divide. From there they hiked to the top of San Jacinto in about 2 hours with crampons. I met them on the east face of Jean Peak on Sunday morning and had no difficulty moving in the relatively soft snow without crampons.