http://mapper.acme.com After getting our permit at the Ranger Station in Long Valley, we proceeded west along the trail to Round Valley but left the trail ~20 yards before it crosses the creek ("A"). I believe this is referred to as the "Sid Davis" route. There was water in the main creek by the way. We followed a use trail into the beautiful Tamarack camp area ("B"), joining up with one of the side trails leading to a tent site. From a convenient point on the side trail, we headed just slightly east of due north up the south slope of Cornell. We approached the peak from the SE ("C"). The peak looks quite intimidating at first (well at least to me, a non technical climber). There is however a class three route. As one approaches from the SE, one needs to stay just SW of the spine of the ridge until about 100 vertical feet from the summit. About 100 vertical feet from the summit, one crosses the spine of the ridge, gaining a wide (2 to 3 feet) ledge leading west along the (very) sheer north face of Cornell. This section is class 2 but is very exposed and a bit intimidating. One proceeds west along the ledge to a "V" in the ridge that opens to the south. One goes south, then turns to the west, proceeding along class 3 rock to another north-south "V" in the ridge. Here you see a perhps 20' high vertical crack in the summit block of Cornell. A chockstone is wedged into the crack at the top of the crack. The crack is relatively easy class three with some exposure. The chockstone isn't terribly difficult to surmount. Just beyond the chockstone is a small east-west "V" in the rock. From here one scrambles across a totally open, highly exposed rib of rock perhaps 15 linear feet to the summit of Cornell ("D"). At this point the wind was whipping, I was climbing without protection, and though I'm not terribly afraid of heights, this last jaunt across the rock rib caused my muscles to start tensing up. I stood up in the "V," looked long and hard at the summit only feet away, and quailed.
The downclimb was a bit tougher; I needed a bit of coaching from my compatriots as to footholds as I went over the chockstone. I couldn't see my footholds because of the chockstone. Just a word to the wise for you soloists out there.
We descended the way we came off the summt and then headed west across the upper Tamarck area, meeting up with the "Tamarack" or "Ranger" trail ("E"). This trail has been abandoned and is no longer maintained but is quite followable. The chinquapin in this area is very thick. If you can't find the old trail, it's best to ascend farther to the south, staying on the ridge south of the Tamarack drainage, otherwise you'll get really far more well aquainted with chinquapin than you'll ever want to. We ascended the trail to about point "F," losing the trail in the woods. I think we could've followed the old trail, but once it got us through the nasty brush, we felt confident proceeding cross country again. We joined the main peak trail coming up from Wellman Divide and proceeded to the trail junction ("G") on the south ridge of San Jacinto.
From the junction ("G"), we proceeded south to Jean-San Jacinto Saddle ("H"). This is fine, open country, not overly difficult to travel through although we found no obvious use trail. It is rocky country, and one must be prepared for class two travel. In approaching Jean Pk ("I"), we found proceeding to the east of the summit was the easier approach. The high country south of Mt. San Jacinto is beautiful, open lodgepole forest, a high country rambler's delight. If you haven't been up into this area, you owe it to yourself to visit this lovely area.
South of Jean Pk ("I") en route to Marion Mtn ("K"), the navigation is a bit tricky. The forest does not allow one to keep Marion Mountain in sight. One must rely on map and compass. Our route took us to the west of pt 10,388, approximately through point "J". This is a large forested area with abundant flats. As one approaches Marion Mtn ("K"), glimpses of the rocky summit block first tease and then disappear. On the USGS topo map, Marion Mtn's summit appears to be divided by a saddle. In reality, there are mutiple saddles in Marion Mtn's summit. Simply acheiving a saddle and then proceeding east to a high point does not gain one the summit. The true summit has a rather massive rock block that is not easily climbed. The other summits on top of Marion have lesser blocks of rock that are more easily climbed. The true summit of Marion is the highest and largest of the blocks of rock. We approached Marion from the north, arriving at the base of the summit block just west of the summit. On the summit block, there is a large exfoliation flake on the NE side of the summit block. The perhaps 15' high crack formed by this flake allows one access to a ledge cutting east to west across the north face of the summit block. At the end of the east to west ledge, another vertical crack, about 35' to 40' high is found. One can wedge up this crack up to a point where one can proceed south in a crack in the top of the summit block. One then spans a crevice gaining the top of the summit block in one relatively quick move. This route is class three with a minimum of exposure. There are many "rock piles" surrounding Marion Mtn. One could easily spend a weekend bouldering about in the area.
From Marion Mtn ("K"), we proceeded to the top of a drainage ("L"). We descended the drainage to the east, staying north of Wellman Cienega, joining the trail at approximately point "M." From point "M," we proceeded along the trail to Wellman Divide ("N") and then to Round Valley ("O"). There was water in the creek both above and below the little ranger hut as well as good flow at the pipe in Round Valley. From Round Valley, we went back to the tram and completed our hike. It might be possible from point "L" to traverse high and avoid having to climb back up to Wellman Divide, but this is steep country and there is a lot of chinquapin, manzanita, and buckthorn. Not every route that makes sense on the map makes sense on the ground. We found a good route through the brush and considered the gain from point "M" to Wellman Divide to be a small price to pay to avoid heavy brush and difficult sidehilling.
All in all a beautiful high country trek through less visited but none-the-less beautiful areas with some fun class three rock thrown in.
Hikin' Jim says, "check it out."
