Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

Out for an early Sunday morning hike with co-workers and Riley. For some in the group, it was their first hike – not exactly an easy one to start with, but they did great.

Clicking on a photo will take you to the full gallery, which is posted here:
Black Mountain, September 20 2015

That was their first hike? I'm surprised you're posting. I would think they would have used what little energy they had left to beat you with a stick about 1/2 way up! I noticed that the girl with the green and black pack is menacing you with her fist in that pic at the peak.

That's a fairly challenging hike even for someone who is experienced. It's not real long, but it's steep right out of the gate, gives you a little flat to tease you in the middle, then hits it hard just before the top. I'm glad you all made it fine. One good thing...they'll be pleasantly surprised when they do a similar length hike on fairly flat ground. It'll seem just too easy.

z

LOL!
Well there is a bit of a story to go along with this trip.

One of the hikers had hiked with me several times in the past - San G, Skyline, Black Mtn, Register Ridge, Whitney attempt, etc. We hadn't hiked together all summer because I spent as much time as possible in the Sierra and this was our first hike together in quite some time. Over the weeks leading up to the hike, he had drummed up some interest amongst the students we work with.

When we all had a free weekend, I had planned on hiking Morton Peak or Loch Leven with them, just to get an idea of their level of fitness and interest. My co-worker nixed that idea and thought that Black Mtn was a much better option. I told everyone it was going to be a tough one for a first hike, but they were all excited about the challenge.

We've followed that hike up with North Fork of Big Pine Creek (15.5 miles, 4300' gain/loss), Baldy, Pine and Dawson via North Backbone (13 miles, 6,000' gain/loss) and a quick one last weekend in Whitewater Preserve.