I considered titling this post "Tour de San Jacinto, part deux."
Norma and I carpooled out from Riverside -- she spent the night at BaseCamp Coleman after a Saturday Mt. Rubideux climbing class. We met Tracie (Blooty), Jim (CalicoKat), Ernie (EMan), Mark and Hengst Joe and headed up the first tram. I was looking forward to having better weather and visibility than on Saturday.
Stepped out of the tram and immediately slipped on ice and fell flat on my butt as we were entering the tram station
OK, the pratt fall was out of the way -- let the fun begin 
Craig checked to be sure that I wasn't snowshoeing alone 
and wished me a happy anniversary. Also said he wouldn't accept anything less than a summit of San Jacinto in my trip report and when in doubt regarding the route, head uphill 
Norma, Tracie, Hengst Joe and I headed out -- Jim, Mark, and Ernie fell back to take pictures of the exquisite winter landscape. We headed up the Sid Davis drainage following the tracks of another snowshoer. Right about the time we reached Tamarack, we caught up to Todd -- the owner of the tracks. Started heading towards the Miller Saddle, keeping Cornell to our right. After a gel break, Hengst Joe took over breaking trail and we followed him. I had the nagging feeling we were headed too far to the left (south) and resumed breaking trail, heading uphill in a westerly direction. San Jacinto, Jean, and ridge were covered in clouds. I figured we would eventually top out on the ridge between Jean and San J.
The climb got steeper and steeper, which was a lot of work due to all of the new snow. I would kick-step into the snow, step up, and slide back a bit. Repeat ad nauseum. Joe and Todd had used up their fun quotient for the day and turned around. I looked up for blue sky or anything else indicating that we were making progress towards the ridge. After what seemed like an eternity, I popped up on a definitive high point at 11:30 AM. The wind temporarily blew away the clouds that were covering San Jacinto and the ridge -- I was standing on Jean Peak.
We took a food and picture break. Norma and Tracie christened the hike the SS Coleman three-hour tour. The wind kept swirling the clouds over the ice-flocked trees and rocks on the ridge, giving us brief glimpses of San Jacinto. We made our way over and finally stood on top of our objective next to the ice-covered sign. Jim, Ernie, and Mark had carved out a shelter slightly below the summit sign and waved at us. There is just something about this sacred mountain -- I never tire of the views from the summit. This was only Tracie's second time in snow shoes and she summited two peaks
After the requisite summit photos (Jim -- I hope at least one of those I took turned out) -- we escaped the glacial wind for the shelter of the hut. Although we had passed it on our way up, we had to hunt for it a bit on the way down. Going in was almost like entering a sub-terrainean cave due to the amount of snow cover. On a notebook inside, I wrote my name, 2nd anniversary, and thanked RMRU. We finished lunch and started down. I was in favor of heading down the ridge to the Miller Saddle but Norma mutinied -- she'd had enough of my "route finding" -- and Tracie followed suit
We were finally able to have some fun shoe-skiing downhill after the arduous ascent. We connected with Jim, Ernie and Mark again in Tamarack and headed back to the tram where we celebrated. Thanks to the SuperBowl, the wait for the tram wasn't too long.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
