After checking the weather reports for the summits of San Jacinto and San Gorgonio, Sally and I opted to hike Skyline yesterday. It was raining when I left Riverside and continued to rain until I turned off on 111 -- then Viola! -- no rain. On the trail, we were captivated by exquisite clouds over the San Rosas and beams of sunlight illuminating the desert (all we needed was Handel's Hallelujah chorus). At about 2 K, we were treated to a gorgeous rainbow over the 4 K ridge.
When we got our first glimpse of San Jacinto a bit before 4 K, we paused in awe -- she was shrouded in rapidly moving low clouds and mist. On the Never Ending Ridge, we looked back at the desert and watched a curtain of mist slowly roll in and obscure our view. From this point on, we were enveloped in mist. The mist made the foilage wet and soaked our pants up to our knees and our boots -- we squished as we hiked. Sally noted that her Merrell Moab Ventilators were now Spongenators
Took a leisurely lunch at Flat Rock and shared a thermos with yummy chicken noodle soup. The heat we generated climbing up through the manzanita felt good and before long we were on the traverse. Popped up at Coffman's Crag -- wait, where's the crag, who stole it?
After grinding up the final 400 ft to Grubbs Notch we were treated to blue skies. The recent storm only left traces of snow in Long Valley. Scrambled up the rocks and enjoyed celebratory beverages before heading down for great food at Las Casuelas.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Got any pics of the "special effects?"
