by davidalynn » Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:19 pm
I know I owe Z a trail report, so here goes. We went up June 18 2011. We returned to Fuller Ridge TH, not the tram.
After rallying the troops for a few weeks, trying to get two groups going, we dwindled from 9 to 5 in the last few days. Apparently I scared everybody once I told them how much water to bring? Plan was to have one group going from the bottom, with another few going from Fuller Ridge TH later to provide the resupply and ride home/back down to Snow Creek.
We got to Banning around 6am, had to stop for sunscreen for one guy that forgot it and donuts for another, and noticed it was quite cold and cloudy. Fortunately (?) it was much warmer and sunny a few miles east at Snow Creek, where we hit the trail at 6:30, probably around 70 degrees. We figured we were in the right spot since there was this yellow car parked in the middle of nowhere, and who else could that be but Z-dude?
Walked the paved mile of the PCT, excited to hit the trail, headed up. Feeling good, trying to do a little running, but mostly just walking up up up at a pleasant but noticeable grade. Beautiful morning, all going well. Started thinking we'd actually be on with our estimates of hitting FRTH around 10:30-11ish. Heeding the advice of many here, we were all wearing pants. Trail was totally clear, no pants required, but we were too lazy to unzip.
However, the running quickly disappeared, as one guy noted that his choice of footwear was not suited to running, and was actually giving him all sorts of blisters. No worries, nice day. Lots of scenery to look at, and the occasional snake (no rattlers).
Few miles later, trail starts getting a little over grown (probably around 6ish). Not hard to find in the daylight at all, but started being thankful for pants.
Somewhere shortly thereafter same guy announced he was out of water. Guess my repeated messages of "carry 7-8 liters of water and everything you need for being out on a trail for possibly 6-8 hours" went unheeded. I gave him some of mine (overpacked for such a reason), and we continued. Also discovered that none of my cohorts had ever been up here, most of them never having been over 7-8k altitude.
Next event was as I was following my buddy up the trail and noticed his foot came down about 3 inches from what was definitely a rattler head. Snake didn't move or flinch, seemed angry but didn't do anything. Wasn't stretched out, was just chilling in the shade. We jumped away (no shrieking, I swear), waited for others to alert them. In the meantime, my buddy takes out his phone to snap a picture, but apparently this was a celebrity snake. Hadn't moved yet, but as soon as he tried to take the picture, we got a very clear "No photographs please". Went nuts, rattling like crazy. Good times for those that haven't had many encounters.
Continued on, started seeing trees and more greenery, very exciting. Great views of the valley and the peak. Guy out of water lagging again, we wait and he's out again (of course), along with another guy. Decide I better go ahead to FR and come back with water, especially since we didn't know how long it was. I was starting to worry it was going to be more like 19 miles than 15 miles, and that would be a definite problem.
Started getting to the road up at the top, and having no idea whether we needed to go 1/4 mile down one of the roads one direction or another to get to a parking area. Did somebody say map? Nah, that'd be silly. Had the GPS toy, but wasn't so helpful, showed me the roads but no idea where the trailhead was.
Wandered a bit down a road or two, wasn't feeling right, so continued on. Eventually found the very obvious Fuller Ridge parking area, impossible to miss. About 16 miles in. Quite surprised how many people were there. It was now noonish, waiting friends were getting anxious and almost considering leaving on their own but excited to see us. Got some water, headed back a mile or so, refilled both of them, back to FR. Absolutely gorgeous along the way, amazing views of San Gorgonio and Palm Springs and lots more.
Fortunately, guy that was suffering decides to not continue. So we refill, snack, and 4 of us set out for the summit, leaving the trailhead at 1:30. Perhaps silly for a summit bid? I was hoping for 5-6 hours round trip, so seemed okay. The speed was a bit limited by one person that wasn't feeling it, but we were still trucking along at a pretty good pace. All beautiful, great weather, having a good time. Still too lazy to unzip pants, but it was warm enough.
No problems on the trail, signed well enough. Great being in the trees and seeing the views. Very little snow, but the creeks were running great. You could get over most of them without getting wet, but why? Felt great to stand in them for a minute and return feet to normal size.
Some bigger snow piles on the boulder scramble to the summit, but nothing worrisome. Got up there around 5pm, enjoyed the great views. Slightly hazy, but not enough to spoil it. Couple of beers went around (sure, people were out of water, but there was beer!). Did the normal sit, snack, and photo. Still a number of people at the summit, surprisingly.
Headed back down. All went fine, though not sure we were much faster down than on the way up. Things just slow down at 10k feet, and there was a surprising/unexpected amount of uphill coming back down to FRTH. Started worrying again about water (one person was out with about 4 miles to go.) Kept on trucking, though, got back to the cars just after 8pm. Almost 14 hours of total transit.
Phenomenally beautiful, plenty challenging, all good. 4 summiters, 2 from the bottom, a great day.
That dirt road back down to the 243 really sucks, though. If we'd had any legs left, I think we could have hiked it almost as fast as driving. I'm surprised how many people did the drive up that road to FRTH. But then again, it was amazingly nice, so maybe not too surprised.
Some peak hikes are a checkmark that don't really ever need to be repeated. This adventure I'd be happy to do again (let me know, Z). Though thinking about doing some kind of loop up top from a different trailhead to avoid the car shuttling and drive up that dirt road, or combined with a longer camping trip.
Thanks for all the advice, see you sometime on the trails.
--David
Dude, you are killing me
I'm sorry you were put in that position 
