Marion Mountain Trail 11-19-11

[Stockwell]

What a spectacular day to go for a hike. Not only did we summit on our first trip up to San J, but even better, the weather was spectacular. I had been a little worried with forecasts for this weekend, I had been hoping for blue skies and nice views, and boy was I not disappointed.

We left the Blue Cottage Inn, in Idyllwild, at 5:00am. Stopped to pick up our permits and drove to the Marion Mountain Trailhead. We were ready to go by 5:30.


Leaving the Trailhead

Within 30 minutes the sky brightened up and above the clouds we would be all day. The higher and higher we went the more glorious the views West were.







After the first half-mile we began to hit more and snow, but a lot more Ice on the trail. With no spikes on, this slowed us down a little bit but with some careful foot placement it wasn't a problem. Our ski poles saved our lives. After 1.5 miles in, 7600ft, snow covered the mountain. Luckily a few people had made the trip earlier in the week so a track was packed in for another mile or so.







4 Miles in we reached Little Round Valley. It was almost 10:30. We stopped and had an early lunch, Turkey sandwiches and apples, some power bars and Gatorade. We were getting pretty tired. Following deep melted post holes for the past 1.5 miles had drained us.




The last 1.5 miles!

We left Little Round Valley a little after 10:30. We reached the summit by 1:00, my fault for not going all the way to the saddle to find the easy path. I ended up detouring us .3 miles through some scrambling and deep untouched snow to the Summit where the views from north to south as far as the eye could see were covered in a blissful cloud layer. To the North laid San G, the next one on my hitlist. Palm Springs was bright and sunny, clouds rolling over the desert ridges to the east. It was awesome!
















Jake


San G!


Payne


The wind makes me look angry.







We had probably 25-30 mph winds at the top so we left at 1:30pm and made it back to the car just after 5:00pm. 11.5 miles, 4500 feet elevation gain, in 11 hours. We went a little slower than I had expected, I easily could have chopped of an hour or two off but the person in the back controlled our pace, we didn't want to leave anyone behind.

Either way the trip was fantastic and I loved the mountain! I cannot wait to take the Tram up and Tramshoe when there is more snow if anyone wouldn't mind taking me along.

Hope this was an alright TR. My first of many.

Happy trails everybody, hope to meet you all up there soon!

Stockwell

[Ellen]

Howdy Stockwell

Great job! Absolutely wonderful trip report and pictures -- I felt like I was hiking along with you Isn't San Jacinto gorgeous? With this new snow, we should be able to tramshoe very soon -- look forward to meeting you

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

PS Hope I don't meet Jake in dark alley wearing his ski mask (just kidding)

[Sally]

Hi Stockwell, your TR was not only "alright," it was terrific! Nice pictures, too. Congratulations on yor first trip!. It certainly looks like it was a gorgeous day.

I hope to see you up on the mountain too!

[Stockwell]

Haha, thanks a lot you two. I'll make sure to keep my future TR's at the same par you have set them at

So when is the best time to Snowshoe? I was up there just yesterday and I already want to go back. Not to mention I'm glad to see it's snowing in Long Valley right now. Were having a wild downpour of rain in San Diego right now so it looks like I'll have to head back soon!

[Andy]

Fine job Stockwell. Looks like you guys made the best of the conditions and had a great day on the mountain. Thanks for sharing the details.

[Pitownpi]

G
O
O
D

J
O
B

looks like last nights storm covered up everyone's tracks...time to get to work this week making fresh tracks with snowshoes!!!

[TDGillam]

Thank you, I really enjoyed the TR and pictures. I think you guys will talk about that trip for a long time.

[vetnav]

Hi Stockwell

Wonderful report. I am planning to do it on Nov 26th. Do you think gaiters are really needed for this hike? I don't see Jake and Payne wearing something like that.

Thank you

[Stockwell]

Hi vetnav,

Put very simply, my two silly friends regretted not wearing there gaiters. The end of Jake's Jeans froze near the top. During the 4 hours that it took to get down, they were swimming in their own socks. I strongly suggest gaiters. I would also suggest not using your running shoes, water will get into them too easily especially with low ankles. Go to a local REI or something and buy a good pear of waterproof leather hiking boots. If you have a low budget like me you can just buy an inexpensive pair of hiking boots. Now as a note, I just bought a $35 pair of suede leather hiking boots from a Big5 and they were marked as waterproof. I learned up in the sierras in June that these boots, were not waterproof as advertised. Boots that inexpensive are pretty much what you pay for, just a cheap boot. To fix that on my hike I applied SnoSeal, bought it for $7.00 at an REI, on all of our boots. It is not recommended for suede leather boots on the other hand. I did anyways. It suggests not to use it purely because it may make your boots look different, and it will flatten the nap. It WILL waterproof and preserve the leather. In my opinion, keeping my feet dry and warm is much more important than my boots having a "nap" and they ended up being a little darker.

I thoroughly enjoyed my hike and it was because I took the steps to make sure I was prepared for conditions I had never been in before. I strongly suggest you do the same.

YES TO GAITERS AND LEATHER HIKING BOOTS!!!

As for poles, heck yes. We would not have of been able to complete that hike without poles. And Since there will be new snow fall I would strongly suggest snowshoes as well. We did not but the mountain has already received more snow, so yes to poles and snowshoes!!!

Most importantly, an early start.

Be safe and have fun. I really enjoyed my time thanks to advice and encouragement on this board, I hope I've done the same for you. Have a fantastic time and I hope you get some awesome views like I did.

Happy Trails,
Stockwell

[Carl F]

Wow that's a cool report. Someday I'm gonna have to figure out how to post pics like that. But really, where else can you take pictures with those beautiful clouds?? I have some of my own, obviously it happens often, but only on San J. We are VERY lucky!!