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I decided to do Cucamonga just because saying it out loud made me laugh, but I also enjoyed the trip itself.
Caramba sounded fun too. Roughly one giant step SW of Skyline, it’s in the upper end of the canyon which runs along the lower half of the Skyline trail.
Just looking at elevation profiles, I could see “My Caramba” would differ from my Skyline adventure.
Skyline +8K’ in 8 miles
Tram to Caramba -2K’ in 5 miles
Devil’s Slide to Caramba +2K’ in 2 miles, then –2K’ in 4 miles
We would be carrying full backpacks (tent, kitchen, bear cannister with 14 meals, clothes & bedding, etc.), not just water, but the tram trail looked insultingly wimpy even to my lazy butt. So after work Friday, 6/8/12, we caught a few Zs here in San Diego, then drove to Idyllwild and pulled into Humber Park just before dawn.
As we ascended Devil’s Slide, we basked in the westerly SHADOW of the ridge, admiring Lily Rock and Suicide Rock. We had a good view of Wellman and Strawberry Cienagas (“see-a-naked”) and reminisced about our lollipop trip across there. Instead of Skyline’s vista over Palm Springs, we were gazing out across Hemet. The last time I came down this scree slope there were no reinforcements, and a clumsy person in front of me scared a year’s growth offa me. Now there is a nice, foot-wide path across wired rocks at that place. We found a drinking cup had ejected itself from someone’s gear, just below fairly fresh slide marks.
Halfway up (Jolley Spring?) we were welcomed by an advantage Skyline can never achieve: ice cold, dripping water to duck our heads in! Two other spots on this leg of the trail had a bit of muddy seepage, but no readily accessible water.
Hitting Devil’s Slide in the cool of the day makes all the difference. Saddle Junction appeared much sooner than anticipated. We met a PCT-er there, resuming after an injury.
Next we headed NE toward Hidden Divide, on the “Skunk Cabbage / Willow Creek” branch. The amount of surviving old growth was awesome. The diversity forced me to pull out my Sierra Nevada Field Card to differentiate cedars, firs, pines, oaks and more. We crossed Willow Creek, fed by Wellman’s Cienaga and stopped at Law’s camp, close to the creek. We set up our tent alongside the foundation remnants, which various people have apparently enjoyed modifying. Individual stones this close to Red Tahquitz proved the origin of the name.
We found a hidden rock garden on the next rise. From there we could see out to Interstate 10; probably Palm Desert. The horizon was very hazy, but the stars and distant city lights were a delight, as always.
We dined in a ruby aurora, then began the roller coaster trail through dry hills of lupine to Caramba camp. Some oaks had ominous growths that we first mistook for pinecones. The azaleas and columbine at Tahquitz creek were so restful. Caramba overlook was nice, but less dramatic than expected. Then we scrambled around the north side of the “impassable” falls to experience their stunning beauty.
The jaunt suddenly became fully worthwhile. We fooled around by the water, waiting out the heat of the day, then loaded extra water. I endured the return to camp better than feared, and we were greeted by several deer who assumed everyone had left with those noisy boy scouts. They were not very photogenic in the dusk.
We had allocated a third day to check out the fire lookout tower on top of Tahquitz Peak. For variety we took the south side of Skunk Cabbage meadow loop this time. We stashed our packs near the cut-across trail to Saddle Junction from Tahquitz Valley, and continued on to join the PCT for almost 1 mile. On one wiggle of the Southbound PCT, I was irked to discover I was heading North, as proven by my midday shadow.
Detouring to the firetower overlook, we discovered the junction to south ridge trail at Tahquitz crest; it was an alternate evacuation route. Furninshings were sparse, but they had wall mounts for critical equipment: pencil sharpener, shovel and fly swatter. The guys who manned it made 12 month commitments at a time! Blazes were pinpointed by radioing other firetowers and guesstimating by triangulation. I liked its Black Guardian.
On the way back to pick up our backpacks, we stopped to eat lunch and air out our boots at lovely Tahquitz valley meadow. As we were leaving we disturbed a rattle snake, who wanted nothing to do with us. We practically flew down the Devil’s Slide, which was roasting by noon, avoided the hideous stench of the outhouse in Humber parking lot, and celebrated with ice cream at the far end of town.
The only problem with Carumba is having to leave it 
Seriously though, why a bear canister in the San Jacintos? Do you just like using them as a chair? Or ?
