On Saturday, I joined the San Jacinto Hiking Club for the Tahquitz loop (Tram >Wellman's > Saddle junction > Tahquitz peak > Little Tahquitz valley > Skunk cabbage meadow > Willow creek > Hidden Divide > tram. It's ~16 miles with 3,400 feet of gain.
I always feel like I am coming home when I return to San Jacinto. This feeling intensifies when I run into my friends (Doreen, Don, Indio Joe and others) in the boarding area
Although it was warm and humid, we were blessed with cloud cover for most of the hike. There was an enormous downed pine tree hanging over the trail before Saddle junction. As we ate lunch on the Tahquitz lookout tower, we watched the clouds building over San Jacinto. Since we were going up Hidden Divide, I thought we'd avoid any potential thunderstorms -- we did. Hiked up Hidden Divide without incident and enjoyed suitable beverages at the tram and dinner at Las Casuelas.
I haven't felt quite right since Whitney and planned to take Sunday off and sleep in. However, I woke up at 5:30. What the heck -- I refilled my pack and drove to the tram. I had planned to hike the Strawberry loop (~18 miles with 4.5 K of gain) but decided I would let my body be my guide. Once again, I met friends in the boarding area -- Ty Sutherland and Hengst Joe. I hiked with Joe to Wellman's -- he went to the summit and I descended to Strawberry. The downed trees had been cleared -- thank you trail crew
Started encountering other hikers after the Marion junction. Once again, I benefited from cloud cover as I climbed up to Little Round Valley. I down shifted and headed up the never ending switchbacks to the junction. Met other hiking sisters that I haven't seen since Saly and I hiked the High Sierra Trail.
As I reached the summit, I met Sister Sally's daughter Celeste and James (the world really is the size of an egg). I was tired, so it me a moment to realize who they were
They headed down and I enjoyed lunch with my trail sisters. Everyone on the summit remarked how great it was that there were no thundershowers. Uh oh...
As I descended past the big bend (the forested area at about 10 K), rain started to fall. I wasn't concerned -- I was off the summit. As I dropped to Wellman's, the rain fell harder. Hikers were still going up into the storm -- hmm... I started catching folks between Wellman's and Round Valley -- a group of three guys and a family. All of us were hustling downhill to the siren call of the tram.
Shortly after Round Valley, it started to hail. I took a picture of the three guys underneath a tree (like me, they were in shorts and T-shirts), then we continued to follow the trail (now a gushing stream bed) back to Long Valley. All of us had rain gear, but we enjoyed the adventure of hiking through mud puddles and getting soaked. We caught up with Celeste and James shortly before the (dry) creek crossing.
It stopped raining and the sun came out. We looked like a bunch of wet rats heading up the concrete switchbacks. Hung out with Celeste and James a while at the tram bar. Another terrific day in the wilderness --San Jacinto never fails to surprise and delight.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
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