Trip Report: Devils Slide to San Jacinto 4/18/08

[john m]

My friend and I started from the Humber Park parking lot at 6:00am this morning. No snow on the trial until Saddle Junction. Even there, snow wasn't in the trail. On the way north on the PCT, trail was clear until we arrived at the edge of the woods at 9,000'. From there on to the summit, the snow was everywhere. The trail could occasionally be seen in dry areas but it was a struggle. Even in the relatively open areas where I had expected the sun to have melted the snow, it was everywhere. There were many old drifts that were 3'-5' deep. We continued on to the summit because it is easier to find your way going north than going south. However, coming down in a southerly direction and trying to find your way through the woods to find the open trail was very difficult. We got lost 2-3 times and at one point started down the trail to Strawberry Junction before realizing our mistake.

Crampons were a must in the woods, especially with hard snow conditions in early morning. On the way back down, the snow softened up.

It normally take us 4 hours up and 3 hours down. Today we finished at 5:15pm, for a total time of 11 1/4 hours. We each have done this route about 30 times over the last 4 years and that experience allowed us to find our way. I would only recommend this route, in its current condition, to those who really know the route well and are in top physical condition. It was a grueling but epic hike on a beautiful day.

In retrospect, we should have camped half way up Thursday evening, dividing the hike into two manageable days and not one marathon dayhike.

[Mountaingoat]

John,

Sounds like you guys had an awesome but strenuous day today. I know how it feels getting lost even if you have done the trail 10 times before. It happened to me years ago on Marion Mtn Trail to S.J. Summit.

I did the trail last Sunday, but had to turn around about a half mile after the Deer Springs intersection due to the icy conditions and the fact, that nobody had been up there in the past few weeks. No TRACKS (ice). Didn't want to get lost again.

you guys are troopers, way to go!!

Berne Mettenleiter

[KathyW]

John: Thanks for the report and the update on conditions. Great job pushing on in the snow - it's almost always a lot longer day when there's snow to deal with, but it makes the journey more interesting.

Kathy

[Norris]

Way to go! I have done that hike a few times under a wide variety of conditions, and I know what you guys did is quite difficult.

[gochoa]

Thanks for the report on trail conditions John. I'm leading a 12 person backpack trip from the tram down to Caramba Point this weekend and it looks like I'll need to change our route, nixing the Wellman Divide component.

Does anyone know what the trail conditions are for the trail that goes from the tram to Laws Camp via Hidden Lake Divide?