recent c2c trail conditions

[steveb]

Hello to all my fellow hikers. I've been a part time resident at La Quinta for 5 years and spend several days a week on the local trails. I've been working my way through the "Great Hikes in and around Palm Springs" and want to do the c2c trail in the next week or so. I've been up part of the trail several times and it's time to do the whole thing. I'm concerned about snow in the steep areas before the valley and wanted to hear from anyone who has been up recently. I have no snow equipment and am not interested in hiking where it needed. Any info would be appreciated.

[FIGHT ON]

Hey Steve. I went on Saturday, You don't have anything to worry about as far as snow goes. No snow to speak of. Just a few real small spots on the traverse like 10 feet long and nothing to be afraid of. By now I bet it is all gone. Better bring some salt tablets.

[MikeH]

About what elevation did you find the first patches of snow or running water? Going up Sat Am and wondering where we might replenish H2O?

[Hikin_Jim]

Running water? Ain't none of that.

Don't count on any snow patches either. The white stuff is melting fast and what's there is probably pretty dirty and full of debris. I guess you could bring a stove, melt it, and then strain/filter it -- if you ran into a patch big enough, which is not certain.

Generally, this is considred a dry hike. Not trying to be mean, but if you were thinking that there was the possibility of running water, have you really done your homework? You might want to do some research like going over the old posts very carefully here. This hike is 8000+ feet of gain over only 11 miles. There is no trail and no marked route. If you get off route, you can get into serious technical terrain where a fall may be fatal. This hike has a very high rate of Search and Rescue incidents, and fatalities have occured. If you haven't done at least a 5000 foot gain single day hike within the last few weeks, you might want to really think about whether or not this hike is for you. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO WITH THIS HIKE.

If the warning doesn't apply and you really have done your homework, have a nice hike. Seriously. I just don't want to read about you in the newspaper like I have with so many other people.

[lmzjordan]

Hello, new here. wanting to to do this trail to the tram early sun morning, like 4 or 5 and would like to go with anyone that has done it before. just more comfortable on the higher parts where i hear its kinda brutal, trail wise. dont really want to go too high and come back down cuz i lose the trail!! im 26 and pretty quick but no rush, i just wanna do it. any one interested let me know, thanks

[FIGHT ON]

Yo! MikeH. The only running water you will find on this hike will be dripping off your chin! The only snow I saw was little tiny bits on the trail about 1 to 2 miles from the top.

Read this stuff. --> http://www.geocities.com/cactus2clouds/skyline.html

[miketheblock]

Hi Fight On,

I'm doing the hike shortly and just want to check that you are talking about the summit of the mountain not the tram station? Other sites currently report quite a bit of snow above 7800ft so was surprised to see that you said there was so little.

Cheers!
Mike

[Hikin_Jim]

From the desert floor to the tram should be pretty snow free. Nearer to the summit there should still be substantial amounts of snow.

[LarryC]

I rode up the tram on Tuesday afternoon and hiked down across the traverse section to check the trail conditions. The trail is pretty much as Fight On described. There are a couple of small snow patches on the traverse section that are very easy to avoid with no dangerous detours. There is one downed tree that you may have to crawl under (there is a second downed tree that you can duck under). The only real surprise was that I met another hiker coming up from the bottom.

Above Long Valley the conditions are much different. On the summit trail towards Round Valley you will start to encounter snow after the stream crossing. At this point the snow on the trail doesn’t require any special equipment (some patience, and poles are helpful) but it will slow you down. I did not go all the way to Round Valley, but the ranger in Long Valley told me that the trail starts to become fairly icy going towards Wellman’s Divide. Based upon previous experience, I would expect the shaded section of the trail about three-quarter miles beyond Wellman’s Divide (between Jean Peak and San Jacinto Peak) to still contain lots of snow. In other words: postholing and route finding. If you are planning to go all the way to the summit you will probably need to allocate at least 1.5X travel time for dry conditions in both directions (assuming you already have some experience with snow travel AND know the route). Personally, I would wait another three weeks before attempting the summit (I am not very experienced hiking on snow and ice).

Although there is substantial snow above 7500 feet in other areas of the mountain, the tram area is located in a rain shadow so there is less snow to melt and the snow line is higher.

Larry

[Cy Kaicener]

Friends of mine turned back at the 9500 ft level last week because they only had hiking poles. There was no snow below Long Valley last week.
This Saturday we have a slow group leaving at 2.30 am and a fast group at 4.30am or soon after.