Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Southern Cal warm up hikes

Today I drove to Idyllwild and hiked Deer Springs Trail,hooked up With the Marion Mt. trail and summited San Jacinto Pk in 5 hours.Total time was about 9 hrs. round trip.I don't know if thats good or bad but it seemed pretty good for me.The hardest part was going downhill but got no blisters.Nice modest 5,000' elevation gain,beautiful weather,awesome views.There are alot of great hikes in the area to warm up with.I'm going to try Mt.Baldy in 2 weeks and maybe 1 more before my 1st try at Mt.Whitney in early June.I also ordered my Gookinaid yesterday.See you on the summit so I get to try that also.

5 hours is great time for that trail. I imagine that there was a fair amount of snow from Little Round Valley up. Was there? I was on San Jacinto yesterday, too. I started at Humber Park and did the loop pass Skunk Cabbage, Willow Creek, Hidden Lake, Round Valley, Wellman's Divide and back down to Humber. I hit some snow in Round Valley and in the gully going up to Wellman's. I'm thinking of doing the trail you did this week. Can you give me a trail report, please. Thanks

This is the first time I've ever heard of 5,000 feet elevation gain in a day hike described as "modest." Humber park to Jacinto is a great hike, but I would have thought there'd be tons of snow still up there. Was there?

Deer Springs Trail was clear all the way.There was some snow,a little deep in the shade and more so near the top but it wasn't a problem.Sometimes we had to walk around deep patches but not bad.It's melting fast.I'm a little sore this morning.Really looking forward to Mt.Baldy.I didn't mean to say a 5000' gain was modest,wrong choice of words,but for me to do it without much difficulty and being totally new to this,it was great.

Fish, I was just kidding. Some hikes of 3,000 feet seem pretty strenuous for some reasons (Youngs Lake in Yosemite is one such hike), and others have elevation gains of 4,400 ft. like Mt. Wilson via Sierra Madre and that seems pretty easy. As you know, any day hike with an elevation gain of over 4,000 feet is always considered a butt kicker, but it's more a matter of terrain, scenery, trail conditions, etc. (for me at least). Half Dome rises about 4,800 feet and seems simple because the trail is nice throughout. On the other hand, Yosemite Falls has such vicious/awful/hellish/yucky trail conditions, this simple hike makes you want to scream.

I know your were just kidding Candace.I think I'm still in my honeymoon period from losing a lot of weight.Although when I got up this morning I sure feel some sore muscles.I had a harder time walking 18 holes of golf in the 90 degree heat today.Can't wait til Whitney

fish,

Baldy is a blast. I did it on friday and no1 was there. I am doing whitney in early june as well. A one day summit. Baldy is a great constant up hill in a short didstance. great leg workout

Have fun
leroux

A friend of mine, Darin, a nordic ski patroller, is going to be doing the following trip.
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Hey all you lounge lizards. Lets take a leisurely trip to San Gorgonio via the South Fork Trail. We will start at 6800 ft and go to 10800 ft to Charlton Peak via Dollar Lake and make camp. The first day we should log 6.5 miles. Day Two, from Charlton Peak we bag Little Charlton Peak, Jepson Peak, several unamed peaks to San G and the summit just beyond and back. This will be another 6.5 miles all above 10,000 feet. The goal here is to traverse the ridges the whole way. Detours when called for. Camp again at Charlton Peak and then head out the next morning. This will be a 3- day weekend, some may do it in two. This is an advanced mountaineering trip. We will most likely run into snow, wind and cold. I get warm all over just thinking about it. Trip date either May 15 or 22nd. I will also do a recon trip before if anyone is interested. Not sure of this date yet. This will be posted in less than a week. So start molting now.
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he posts his trips on www.outdoorsclub.org, the membership of which is free. If interested, you may want to go to that website and register, and perhaps e-mail Darin, which you can access, when his trip goes up.

For those who have been on Baldy lately, is there still snow on top? If so, do you think any will be there by next weekend? Same question for San Gorgonio. Thanks.

i did baldy last friday and san g on the 17 of april. There was snow but it probably will be melted on baldy due to the heat. Should be no problem

very windy up on baldy 20-30mph

have fun

any1 been on san jacinto latley??/

leroux

I was on San Jacinto last Sat. 4/23. From Humber there is no snow until that traverse under the trees where the PCT breaks off. Once you're traversing across Mt. MArion, you are free of snow until Wellman's Divide. From there to the summit is patchy, mostly having to do with shade.
Round Valley has snow on the north side and there's plenty of snow in the gully leading up from Round Valley to Wellman's Divide.
Of course, this was all before our last week of hellishly hot weather. I'm sure there's been plenty of melting going on these last couple of days.

Greetings:

I hope to pick the brains of some of you folks who were recenly up on San Jacinto.

Does any one feel that any specialized gear (crampons, snowshoes, etc...) would facilitate easier/safer travel between the tram and the summit...i.e. through Round Valley and beyond?

Given how warm it has been lately...if the snow is deep then it could be very soft and tough to move through w/out snowshoes (or even with), but if it was not too deep then the majority of snow may be goine by now...any thoughts???

The rangers of course are suggesting to bring the winter gear, but I would rather not lug the weight if it is unnecessary.

Your input is greatly appreciated.....