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| | | Loop Hike to Mount San Jacinto, CA | | | |
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Loop Hike to Mount San Jacinto, CA
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| Hiking | 19.60 Miles |
5,404 AEG |
| | Hiking | 19.60 Miles | 9 Hrs 49 Mns | | 2.62 mph |
| 5,404 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 20 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | What a great and amazing hike that this one turned out to be!
This is a clockwise lollipop loop hike that starts and ends at the Deer Springs TH, which is about 1 mile from the center of the neat little town of Idyllwild, CA.
The hike goes up the west side of Mount San Jacinto, which is nice since you avoid the crowds coming up the mountain from the Tram on the east side. Mount San Jacinto has just over 8,300' of topographic prominence, making it the 6rh most prominent peak in the continental US.
The hike began by taking the Deer Springs Trail. After about 4 miles we came to Strawberry Junction, and began the loop part of the hike. After 9 miles or so we came to a junction of the Deer Springs Trail with the Peak Trail-Mount San Jacinto. This junction is 0.3 miles below the summit, and from there we took the Peak Trail up to the summit. It is a fairly easy hike on the Peak Trail up to the summit, and just below the summit you pass an emergency shelter that was built by the CCC in 1933. There is a bit of easy class 3 rock scrambling just below the summit, but there is no exposure.
On the way back, we took the Peak Trail to the east to Wellman Divide. The Peak Trail is fairly busy because it is the route up the summit for hikers that take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway up to the Mountain Tram Station. From the tram station it is an 11 mile round trip hike to the Mount San Jacinto Summit.
Once at Wellman Divide we took the Wellman Cienega Trail to Saddle Junction, and then from there we took the Strawberry Cienega Trail back to Strawberry Divide, thus completing the loop.
The Deer Springs Trail was the champion of this hike, and it is one of the nicest trails that I have ever hiked on. There are lots of wildflowers, interesting rock outcroppings, huge boulder, and lots of huge trees in the dense forest-- black oak, white fir, ponderosa pine, Jeffrey pine, and sugar pine, among others.
This hike is a keeper for me -- it was nice avoiding the crowds by going up the west side of the peak. Coming down the east side had some awesome views, although the trail was a bit crowded until we got past Wellman Divide. |
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Wildflowers Observation Moderate
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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