| Peak | San Jacinto |
|---|---|
| Group | King family + 1 |
| Trailhead | Marion Mountain Trail |
Saturday morning didn’t start as it was supposed to. James and I were meant to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to groggily load up the Fit, and hit the road by 5:00 a.m. so that we could meet my brother and sister at the Idyllwild Ranger’s station promptly at 7:00 a.m. Anthony and Emily were driving up from south San Diego County, and I was fairly certain the extra distance would mean we’d beat them to the station. What actually happened was, I woke up and checked my phone at 4:59 a.m, realized I hadn’t properly set my alarm, James and I dashed to get out of the house, and we made it to Idyllwild around 7:20 a.m. The San Diegans made good time.
After filling out a permit at the self service station, we drove to the Marion Mountain trailhead. The designated lot was full, but we found a spot about a quarter mile away along the road. By the time we packed our backpacks, sunblocked, and bugsprayed, it was 8:15. We only saw about three hikers in the first few miles. It was warm, but there was really good canopy coverage for almost the entire hike up. I have to join the general consensus in stating that Mt. San Jacinto was by far, my favorite of the peaks so far. I was struggling a bit in the first few miles, but after stopping for snack and water breaks my pack lightened and it was more easygoing. The rest of the hike was pretty enjoyable, with lovely scenery.
My favorite area of the hike was Little Round Valley. This stretch of the trail was relatively flat, well-marked, and ran beside purple (columbine?) blooms and three-foot high, marshy vegetation. We definitely thought we were about a mile away from the peak for what felt like ages. Thunderclouds had been threatening, and around when we saw the Civilian Conservation Corps’ stone lodge, big, fat rain drops started to fall.
We scrambled over the large boulders that lead to the highest point on the peak, and we were not alone. A few dozen people had posted at this point. Unable to do much scrambling with so many people around, we headed back down to Round Valley after eating our sandwiches. I appreciated the presence of a port-o-potty in this camping area. It rained intermittently for the next few miles, but never enough to drench us. The trail felt a lot more steep on the descent, and my joints and muscles have just now recovered from all the breaking.
