Mt San Jacinto Peak Snowshoe Attempt 02/11/2010

San Jacinto Peak is located in the San Jacinto Sate Wilderness area located in the mountains that form the western and most prominent backdrop of the Palm Springs. The area can be accessed many ways, but is most often accessed from the Palm Springs Ariel Tram.

New to snowshoeing, but not hiking, we took a practice day in Long Valley two days before the summit attempt. Long Valley is also where the trailhead for the summit attempt would start. On summit day our plan was to take the Palm Springs Ariel Tram to the trailhead at 8,400 ft. and begin our attempt. The earliest tram up the mountain during the week is 10:00am. On weekends the first tram up is at 08:00 am. Wanting to avoid the crowds, we opted for the mid week start. This decision would certainly narrow our window of usable daylight.

On summit day, we arrived at the Mountain Station around 10:15. We descended the ramp from the Mountain Station to the short path leading to the ranger station in Long Valley. It is here where you fill out your wilderness permit, state your intentions and don your gear.

At the ranger station is where we made the decision that changed the fate of our summit attempt. There was a minimum of four feet of snow on the ground. A fresh foot of powder had just been deposited over the previous two days. The first person up any route would be blazing the trail for those who followed and also expending an enormous amount of energy. We quickly pondered this fact and talked with a group of snow boarders that had indicated they were making a dash for the summit in hope of boarding down the east face.

There are basically two routes up to the summit. The traditional route is via Wellman Divide and is about six miles. The Wellman route is fairly moderate for the first four miles and then ascends the last 1,300 ft to the summit via two long traverses in the last two miles. The direct route is basically a straight four-mile shot cross county that ascends the last 1,300 ft in .7 miles. This direct route ascends either the east face of Mt. San Jacinto “avalanche alley” or leapfrogs directly up Miller Peak and then on to the summit of Mt. San Jacinto.

The snow boarders were going the direct route, but they were taking the less dangerous Miller Peak route. The choice seemed obvious. We would follow the trail left by the mid twenty year old snow boarders, save ourselves two extra miles in addition to not having to break our own trail.

We set out behind the snowboarders at approximately 11:00 am. With this amount of snow, most normal obstacles to traditional hiking are covered. No roots to step over, no rocks to step over, just a smooth ascent following the rolling terrain to the base of our final destination. It was the last 1,300 ft ascent that ended out trip. At a quarter mile from the summit Ann hit the wall. I have seen Ann make the climbs up Mt Whitney and Half Dome. I know her resolve. This trip was different. The angle of ascent, the additional effort required to use snowshoes and the elevation had taken its toll. Ann trusts me to push her and to also protect her. To continue on would have placed her in danger. It was time to get off the mountain before she expended what little energy she had left to make the decent.

The young snowboarders had summited about an hour ahead of us. As we started our decent at 03:30 pm we saw them flying down the east face of San Jacinto Peak, oh to be young again. Descending on rubber legs, Ann took her time. The soft powder under the down hill snowshoe was prone to break away on each step down the mountain. Proper technique was critical. Two solid points of contact before moving was the mantra. Glissading with full packs and trekking poles in neck deep powder didn’t seem like an intelligent option. Once off the step mountainside, the trek through the valley was a pleasant change. It took us two and a half hours to reach the ranger station in Long Valley. We let the ranger know we were out and on our way to the tram. The ranger commented that we had arrived right at the edge of darkness. I related our trip to him, telling him we had headlamps. He asked if we had used our ice axes on the way down. I told him the snow was still too soft and that the axes and crampons were of limited use. We were the last ones off the mountain.

Ann was doing much better and we enjoyed a beautiful view of the illuminated desert floor as we descended on the tram. This had been a great trip. Sometimes you don’t reach your intended goal. The experience to where we turned back was epic. Today “our” summit was just a quarter mile from the geological summit. That was good enough for us.

Some photos of this trip can be found at the following link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kBlogphotos/20100211MtSanJacintoAttempt?feat=directlink