Palm Springs to Paradise Cafe – day 2

Journey report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles

The climate was beautiful within the morning. Because it so typically is in California.

Unbelievably I’d forgotten to carry espresso! 😞 So it was Earl Gray tea for breakfast.

No worries. I used to be headed 2 miles again to the Mountain Station atop Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. They served espresso. Proper? … It turned out to be the costliest java I’d purchased exterior of Switzerland.

This morning the Ranger Station was open and I used to be pleased to go register for my free path allow.

I’d deliberate to take probably the most direct path to Idyllwild – Willow Creek path. Sadly I realized it was nonetheless close to impassible on account of snow. My finest wager was to return again the best way I got here and attempt to get by the snow to Saddle Junction.

Not having spikes or mountaineering poles I promised to return and take the Tramway down if the snow was too deep.

I used to be utilizing the free Maps.me app for navigation at this level. It’s not all that correct.

On the upside, that is the most well-liked path to climb San Jacinto peak (10,834 ft). Crazies discover a approach to stand up there in all seasons.

Because it turned out the snow was nonetheless onerous packed. It was pretty straightforward to fast step from one footprint to the following.

It obtained simpler after Wellman’s Divide.

At Saddle Junction I ran right into a PCT hiker in a rush to get to Idyllwild. The Saddle is on the Pacific Crest Path.

A teen from Michigan, he had the smallest pack he’d seen to this point over the primary 10 days.

As we descended snow disappeared. The switchbacks very nicely graded.

PCT hikers had been ready on the parking zone hoping for a Path Angel to reach and ship them a journey to city.

It wasn’t a neighborhood Path Angel however vacationers who drove up siteseeing. They fortunately agreed to make three journeys delivering soiled hikers to the $5 PCT camp web site in Idyllwild (pop. 3500).

I ordered a LARGE pizza and watched Recreation 1 of the Calgary Flames playoff sequence.