These days I have FKT ideas on my mind, and it turns out (not surprisingly) that there is an FKT for running from town to the top of the mountain and back - called C2C2C for "Cactus to Clouds to Cactus":
https://fastestknowntime.com/route/san-jacinto-peak-ca
The current record holder, Brett Maune, is an incredible runner and Barkley finisher, and he went up and back in 6 hours and 16 minutes. Holy Hannah. So, yeah, I wouldn't be doing anything on that scale! I based my estimates on our friend Jeff List's more-reasonable time of 10:33 and predicted I could complete it in 15 hours.
The forecast looked great, the reports indicated a packed trail through the snow up top, and I had brought some things that would come in handy - extra clothes, trekking poles, lights, and microspikes. The only disappointment was that John's ankle was acting up so he couldn't join me for part of it; he would have liked to climb up to the tramway with me. Next time!
Short daylight hours meant starting and finishing in the dark, good ultrarunning training. Ready to go:
Starting up the trail by the museum:
A beautiful sunrise over Palm Springs:
White trail markings on the rocks in the first section:
Very happy to be back running in the desert!
Early morning light on the trail:
The picnic tables, about where the white dots end:
The only intersection in the long miles up to the tram, marked by a giant cairn (go right):
In the summer this hike is way more difficult since you have to carry a bunch of water; December is a much better time (I didn't even finish all the water I brought up to the ranger station):
If only this cactus could talk - what was it thinking when it realized it was growing out of a rock?
Good morning, sunshine!
Lovely glow on a vertical rock:
Fun with shadows (yes, I know I could do these things faster if I didn't stop for so many pictures...)
The first of two rescue boxes, and it's probably time to swap the headlamp for a hat:
Beautiful century plant:
More desert flora - I mostly avoided the cacti, but did manage to graze a thorny bush to gain a long scratch on one leg. For some reason, a bit of blood usually bodes well for a run. Should be a good day, then!
Hello deer! They seemed curious and only slightly concerned:
Climbing up the long spur:
A view toward the tram area on the far ridge:
And a view toward the snowy San Bernardino mountains:
More deer; usually animals bolt when I bring out the camera but this group hung around to watch me:
My happy place:
See!
More beautiful shapes:
I enjoyed the awesome views across the valley:
The flatter traverse before the big climb up to the tram:
Rescue box #2:
Flat rocks crossing a small wash (some runners take a split time at this point; I didn't realize that until later so I didn't):
The trail across the rocks is obvious on the way up, but for anyone intending to run back down it's good to check out the not-as-obvious return route just around the century plants:
Closing in on the steep uphill:
Changes in the vegetation as I got higher:
It's hard to accurately portray steepness in a photo, but here's where it starts going uphill for real:
Bits of snow in the shade, and a small tree to climb over:
OK, now there is real snow:
I met one hiker coming downhill (the only person I saw during the ascent to the tram) and he had microspikes on; seemed like an appropriate spot to don them. Yep, that worked well, good timing:
Gaining the ridge, yay! I was happy to see there was much less snow compared to my previous climb, no slogging needed. A nice lady took my photo with the sign at Grubbs Notch:
I had designs on getting to the peak this time, so I skipped the tram house and went over to the ranger station where I got some water from the sink. Happily the bathroom was heated, and the ranger told me it's always open. She was very helpful, including marking up a map for me to carry and asking me good questions to assess what I was doing without making it too obvious (or trying to dissuade me).
I filled out a permit and took the highlighted map:
Now it was time to pay attention to actual intersections:
The trail was indeed mostly packed, with only a bit of loose snow where the wind was blowing it over. The wind, in fact, was the biggest challenge of the day. It wasn't terrible, but it made things colder especially in the shade. I definitely could have worn tights the whole time and not been hot at any point. Otherwise I was comfortable with my layers, gloves + overmitts, wool socks, and buff.
It was also helpful that I remembered to use my hood - a lesson learned at The Bear a couple years ago - a huge help in upper body warmth.
Another well-signed intersection:
Almost to 10,000' elevation, yep, I could feel the difference from sea level!
Much warmer over here, with sunshine and little wind. And a lovely traverse:
Made it to the top, yay! I was excited to find an ACTUAL SIGN after having issues several times in 2018 with finding the exact summit of a mountain...
Yay for wonderful scenery! Per John Muir, "The view from San Jacinto is the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!"
He tends to use superlatives, and I tend to agree with him.
Celebration shadow:
Ah yes, I did take a picture of the thorn scratch on my right leg; also, having bare legs was the least advisable thing I did that day in the snow (although I got to meet a few people who wanted to ask me about that):
The cute CCC-built hut near the summit:
Starting the run back down, which always warms up my toes nicely.
I kind of can't get enough of the bright colors and views from that day:
Making good time back down through the trees, happy that there are plenty of people roaming around up here so the top part of this adventure feels less remote:
Back into the chilly shade:
I didn't take the time to get a good photo, but I enjoyed looking at all the big rocks (granite, I think?):
Back at the ranger station where I dropped off the permit in the mailbox - thank you, rangers!
A seriously impressive rock face at the start of the descent below the tram - now that I know what I'm looking for, I can pick this out from down in the valley:
A bit of a narrow spot in the trail:
Down and across through the coldest part of this route (I don't know that the sun ever hits this section, at least in the winter):
One of my goals was to get down the steep part in daylight, mission accomplished:
Still smiling, and almost out of the snow:
Back to rescue box #2 (still light out!):
What a lovely sunset, and what a view of the Salton Sea in the distance - I had not noticed it last time:
Yep, now it's dark. I swapped a pole for a handheld light, and my descent was at a reasonable (but not stupid) pace. The trail was mostly easy to follow in the dark, occasionally requiring a touch of backtracking or deciding between two splits that came back together, but I always knew I was going in the right general direction. A runner I had met earlier near the top came down past me, and we both celebrated our roundtrip accomplishment of the day.
Back to rescue box #1:
The giant cairn in the dark:
And back at the bottom - thank you John for the rides to/from the trailhead!
And it wasn't even that late in the evening, as I handily beat my estimate for once, excellent:
My splits:
Picnic tables - 26:28
Rescue 1 - 1:07:43 (41:15)
Rescue 2 - 3:12:27 (2:04:44)
Grubbs Notch - 5:03:12 (1:50:44)
Leaving the ranger station - 5:24:56 (21:44)
San Jacinto Peak - 7:29:32 (2:04:36)
Ranger station - 9:01:33 (1:32:00)
Rescue 2 - 10:41:06 (1:39:33)
Rescue 1 - 12:29:37 (1:48:31)
Picnic tables - 13:07:04 (37:28)
Finish - 13:30:04 (23:00)
Big thanks to the previous C2C2C FKT runners for all the beta and the inspiration to make the climb to the top and back - besting even the Haleakala elevation gain from the bottom to the top of Maui. Super cool.
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