Palm Spring Aerial Tram Snow Day

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE

I work with a bunch of guys from Minnesota and they don't get the excitement Californians feel about going to the snow. They never want to see snow again. I, though, grew up less than five miles from the beach so snow is still holds a certain novelty to me. Whenever snow falls in the local mountains, I'm there.

The Tram really needs to get some ice scrapers for their cars. It's really tough to see out but I get the impression that there's plenty of snow today.

Getting out at the upper station I find that no one has decided to go out and test the elements. Do they know something that perhaps I don't?

As I make my way down the ramp, the snow is coming down hard and the wind is howling.

I don't have enough time to go too far so I just take a hike around Long Valley. The interpretive signs aren't going to do me much good today, though.

Crossing the stream won't be much of a problem but it's tough to follow the trail. I keep tripping on logs and rocks buried under the snow.

I think about heading over to the Desert View Trail but there's no point. Visibility is a couple hundred yards at most.

I make my way around to where on a normal day there would be a view of the desert below; that's not possible today. I decide to make my way back to the Tram because it's cold, with the wind chill it's about 0º.

I get about halfway up the ramp and am passed by a Bobcat coming down to clear the snow. Thanks for deciding to do that when I'm done.

Out of the wind it's a balmy 24º. I almost feel like taking my shirt off.

All the decorations are up and with the snow it really feels like the holidays. There's no need to dream of a White Christmas. Just head up to the Tram.

Mount San Jacinto from Snow Creek via the PCT

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE

Mount San Jacinto is my favorite mountain. It rises above the desert in a massive 10,000 foot escarpment. In the winter months it is covered with snow and in summer it offers a welcome escape from the summer inferno of the desert below. I've climbed it numerous times from all directions including the mountaineering route up the Snow Creek couloir. There's only one route I'd never taken to get the its summit, the PCT from Snow Creek Village, and today that's what I did.

I start out at 5:30 a.m. because I couldn't wake up any earlier. I wanted to start at 5 but I move slow in the morning.

I really hate No Trespassing signs at the beginning of my hikes but I know it's OK for hikers so I ignore it.

I hike about a mile up a paved road and hit the trail. There's a water fountain placed here for hikers by the water district and it's a good thing. There won't be any water for over twenty miles. I have five quarts of Gatorade so I'll be OK, though.

The sun is starting to come up so I can put my headlamp into my pack where it will stay until the very end of the hike.

The sun touches the top of San Gorgonio Mountain but I will remain in the shade for quite a while because of the high walls of Snow Creek Canyon.

For some reason the mountain seems to be getting farther away the higher I get.

The trail continues up through the boulder filled hillside and heads up toward these rocks.

The trail itself is in fairly good shape but it is overgrown. This is typical of the type of vegetation along its path. I don't know what they're called but shin slicers would be an appropriate name.

While the hillside is filled with rocks the trail is not, thankfully. Although the trail is a constant uphill tack the miles go by quickly and I gain elevation rapidly.

But even as I get higher and higher up the mountain my goal seems to be getting further and further away.

Then I see my first living pine tree and it makes me feel that I am finally in the mountains. Before this I was merely climbing up a mountain.

I cross the Black Mountain Road and totally leave the desert behind. From here on out I'll be totally and completely in the mountains.

I get to the State Park boundary and see something that tells me I am in a completely different environment than the one I left: snow.

It covers the trail in long sections and while its never treacherous or a big problem it does slow me down because it's hard to get a good pace without good footing.

It's surprising to see so much snow in places because I don't remember a storm coming through.

After hiking a good deal in the snow, it is welcome to find any dry patch along the way.

This is the first water on the trail that I've come to since the drinking fountain down at the bottom, over twenty miles ago. I have to be careful crossing here because I've already slipped on ice twice.

Little Round Valley is a campground below San Jacinto Peak and it makes me feel like I'm almost home. It's 1.6 miles to San Jacinto Peak and 7 miles from the Tram but for some reason it makes me feel like I'm close.

Climbing up to the Peak I am able to look west and see the golden shimmer of the Pacific Ocean.

Heading up to the summit I pass the CCC cabin. I am tempted to stop inside but might not want to leave so I bypass it.

It is a welcome relief to get to the top. I try to grin but only manage a grimace. I'm pretty tired at this point but it's all downhill from here.

There are a couple of shortcuts coming down from the top of San Jacinto but I go down the tried and true route through Wellman's Divide. I didn't want to try any other route because I did not want to tromp through any more snow.

I get to the Long Valley Ranger Station almost exactly twelve hours from when I left Snow Creek, drop off my copy of my permit and head straight for the Tramway Bar.

I didn't just hike thirty miles for nothing.

Hiking In Style to Round Valley

DAY THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY

When I watched Ken Burn's special about the National Parks I was quite impressed by how people used to dress while hiking, exploring and camping. Men wore coats and ties and the ladies wore long flowing dresses. Going to the parks was not a time to get grubby but a time to celebrate the wilderness and to dress in finery befitting the occasion. By comparison, today's hikers are slobs.

Walk up any hiking trail and you'll come across a motley assortment of poorly prepared and ill dressed tramps wearing T-shirts, baggy shorts and cheap shoes. It didn't used to be this way. People cared about how they looked and today I decided to follow their example. I put on a pair of Zanella trousers, an Emenegildo Zegna coat, a Neiman Marcus dress shirt and a Brooks Brothers tie and went out for a little hike. Of course, with a wool coat and trousers, there was no way I'd be hiking in the desert so I headed up to the Tram for a little walk to Round Valley.

One of my hiking heroes is John Muir. He thought nothing of hiking 50 miles in two days without anything but a wool blanket and a pocket full of hard biscuits. He did numerous first ascents in the Sierra Nevada Mountains including Cathedral Peak, Mount Ritter and the Mountaineer's Route on Mount Whitney. This man was no daisy sniffer. He was also quite a snappy dresser. Before going hiking with President Theodore Roosevelt, he went out and bought a new wool suit. There's no way he'd go hiking in a T-shirt. He had way too much style. I've really got to get a hat like that...and grow a cool beard, too.

The weather at the Tram was perfect for my little five mile hike. I needed to get a permit for my hike tomorrow so it was important I come up here anyway.

There are a couple of new signs up here. The two bottom signs are new.

There was a little dusting of snow last weekend and some of it remains in the shaded areas of the trail. Winter is on the way and I look forward to breaking out the woolens more often.

There's water still flowing at Round Valley but it won't be too long until there will only be ice and snow in this area.

Tomorrow I'll be back with the hiking slobs but for today, at least, classic style takes the day.

I'm not the only dapper dandy out on the trail today. This guy, Ron from Indio is sporting a real snazzy set of braces, or suspenders for those of you not up on your GQ vocabulary.

On the way back I come upon two deer cruising along the creek bed.

That reminds me that some deerskin gloves would be a nice addition to my wardrobe.

Even though it is after noon there is still ice in some little pockets along the trail. Next time up I'm going to have to remember to get a proper hat to complete my ensemble.

Palm Springs Tramway Shangri-La

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN

Having just returned from the Sierras I was not ready to go out and hike in the desert today so I went to the Tram. While the weather at home was well over 100º, at the Tram it was about 70º. My son, Nikolas came along with me so I wanted to take him up the the little valley known as Shangri-La.

The Tram will transport us from the heat to the paradise of the mountains.

Unlike down in the desert the sun is welcome up here. In the shade actually feels cold.

Nikolas wants to count the rings on this tree before we go. Sure, Nik. I'll see you on the way back....tomorrow.

Next, he finds a place to contemplate the most important matters in his life, like how to best annoy his brother and what is his favorite type of cookie.

Then, he finds a place where the rock has split along the vein.

And he shows me how it looked before it did.

We get to Shangri-La, a little paradise up at the Tram that is a perfect place to relax and enjoy the stillness of the mountain.

There's even a perfect rock to relax on.

On the way back to the Tram, Nikolas decides to do a little bouldering.

And then, he takes the quick way down.

Tomorrow it will be back to the desert to hike but today I coveted some more cool mountain air. It's not the Sierras but Shangri-La is a wonderful little hidden paradise for rest and reflection.