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California
Park Service Photo
Day
tripping ...
On
Friday October 24 my friend Vivek Vasudeva and I completed the “Cactus
to Clouds” (CtC) day hike in
Southern California
. Starting in downtown
Palm Springs
at 500’ elevation the trail rises steeply to the 10,804’ summit of
Mount
San Jac
into
, with an elevation gain unmatched almost anywhere except Kilimanjaro,
Denali and
Rainier
. During the first 11 miles the unmaintained trail includes over
8,000’ of climbing before cresting at
Long
Valley
near the top of the Palm Springs Tramway. It is then 5.5 miles and
another 2,300’ climb to the summit. Along the way the trail
transitions from Sonoran desert to Alpine ecosystems, first passing palms
and cacti, then chaparral, followed by manzanita, oak, ponderosa and pinon
pine before ending at the boulder-strewn summit. This was Vivek’s
third attempt to complete the trail, with two prior attempts ending at the
Tram due to heavy Spring snow on the upper part of the climb to the
summit.
A
May 2005 Backpacker magazine article ranked the Cactus to Clouds
hike #5 in a list of
America
’s ten hardest day hikes. Here is their description:
5. Cactus to Clouds Trail
Mt.,
San Jacinto from Palm Springs, CA
Score:
80 Miles:
23 Elevation
Change:
13,400 feet X
Factor: Broiling temps
Sure, it's
a big deal to climb
Mt.
Whitney
-- but on the highest peak in the lower 48, you begin at 8,360 feet. To
conquer Cactus to Clouds, you start on the desert floor and ascend 10,700
feet-a vertical half-mile more than Whitney. Two fun ways to put your pain
in perspective as you churn up the unmaintained trail: The trek to San
Jacinto's 10,804-foot, boulder-strewn crown is only 800 vertical feet
shorter than the climb from Everest basecamp to summit-and comparable to
doing more than a thousand flights of stairs. Start before dawn, because
temps hit triple digits more than 100 days a year, and there's no water
below 8,500 feet. But come prepared for wild temperature inversions and
possible rain and hail up high; the worst scenario is to be forced to
descend waterless in the ruthless afternoon heat. From the top, where
you'll see every major peak in Southern California and all the way to the
coast, most people hike down 2,300 feet and take the tram back to town;
the hike's tough enough without adding another 8,000 feet of downhill.
http://www.backpacker.com/may_2005_feature_hardest_dayhikes/destinations/8485?page=1
Start
early. Real early ...
A
pre-dawn start is required to avoid rising desert temperatures and allow
sufficient time to complete the hike before dark. The idea is to
ascend to cooler elevations as the day warms up, thereby keeping the
ambient temperature about the same. The long stretch to the top of
the Tram is without water so hydration packs are in order. I carried
a total of 5 liters which was just right – I had a half liter remaining
when we reached
Long
Valley
where water is available. After a certain point turning back is not
an option because you will descend into the midday heat, and are unlikely
to meet anyone on the trail to offer assistance. In fact, Vivek and
I didn’t see anyone on the trail until we reached the Tram. If you
do meet anyone stupid enough to start up in the middle of the day they
will likely be more in need of help than you are.
Our
goal was to finish before dark, so we hit the trail at 3:45 am. The
trail begins at the
Palm Springs
Desert
Art Museum
and steeply ascends above the surrounding neighborhoods, climbing a
ridgeline past one cactus-covered peak after another. The
temperature was in the low 60’s; even so, we soon broke a sweat as we
climbed the steep, rough trail through cactus and yucca plants. This lower
part of the trail is called the “Museum Trail”, and there are white
dots painted on rocks every 20-30 feet to mark the route. After
reaching some picnic tables, the trail turns left and continues climbing.
After some time the trail reaches a fork and takes a right turn to begin
the long climb along a serrated ridge. Unfortunately we followed the
white dots down the left fork, and after descending for 10 minutes
realized we were on the wrong path. Retracing our steps, we returned
to the junction and took the correct right-hand fork. It was very
reassuring to reach the “Long Valley 8 Miles” marker indicating we
were back on the correct trail.
Jim
Keysor
After a while there is a small downhill, followed by a left turn and a
short steep climb that brings the massive upper slopes below the Tram into
view. They look almost within reach but as I learned, the clear
desert air makes distances difficult to gauge – about half our climbing
time to the Tram remained!
Vivek Vasudeva
The
trail descends briefly and then climbs North again. After a final
downhill the trail heads mostly to the West and straight up. Vivek
pointed out a large flat rock at approximately 6,000’, followed by a
lone oak tree soon after. Pines were visible above and welcome shade
was just ahead. The final 2,000’ are very steep and seem to never
end. The trail veers right across several gullies which can be
dangerous when there is ice and snow. Vivek told me about a
harrowing event during a prior hike to the Tram with some friends.
They reached the snow-filled gullies and although they lacked crampons and
ice axes decided to continue rather than turn around and face the long
downhill slog back to the desert floor. A member of their party
slipped on the ice and averted disaster by hooking a leg around a tree as
he slid down the slope.
From here the trail goes nearly vertical in the direction of a sharp
rock tooth known as Coffman’s Crag. The trail is difficult to
follow in this section due to fallen trees and rock slides obscuring the
path, and our route-finding skills were put to the test.
The
final stretch to the Tram climbs 700 steep feet before topping out at
terrace-like
Long
Valley
which we reached at 11:45 am, exactly 8 hours after starting. We
took a 35-minute break to eat cheese pizza (a tip I learned from a
Mount Rainier
climbing guide) and fill our bottles.
After
reaching
Long
Valley
most hikers call it a day and ride the Tram down, but our goal was to
summit
Mount
San Jacinto
so we obtained a free hiking permit at the
Long
Valley
ranger station (a short distance from the Tram), and continued on towards
the summit.
From
Long
Valley
the well maintained, signed trail winds two miles through pine forest to
arrive at
Round
Valley
(9,100’) where we took another short break. Water is available
here, and there are campsites nearby. The trail rises more
aggressively in the next mile (we thought it was further than that) to a
major junction, Wellman’s Divide, where expansive vistas open up, and
then turns right (North) for the final 2.3 miles to the summit.
This
final stretch of trail includes several steep switchbacks, but nothing
like what we found down below. One-third mile from the summit a
final junction is reached, and an easy final climb brought us to the
summit at 3:20 pm. The temperature was perfect, there was zero wind,
and the spectacular 360 degree views were the perfect reward for our
effort!
We
left the summit at 4:05 and arrived at the Tram station at 6:30, just as
dusk transitioned to darkness. The 10 minute Tram ride down the
mountain in the dark with the lights of
Palm Springs
far below provided a wonderful ending to our day. Thank you Vivek
for suggesting this excellent adventure!
About
the author: Jim
Keysor is passionate about outdoor activities and adventures. In
2005 to celebrate turning 50 he completed five “double century” bike
rides (200 miles in a day). In 2006 he reached the summit of Mount
Rainier, and in 2007 he hiked the 221 mile John Muir Trail in the Sierra
Nevada mountain range of California. This year he plans to ride his
bike 3,850 miles across America from San Francisco to Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. He resides in Pleasanton California with his wife Elaine
and their three cats.
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