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We have visited Palm Springs several times in January for the warm
wintertime weather. The weather
was what we had expected during the day each trip with temperatures in the high 70's and low 80's. In fact the town of Coachella (south of
Palm Springs) recorded the nation's high temperature the day we arrived. I was staying with
a group of 15 people in a time share condo. The condo was built against the base of a
hill, and at night the lights would brilliantly light up the hill and vegetation.
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We spent our first night in Palm Springs in our condo watching movies
and discussing our San Jacinto hike.
The next morning our group drove to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway www.pstramway.com.
The Tramway Road is located on the west side of the 111 on the north end
of Palm Springs - right where the Palm Springs visitor center is
located. The tram takes
people from approximately 2,600 feet to 8,500 feet. This entire trip takes about 15
minutes. The tram rides are offered Monday through Friday beginning at 10 A.M. On
Saturday/Sunday and holidays the rides start at 8 A.M. The last trip up leaves from the
bottom at 9 P.M. and returns at 10:45 P.M. During daylight savings time, the last trip up
leaves at 8 P.M. and returns at 9:45 P.M. The tramway is CLOSED for up to two weeks in the
beginning of August. I high light the "word" closed because several readers have
told me that they weren't able to take the tram during this time, or they were lucky and
caught the tram just before its annual closing. They close because of maintenance and
repairs. The adult fare is $21.50 and children ages 3 to 12 are $14.50. If you are
60
years or older the rate is $19.50. When we were there, we used our Triple A card and
received a 1 or two dollar discount, good for individual tickets up to 6 people. Note: The
triple A discount is NOT given for the dinner/ride package. If you pay for the dinner/ride
package the earliest you can go up the tram is 2:30 pm. For up to date information call
PHONE NUMBER: (760) 325-1391.
The tram rides leave every 20 minutes. During your trip to the top in the tram car, you will listen to a
recorded message discussing the construction of the tramway and the vegetation of the
area. This is the largest rotating tram way in the world - your tramcar
actually rotates 360 degrees! If you take the tram in the winter you will be quickly whisked from the desert into
a snow covered alpine environment. If the day is reasonably clear on the way up, you will
have great views of the Salton sea to the south and the mountain ranges to the east of
Palm Springs. Normally there is snow at the top of the tramway starting in
mid November, but some years I have not seen snow until late December or
even early January. When there is enough snow at the top, you can rent
snowshoe and cross country skis. With over 54 miles in trails, there is
plenty of open space for hiking or winter overland sports.
You cannot reserve snow equipment - it is first come first serve. For
snow conditions and general weather info call (888) 515-TRAM.
The top of the tramway, called the Mountain Station has two restaurants,
a bar/lounge, a gift shop, a natural history museum, and an overlook of
Palm Springs and the nearby valleys far below.
Once you reach the top you will notice a definite temperature change compared to the
bottom of the tramway. Often times when its 120 in the valley in the summertime, it can be
in the 80's or 90's at the top of the tram. Once we reached the top of the tramway our
goal was to summit Mount San Jacinto which is 10,804 feet. Most of our group had wisely
brought snow shoes as the snow was quite deep. There are over 50 miles of trails in the
San Jacinto wilderness area. A permit is needed for day hikes as well as for overnight
camping. This permit can be easily obtained at a ranger station a quarter of a mile down the
trail. Simply hike up the few steps to the deck of the ranger station and
fill out the "permit form". You put the top copy in their box and put
the 2nd carbon copy in your back pocket. Don't lose it - when you return
from your hike you will put this carbon copy in a box at the base of the
flag pole.
Round Valley Hike
The hike to Round valley is about 2 miles each way so
approximately 4 miles round trip. This is a nice introduction to
the hiking of this area - not too short and not too long. You
will need to fill out a permit as described above before you
hike this trail. The trail to Round Valley is also the same
trail to Mt. San Jacinto (hike described directly below). Allow
1 hour each way. It is a fairly gentle climb up to Round Valley
mostly under the cover of the alpine trees. Round valley is a
very small valley - in which there are some designated camping
sites.
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You can return the same way you hiked out from the tramway station, or
you can hike another 2 miles longer and return via Willow Creek
San Jacinto Hike
The hike to San Jacinto is about 12 miles round trip. We started our hike around
9:30 but as it turned out we should have left a bit earlier. It had snowed the previous
day and the trail crew had just blazed a trail through the snow before we left. This meant
that the part of the trail near the tramway was packed from people hiking, but as we got
closer to San Jacinto and away from the foot traffic those who didn't have snowshoes on
started post holing and sinking up to their waist in the snow. For the first couple of
miles the trail winds through the trees and slowly climbs in elevation. It eventually
reaches a meadow and from there becomes quite steep.
A friend and I were without snowshoes and we could not keep pace with those who had
snowshoes on so we split apart from the rest, not wanting to hinder them from having the
chance of summitting. My friend and I left the main trail and started climbing straight up
a steep hill which we thought was one of the sides of San Jacinto. After a lunch break and
much struggle in the deep snow we reached the top only to be disappointed to see San
Jacinto still in the distance. By this time it was a little after 2 P.M. and we estimated
that the summit was still another 2 hours away. We both decided to hike for another hour
and see where we were in relation to the summit.
We continued hiking and soon we could see that we had over estimated the amount of time
that it would take to get to the summit. After about one hour and 20 minutes we
summitted.
We thought the others from our group had turned back but in fact they were on the far side
of the summit. From the top there are tremendous views of the south land. We had 360
degree views. In the west you could see Catalina Island. To the north you could see the
San Gorgonio mountains, along with San Gorgonio mountain (11,500 ft). To the south you
could see the entire Coachella valley and the great Salton sea shimmering in the distance.
A note of caution. We were hiking on a clear day and the sun was shining. As long as you
kept moving you remained warm. However, the top of San Jacinto was extremely cold and very
windy. Wear the proper gear. On this hike I was extremely glad to have a waterproof jacket
and waterproof shell pants. Sunglasses are a must. Most people had snow shoes and
waterproof shoes on. I did not, and I suffered because of this.
My friend and I left the summit at 4 P.M. with the rest of the group. We knew that we
would be hiking in the dark but the trail back was all downhill. After a group discussion
we decided to hike off the trail and slide down a steep hill. We dropped over 1000 ft in a
matter of minutes by sliding down. By dropping this distance we again caught the fast
disappearing golden rays of the sun. The group stopped for me because by this time my feet
felt like they were frozen. My toes could not move and I could barely feel my feet. I took
off my shoes put my feet in one of the snow boots someone had lent me. This provided a
short term solution and I was able to continue on.
One of the alpine views on the Mt. San Jacinto trail, January |
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After a while the sun dipped behind the mountains and we were
soon thrown into darkness. Fortunately the darkness was
temporary as the moon soon rose. We could not find the trail but
we knew that we were hiking in the general direction of the
tramway. My friend and I, both without snow shoes, were
exhausted by this point. My friend's knee was bothering him and
he was having a difficult time walking in the waist high snow.
We kept dropping elevation and entered a small river channel.
Some of us were starting to wonder if we were really lost. We
all stopped for my friend and I to rest. |
I removed my shoes once again but this time I wrapped my bare feet in a
plastic bag. After we started moving again I noticed
a huge difference and my feet stayed warm as we continued to hike. One of the physically
stronger members in the group lent me his snow shoes. This helped me considerably, for the
first time all day I was not sinking into the snow. Eventually we reached some ski tracks
and fortunately those led back to the main trail. We had left the summit at 4 P.M. and we
reached the top of the tramway at 8 P.M. This return time was inflated due to our cross
country travels. If we had stayed on the trail we probably could have hiked back in an
hour and a half or two hours. The relief at seeing the lights of the tramway was
immeasurable.
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