UPDATED 13th June: the 400 acre Flats Fire started late this morning just south of the Sugarloaf Cafe in the Pinyon area. Highway 74 is closed between Garner Valley (Hwy 371 junction) and Palm Desert. More information available here.
An ACE trail crew is working 10th-16th June on the northern Desert Divide (mainly PCT Miles 172-176). The PCT will be completely closed for critical maintenance work all day Monday 14th June between Spitler Peak Trail (Mile 168.5) and Tahquitz Creek (Mile 177). In general, hikers should expect significant delays and possible trail closures between about Apache Peak and Red Tahquitz for the next several days at least.
My daily hikes, largely surveying water resources, usually include San Jacinto Peak multiple times per week. The focus recently has transitioned to trail maintenance, fire lookout duties, and wilderness ranger patrol (a.k.a. trash pick up).
Temperatures next week are forecast to be exceptionally high in the San Jacinto mountains, near or above the records for mid June set in a heatwave in 1961. Next week’s weather is discussed in detail in this NWS San Diego video. If you are planning on hiking on 14th-20th, please pay particular attention to forecasts and plan accordingly for extremely hot, dry conditions.
Water conditions in the high country continue to deteriorate rapidly. The current status of many key springs and creeks is described below. Notable changes this week include Deer Springs crossing on the PCT/Deer Springs Trail which is now dry. Water flowing in Little Round Valley creek is down to only about 200ft. This will dry up in the next few weeks. The San Jacinto high country has been clear of snow since early May.
Be rattlesnake aware. Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus helleri) have been seen on multiple trails at elevations up to near 9000ft.
Be bear aware. Although reports have been very infrequent in the past two years, at least one Black Bear remains in the San Jacinto mountains. We found very fresh tracks on lower Seven Pines Trail on 22nd May (see this previous Report for photo).
Mountain Lions are thankfully always common and widespread locally. One of my camera traps in the San Jacinto mountains near Idyllwild obtained excellent footage of a healthy adult passing by on 22nd May and again on 5th June 2021.
The U.S. Forest Service ranger station in Idyllwild remains closed due to USFS coronavirus protocols. It is not expected to reopen before mid July. Hiking and camping permits are required for USFS lands, and are available at the kiosk outside the ranger station. The State Park ranger station reopened months ago.
Black Mountain Road reopened on 23rd April, and the Black Mountain Fire Lookout on 23rd May. Boulder Basin campground reopened on 22nd May along with other USFS seasonal campgrounds. Tahquitz Peak Fire Lookout reopened for the season on Sunday 30th May. Visitors are currently unable to access fire lookouts when manned due to USFS coronavirus protocols.
WEATHER Temperatures are – pleasantly, and unusually – currently below seasonal averages, before swinging dramatically to far above normal after Saturday 12th. Temperatures on at least 14th-19th June will be well above midsummer highs, accompanied by low humidity. There is no precipitation in the forecast. Fire risk is severe.
At San Jacinto Peak (10,810ft/3295m) on Monday 7th June 2021 at 0755 the air temperature was 49.4°F (10°C), with a windchill temperature of 43.3°F (6°C), 28% relative humidity, and a brisk SSW breeze sustained at 6 mph gusting to 11.8 mph.
At the Peak on Tuesday 1st June 2021 at 0810 the air temperature was 52.1°F (11°C), with a windchill temperature of 47.1°F (8°C), 41% relative humidity, and a light NE breeze sustained at 4 mph gusting to 7.6 mph.
TRAIL CONDITIONS
Trails throughout the San Jacinto high country are clear of snow. Water conditions are a concern, with most springs and creeks already having flows more typical of autumn.
Many trails have accumulated treefall hazards from the past two winters, passable with care by hikers but not for stock. Some are described below, others include: PCT from Tahquitz Creek to the rockslide (PCT Miles 172.5-177, about 60 trees down), PCT between Strawberry Cienega and Deer Springs camp (PCT Miles 182-185, about 12 trees down), Fuller Ridge Trail near its northern end (PCT Miles 189.1-190.2, three trees), and upper Spitler Peak Trail (five trees).
In addition to the trail crew on the PCT section Miles 172-175 mentioned above,, USFS volunteers are currently working on clearing treefall hazards between Red Tahquitz and Tahquitz Creek (PCT Miles 175-177).
Willow Creek Trail has 12 downed trees on its Forest Service section, including a couple of large, heavily-branched trees that are somewhat challenging to pass. USFS has been notified. There are several additional trees down on the State Park section of the same trail.
The Caramba Trail from near Reeds Meadow through Laws Camp and on to Caramba, and the Cedar Trail from Willow Creek Trail to Laws (which both nominally reopened in late 2018) are optimistically described by the Forest Service as “not maintained”. In reality parts of these trails no longer exist with significant sections of both so heavily overgrown that I strongly advise hikers do not attempt to follow them. Experienced hikers have reported getting lost in this area since summer 2019. An informal use trail to the Laws area is much more direct and completely avoids all of the challenging bush-whacking of the unmaintained trails (local hikers have kindly dubbed it the “King Trail“). It leaves Willow Creek Trail exactly 1.0 mile from Saddle Junction, 0.45 mile from the Skunk Cabbage turning (trailhead at N33°46’46”, W116°39’32”, WGS84). The cairned trail descends largely on established deer tracks for 0.9 mile. Be advised that it is a use trail, becoming somewhat less obvious as it nears Willow Creek. From Laws east to Caramba the route of the old Caramba Trail has become increasingly tricky to follow, especially for the first 1.2 miles east of Laws. Closer to Caramba the trail is relatively obvious (for those familiar with the route prior to the 2013 Mountain Fire). Cautious navigation is required throughout this area.
Seven Pines Trail has had limited hiker traffic since November 2018. There are 35 treefall hazards on the trail, four large ones on the short Forest Service section, and the remainder in the State Park, based on my May 2021 survey. Cautious navigation is recommended for those who are not familiar with hiking this trail. Dark Canyon Road has been closed since early 2019, and there is currently no vehicular access to Seven Pines trailhead, although the road is expected to reopen soon.
WATER STATUS: Eastern slope
The Round Valley pipe is flowing. Creeks in Round Valley and Tamarack Valley are already dry (in 2020 neither dried until August).
Both the northern and southern springs at Wellman’s Cienega are flowing gently. These are the sources for Willow Creek, which is flowing relatively weakly where it crosses the Willow Creek Trail.
Tahquitz Creek is flowing steadily at the northern end of Little Tahquitz Meadow. It is also flowing further upstream at its source (known locally as Grethe Spring) where it crosses the PCT at approx. Mile 177.
The small creek in Tahquitz Valley is already dry where it crosses the trail, four months earlier than in 2020. However about 100 yards upstream there is a little surface flow with pools just about suitable for filtering.
Candy’s Creek – that flows through Skunk Cabbage Meadow and then crosses the remaining visible section of Caramba Trail near Reeds Meadow – is currently flowing gently in both locations.
WATER STATUS: Western slope
The North Fork of the San Jacinto River is flowing steadily where it crosses the Deer Springs Trail and again downstream where it crosses the Fuller Ridge Trail on the PCT (approx. PCT Mile 186.2).
The creek in Little Round Valley is flowing very weakly for only a few hundred feet and dries up before leaving the Valley. It is currently marginal for filtering. There is unlikely to be water in LRV beyond June this year. The same creek dried up where it crosses Fuller Ridge Trail (at about PCT Mile 186.4) in April.
Shooting Star Spring (below Little Round Valley but above the North Fork of the San Jacinto River crossing) is flowing weakly and is poor for filtering.
The Deer Springs stream crossing at the PCT (approx. PCT mile 185.6) is now flowing very weakly but remains adequate for filtering.
The tiny spring about 0.4 miles north of Strawberry Junction (known colloquially as Switchback Spring) is trickling. I reworked the tiny pool and there is just adequate depth from which to filter water.
The little creek at Strawberry Cienega (PCT mile 183.0) is functionally dry.
On Devil’s Slide Trail, Middle Spring barely continues to trickle. Other springs on this trail are dry.
On the Ernie Maxwell Trail, the crossing of Chinquapin Creek just below Humber Park is largely dry where it crosses the trail. However, there are small fresh pools just upslope from the trail (this creek is an important source of water for the many dogs walked on this trail).
The faucet at Cinco Poses Spring, about 4.5 miles up Black Mountain Road, was flowing well last week.
WATER STATUS: Desert Divide
Live Oak Spring (N 33 37 21, W 116 33 24) Flowing well. The most reliable water source on the Desert Divide.
Cedar Spring (N 33 40 36, W 116 34 35) Flowing well. Easiest access is the trough about 60 yards upstream from the trail to the campsite.
Apache Spring (N 33 43 11, W 116 37 13) Barely trickling.
Spitler Peak Trail Descending the trail from the PCT there are five water crossings. The first two, at 0.9 and 0.95 miles down, cross a tiny side creek which is largely dry and should be ignored. The next crossing, at 1.1 miles down, is Spitler Creek and is the best source of water (currently flowing gently). The next two crossings are the same creek, but for obvious reasons it is best to fill up at the highest of the three crossings.
Antsell Rock Creek (N 33 41 52, W 116 39 08) Right by the Spitler Peak Trail trailhead on Apple Canyon Road, Antsell Rock Creek is flowing steadily. Just on the upstream side of the road there is excellent access to the creek. Useful if hikers are descending the Spitler Peak Trail.
Thank you hikers for taking the time to read this. While labor and time is volunteered, the San Jacinto Trail Report completely depends on small private donations to cover costs. Every year seems to be challenging and 2021 has been no exception, so every contribution, no matter how small, is truly valuable. If you have found this Report useful, please consider visiting the Donate page. Thank you.
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