Localized, patchy snow remains in parts of the high country, but with the exception of a handful of sheltered areas that traditionally melt late (see Trail Conditions below), the trail system is largely clear of snow. Hikers may find that carrying spikes continues to be useful especially if hiking off-trail above about 9800 ft elevation, but with judicious route-finding spikes are not generally required on-trail.
With so little snow remaining I am no longer reporting snow depths. For readers interested in the maximum snow depths recorded in the San Jacinto mountains during this past remarkable winter, they are listed in a recent Report (available here). Images of the winter snow at its most impressive are available in various prior Reports (perhaps best at the beginning and end of March, linked here and here, respectively).
The cool temperatures that have been the dominant theme of the first six months of 2023 in the San Jacinto mountains will soon be a distant but pleasant memory. At the end of this week hot summer temperatures finally arrive, and what snow remains will of course quickly disappear. A sample of my recent weather observations from San Jacinto Peak are given below in the Weather section.
Our daily hikes include multiple routes to San Jacinto Peak multiple times per week, most recently on 23rd and 26th June, plus many other trails on intervening days. With the snow rapidly disappearing, increasingly the focus of some volunteers, including myself, is on trail clearance and maintenance work, sorely needed after a wild winter.
Currently all perennial waters, pipes, springs, etc. are flowing well, as are most ephemeral springs and creeks (although a few are starting to dry up). This summer has seen the most water on the mountain since 1998, following the great El Niño winter of 1997/98.
With so much snowmelt, there is a great deal of water in (and where still snowy, under) the trails. A tolerance for wet feet, or appropriate footwear that is at least highly water resistant, is strongly recommended. Be cautious of the few remaining fragile snow bridges over water.
Given the intensity of this past winter, hikers will encounter new treefall hazards on trails, along with considerable amounts of debris, branches, cones, etc. Trails are steadily being cleared by volunteers. The Trail Report has cleared South Ridge and Spitler Peak trails (14 and 38 trees, respectively), the PCT between Saddle and Annie’s junctions (approx. Miles 179-181, eight trees), and largely cleared Seven Pines Trail and the informal use trail down to Laws, in recent weeks. Kevin Cadieux led a PCTA crew that cleared 24 trees south from Fobes Saddle along the PCT in late May. In June 33 trees – from a total of about 68 – have been cut from Willow Creek Trail, steadily making progress on the condition of that especially challenging trail.
Be rattlesnake aware. Despite comments in this Report regarding snow and cool temperatures, Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus helleri) have been seen on the trail system up to at least 8000 ft elevation since late May. The lower two-thirds of Devil’s Slide Trail, near Strawberry Cienega, and trails around Tahquitz Peak are three common locations for sightings, but rattlesnakes are possible anywhere up to about 9300 ft. Rattlesnakes will get much more active with hot weather in the next week or so.
Tahquitz Peak fire lookout reopened for the season on Sunday 4th June. Access via South Ridge Trail is clear from both directions, the PCT/Chinquapin Flat to the north, or South Ridge Road (5S11) to the south, but note the latter remains closed to vehicle traffic. Black Mountain fire lookout is not expected to reopen until the road is graded, in July at the earliest.
Black Mountain Road (4S01) is in its poorest condition for at least a decade and until the road is graded 4WD and/or high clearance are recommended. Forest Service roads Dark Canyon Road (4S02) and South Ridge Road (5S11) remain closed to vehicles. Other than Dark Canyon, all other Forest and State campgrounds have now reopened.
Ramona Trail remains closed due to prescribed burning operations on Thomas Mountain.
The annual maintenance closure of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is scheduled for 7th-31st August 2023, a month earlier than usual.
WEATHER
With only one or two exceptions, daily daytime high temperatures have been 5-20°F below seasonal averages for most of June, while overnight lows have been closer to, but still generally below, seasonal. The overnight low temperature in Idyllwild of 36°F (2°C) on Friday 23rd June came close to the historical record low for that date and location.
This cool trend is ending, with temperatures rapidly accelerating from below seasonal on Wednesday 28th June to above average – and hot summer temperatures for the first time this year – by Friday 30th. In three days daytime high temperatures may climb by 20°F, and overnight low temperatures by about 15°F. After a very hot first few days of July, temperatures will fall to about seasonal, before potentially rising again in the second week of the month. There is no significant new precipitation in the forecasts.
At San Jacinto Peak (10,810ft/3295m) on Monday 26th June 2023 at 0750 the air temperature was 41.6°F (5°C), with a windchill temperature of 29.3°F (-2°C), 37% relative humidity, and a very fresh SW wind sustained at 16 mph gusting to 27.5 mph.
At the Peak on Friday 23rd June 2023 at 0825 the air temperature was 38.6°F (3°C), with a windchill temperature of 26.6°F (-3°C), 14% relative humidity, and a cool due West wind sustained at 14 mph gusting to 19.9 mph.
At the Peak on Sunday 18th June 2023 at 0645 the air temperature was 41.6°F (5°C), with a windchill temperature of 28.2°F (-2°C), 52% relative humidity, and a stiff WSW wind sustained at 17 mph gusting to 28.4 mph.
TRAIL CONDITIONS
Trails remain partly snow-covered above about 9700 ft. Trails below that elevation are now generally clear of snow, but elevations between 8800-9800 ft retain some snow patches in the most sheltered areas, rarely more than about 10% snow cover. Some hikers may find that spikes remain useful in a handful of high country areas, notably through Little Round Valley and on East Ridge, mainly for descending, but that they are no longer required.
Deer Springs Trail is clear of snow from the Highway 243 trailhead to near the Marion Mountain Trail junction, and functionally clear up to Little Round Valley (just a few easily traversed patches remain). Snow cover remains 40% and both very patchy but heavily drifted through Little Round Valley, but there is now a predominant boot track that largely follows the trail route. The designated camping areas are now largely clear. Above Little Round Valley snow cover averages about 10% and following the actual trail route has become much easier; the most significant drifted snow patches have obvious tracks up and over, or they can be hiked around.
Snow cover averages about 30% around San Jacinto Peak, ranging from only 10% on the south facing slopes to 90% on the north and east slopes. With careful route-finding – such as ascending the Peak via southern rather than eastern routes – spikes are not generally required.
Trails around the Skunk Cabbage and Tahquitz area meadows are clear of snow, but with significant treefall hazards throughout. There are seven treefall hazards across the trails between Little Tahquitz Meadow and Chinquapin Flat, four major trees down across Willow Creek Trail between Saddle Junction and the Skunk Cabbage Meadow junction, and another four down on the trail south from Saddle Junction to Chinquapin Flat.
The Wellman Trail has a very patchy 10% snow cover on its southernmost forested 0.4 mile north from Annie’s Junction, but is clear thereafter.
The Peak Trail has very limited patchy snow. The initial traverse north from Wellman Divide to 9900 ft is functionally clear and the track now follows the trail route. For about 0.6 mile between 9900-10,100 ft snow cover is about 10% and the predominant boot track diverts around some major icy drifts away from the trail route in places. The ascending switchbacks above 10,100 ft are functionally clear, with just a couple of extended snow patches to traverse. The East Ridge Trail boot track goes over largely continuous and very unevenly melted snow.
South Ridge Trail is clear of snow both north and south of Tahquitz Peak. Fourteen recent treefall hazards on the trail were removed by the Trail Report in May, and trail trimming is undertaken regularly. South Ridge Road remains closed to vehicle traffic and is not expected to reopen until graded, probably in July.
Marion Mountain Trail is clear of snow to the PCT/Deer Springs Trail. There is significant water flowing in the trail in places in its uppermost mile, and there are half-a-dozen notable treefall hazards.
Willow Creek Trail remains been a slow, messy hike for a couple of miles, but thanks to hard-working volunteers the situation has improved substantially in recent weeks. As of the end of June 2023, about 35 treefall hazards remain across the trail, most of which are large and some are challenging to hike around (or over). There are four large trees down between Saddle Junction and the Skunk Cabbage Meadow junction, and then a further 25 trees down on the next 1.5 mile Forest Service section until the State Park boundary. Another six trees are down on the State Park section of trail up to Hidden Divide. Some of the trail with the most trees down – between Willow Creek and the State Park boundary – is also disappearing under thick whitethorn. The considerable amount of work that Bill Rhoads and I undertook to clear whitethorn along this trail in 2020 was not completely in vain and parts of the trail would have largely disappeared by now otherwise, but the whitethorn does make some treefall hazards more complicated to negotiate.
The Trail Report removed all 38 treefall hazards from Spitler Peak Trail in late May and early June this year, bringing the total removed to at least 85 since July 2021. Trail trimming is undertaken regularly. Several minor washouts from this past winter in the upper switchbacks have significantly impacted the tread in places; these are not problematic for hikers, but the trail is impassable to stock.
Overall, the PCT is now functionally clear of snow throughout the San Jacinto mountains. Treefall hazards are a problem in many places but most notably between Apache Peak and Red Tahquitz, where I counted at least 96 between Miles 169-175 in May and June 2023. Many large downed trees make for especially slow-going around Miles 172-175.
Trails clear of both snow and treefall hazards include Black Mountain Trail, Ernie Maxwell Trail, and Devil’s Slide Trail.
Seven Pines Trail is now functionally clear of snow (a few patches remain in the uppermost 0.25 mile above 8500 ft). The crossing of the very swollen North Fork of the San Jacinto River at 1.5 miles (just after the State Park boundary) is currently perilous and not recommended for most hikers. This will remain a tricky crossing into July. The Trail Report has “adopted” Seven Pines Trail as a priority for maintenance work as the trail has had a disproportionate number of lost hiker rescues in the past decade. Since November 2021, 67 downed trees have been removed and almost the entire trail thoroughly trimmed and cleared. Nevertheless Seven Pines remains a genuine wilderness trail unlike the relatively wide, bare, and obvious routes of, for example, Devil’s Slide or Marion Mountain trails. Cautious navigation remains essential for those without significant experience of hiking this 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, are euphemistically described by the Forest Service as “not maintained”. In reality both trails no longer exist and are so heavily overgrown with dense whitethorn that I strongly advise hikers do not attempt to follow them (regardless of how much you may trust a certain app). An informal use trail to Laws is much more direct, well maintained by the Trail Report, and avoids the challenging bushwhacking of the unmaintained trails (some Idyllwild hikers dubbed it the “King Trail” when I established the route in 2019). It leaves the Willow Creek Trail exactly 1.0 mile from Saddle Junction (0.46 mile from the Skunk Cabbage turning), descending largely on established deer trails for 1.2 miles, meeting Willow Creek just upstream from the old Laws Camp. Of 11 trees down on the King Trail after this winter, ten were removed in June and the remaining large one is easy to pass. From Laws east to Caramba the route of the original Caramba Trail has been well-cairned by myself and others and can largely be followed with very careful route-finding. My May 2023 survey counted just over 100 trees down on this 2.1 miles of trail. It is especially obscure for the first 0.3 mile east of the Willow Creek crossing, becoming more obvious as it descends towards Caramba. Very cautious navigation is advised throughout the area.
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