A late, persistent, heat dome over the southwestern states is producing a record-breaking heatwave throughout interior Southern California for the first seven days of October 2024. Temperatures, both daytime highs and overnight lows, will be far above average for the time of year in and around the San Jacinto mountains until 8th October.
Hikers should be prepared for unseasonably hot weather, with temperatures 15-25°F above seasonal throughout this week, especially at mid elevations. Please give considerable extra thought to route choice, start times, clothing, sun protection, and hydration requirements.
With a failed monsoon season in most of Southern California, fire risk remains severe everywhere. A comprehensive fire ban is in place on Forest Service lands throughout the San Jacinto Ranger District (link to USFS order here) and in all Idyllwild campgrounds. Campfires are of course always prohibited throughout both the State Park and National Forest wilderness areas.
Survey hikes by the Trail Report every day year-round in the San Jacinto mountains include varied and often circuitous routes to San Jacinto Peak currently 3-5 times per week, plus a wide variety of other trails on intervening days.
Major springs, creeks, and pipes largely continue to flow adequately at this time (example photos below). Flow rates continue to drop steadily at all elevations and ephemeral water sources have been dry for many weeks. The Round Valley faucet continued to flow well as of 5th October. In the Tahquitz area meadows, the minor creek in Skunk Cabbage Meadow continues to just trickle, but the ephemeral creek in Tahquitz Valley is dry. Tahquitz Creek is flowing gently at the northern end of Little Tahquitz Meadow, and near its source where it crosses the PCT at Mile 177. Two tiny springs at Strawberry Cienega continue to trickle. Hidden Lake was c.35% full in mid September (by surface area, not volume). Stone Creek is no longer flowing where it crosses Deer Springs Trail at about PCT Mile 183.6, and has dried completely downstream of that point.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway closed on Monday 9th September 2024 for annual maintenance, with a (twice) revised, tentative, reopening date of Saturday 19th October.
Be rattlesnake aware. Above about 5000 ft elevation, the venom of Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus [oreganus] helleri) in the San Jacinto mountains is predominantly neurotoxic, almost always fatal for dogs and sometimes for humans (see my detailed 2020 article linked here for further information). In recent weeks lower Devil’s Slide Trail has been an especially frequent location for sightings, but rattlesnakes have been recorded everywhere up to 9350 ft.
WEATHER
Temperatures have rapidly risen since Sunday 22nd September to above seasonal. The first week of October is experiencing temperatures above average even for midsummer, that will of course be far above seasonal for October, with highs around 90°F (32°C) in Idyllwild from 1st-7th. Temperatures around 55°F (13°C) at the highest peaks will feel pleasantly cool by comparison, but are also far above average for October at that elevation.
For a detailed discussion of this early October heat wave, and provisional medium-term projections for the remainder of 2024, see the latest video from NWS San Diego (linked here).
A cooling trend is expected starting Wednesday 9th October, although temperatures are forecast to remain above average for mid October into the third week of the month.
In remarkable contrast, temperatures were around freezing in the high country from Monday 16th to Friday 20th September. A cold thunderstorm system on the afternoon of Friday 20th moving over the San Jacinto mountains from the north-east produced rain, intense hail, and the earliest ever recorded autumnal snow, albeit a very light dusting just around the highest peaks. I recorded a short video (linked here) from San Jacinto Peak while enjoying being lightly snowed upon.
At San Jacinto Peak (3295m/10,810ft) on Friday 4th October 2024 at 0810 the air temperature was 55.4°F (13°C), with a “windchill” temperature of 52.9°F (11°C), 35% relative humidity, and a very light SSW breeze sustained at 2 mph gusting to 3.7 mph.
At the Peak on Wednesday 2nd October 2024 at 0805 the air temperature was 55.5°F (13°C), with a windchill temperature of 46.5°F (8°C), 31% relative humidity, and a steady ENE wind sustained at 10 mph gusting to 16.6 mph.
At the Peak on Monday 30th September 2024 at 0800 the air temperature was 53.9°F (12°C), with a windchill temperature of 45.1°F (7°C), 36% relative humidity, and a fresh SE wind sustained at 9 mph gusting to 16.9 mph.
TRAIL CONDITIONS
Treefall hazards remain a major problem along parts of the Pacific Crest Trail, most notably between Antsell Rock and Red Tahquitz, with 132 recorded in my 2024 surveys between Miles 170.5-175.5. The disinterest of Forest Service and PCTA in maintaining this section of a world-famous trail for the past five years is simply unconscionable. The good news is that there is finally a plan to start removing downed trees from this section, starting on 13th-18th October. Concentrations of large downed trees make for especially slow-going around Miles 170.5-172 (east side of Antsell Rock) and Miles 174-175 (south and east sides of Red Tahquitz). A further 15 smaller trees are down from Miles 168.5-170.5 (Spitler Peak Trail to Zen Center Trail).
On the Fuller Ridge Trail section of the PCT there are 12 trees down on the State Park section of the trail (Miles 185.5-189), which has not been maintained by that agency for many years. Several of these pose quite significant hazards for hikers. On the Forest Service section, the only treefall hazard is the massive double one at about Mile 190.1 that has been present for about three years.
Trees down on the Strawberry Trail section of the PCT (Miles 180.8-183, Annie’s Junction to Strawberry Junction) have remained uncut by the Forest Service for 7-10 years now. About six hazards on this section are all relatively easy for hikers to negotiate.
About 12 treefall hazards on Deer Springs Trail include 8-9 in the upper trail that have been down and reported repeatedly for years but with no action from the State Park. All but one of the treefall hazards down between Strawberry Junction and the top of Marion Mountain Trail (roughly PCT Miles 183-185) were removed by the Trail Report in late June (example photos in an earlier Report linked here).
Overall Willow Creek Trail is greatly improved and close to its 2020 condition, the last time the original trail route was fully cleared and passable. Almost all significant treefall hazards on the Forest Service section were cut by mid August (several trees remain uncut to fully restore the original trail route but regrettably it seems this may never happen). Whitethorn trimming was largely completed on the Forest Service side in August and early September. On the State Park side some patchy whitethorn trimming of the worst patches was undertaken in September, and the three minor treefall hazards new in 2023/24 were removed, leaving just two major long term downed trees (both with simple workarounds for hikers).
The 34 treefall hazards that came down across Spitler Peak Trail during ice storms in February 2024 were almost all cleared by the Trail Report on 14th June. The couple of minor stepover branches that remain pose no problem for hikers. This work brings to 120+ the total number of trees removed by the Report from this trail in the past three years. Note that currently the upper trail in particular is heavily overgrown with lush seasonal vegetation.
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 have been abandoned and functionally no longer exist. They are so heavily overgrown with dense whitethorn, which obscures dozens of downed trees, that I strongly advise hikers do not attempt to follow them (regardless of how much you may trust an app). An informal use trail to Laws is much more direct, maintained, and avoids the challenging bushwhacking of the unmaintained trails (local Idyllwild hikers dubbed it the “King Trail” when I established the route in 2019). It leaves Willow Creek Trail exactly 1.0 mile from Saddle Junction, 0.46 mile from the Skunk Cabbage turning (trailhead at N 33.7796, W 116.6590). The route descends largely following established deer trails for 1.2 miles, meeting Willow Creek about 0.2 mile upstream from the site of the historic Laws Camp (the remains of which were destroyed by the 2013 Mountain Fire and subsequent flood and treefall damage). Eleven trees down on the King Trail were removed in June-July 2023. The tread of the trail received some damage from Tropical Storm Hilary last year. 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 2023 survey counted about 110 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 (but still subtle) as it descends towards Caramba. Very cautious navigation is advised throughout the area.
The Trail Report “adopted” Seven Pines Trail as a priority for maintenance work as the trail had a disproportionate number of lost hiker rescues in the past decade, and both State Park and Forest Service have shown no interest in maintaining the route for years. Since 2020 we have removed 75 downed trees and the trail is thoroughly trimmed and cleared multiple times annually. As of July 2024 the trail is largely clear of treefall hazards, with three down across the trail in its upper section, all easily passable for hikers. A further half-a-dozen downed trees close to the PCT junction would need to be removed to fully restore the original route of the trail. Although the condition of the trail is hugely improved, Seven Pines remains a genuine wilderness trail unlike the wider, bare, obvious routes of, for example, Devil’s Slide or Marion Mountain trails. Cautious navigation remains essential for those without considerable experience of hiking this trail. Be aware in particular that Seven Pines Trail becomes most obscure in the mile closest to its junction with Deer Springs Trail/PCT.
The Zen Center Trail continues its deterioration that started following the 2013 Mountain Fire, with a combination of vigorous regrowth and treefall hazards further obscuring the route with each passing season. The lower and upper parts of this trail are partially cairned and not too bad for those who are very familiar with the former route, but even the experienced find navigating the central section tricky. Long trousers, scrambling gloves, and an enjoyment of bush-whacking are all strongly recommended.
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