Trail update 8th November 2024

Temperatures in the first few days of November have been near or below seasonal. They are now forecast to be above seasonal (for November) starting Friday 8th for at least a week. The extremely light dusting of snow in the high country on 29th October was gone by Thursday 31st. The minor storm system tentatively forecast for 2nd-3rd November failed to materialize, with Idyllwild recording only 0.01 inch of drizzle and the high country staying above the cloud.

Survey hikes by the Trail Report every day of the year in the San Jacinto mountains include varied and often circuitous routes to San Jacinto Peak currently 2-4 times per week, Tahquitz Peak weekly, plus a wide variety of other trails on intervening days.

Despite a failed monsoon this year and below-average winter precipitation last season, major springs, creeks, and pipes largely continue to flow at this time (example photos below). Ephemeral water sources have been dry for months. The Round Valley faucet continued to flow well as of 3rd November. In the Tahquitz area meadows, the ephemeral creek in Tahquitz Valley is dry, however the Tahquitz Valley pipe (for those who know where it is) continues to flow well. The creek in Skunk Cabbage Meadow continues to trickle where it is crossed by the meadow trail. 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 (photos below). Two tiny springs at Strawberry Cienega are now barely trickling and not useful for filtering. Hidden Lake was 25% full in mid October (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 downstream of that point.

Forest Service campgrounds at Boulder Basin and Dark Canyon are now closed for the season, Marion Mountain and Fern Basin campgrounds close after Tuesday 12th November. The State Park Stone Creek campground is also now closed for the season.

WEATHER

Although temperatures had initially been forecast to be near or below seasonal throughout the first third of November – and this has indeed been true of the first few days of the month – they will rise to above seasonal on 9th-14th before dropping rapidly again. The very light drizzle tentatively forecast on the evening of Monday 11th at mid elevations is now looking unlikely. Currently there is no significant new precipitation in the forecasts.

The weather for this week – including the possibility of some critical fire weather associated with Santa Ana winds – are described in more detail in the latest NWS San Diego video forecast (linked here). Santa Ana winds are expected to affect the San Jacinto mountains on 4th and 7th November.

At San Jacinto Peak (3295m/10,810ft) on Friday 8th November 2024 at 0830 the air temperature was 32.1°F (0°C), with a windchill temperature of 17.1°F (-8°C), 52% relative humidity, and a moderate NNE wind sustained at 9 mph gusting to 19.7 mph.

At the Peak on Wednesday 6th November 2024 at 0810 the air temperature was 27.9°F (-2°C), with a windchill temperature of 10.9°F (-12°C), 56% relative humidity, and a stiff WNW wind sustained at 15 mph gusting to 22.2 mph.

At the Peak on Monday 4th November 2024 at 0805 the air temperature was 30.5°F (-1°C), with a windchill temperature of 12.8°F (-11°C), 24% relative humidity, and a variable due North wind sustained at 10 mph gusting to 19.5 mph.

TRAIL CONDITIONS

According to the State Park Facebook page (linked here) the Skyline Trail reopened on 4th November. It is frankly unsurprising to note in the text that the State Park doesn’t appear to understand the difference between the Skyline Trail and Cactus-to-Clouds (C2C) route.

Treefall hazards remain a problem along parts of the Pacific Crest Trail, most notably between Antsell Rock and South Peak. The disinterest of Forest Service and PCTA in maintaining this section of a world-famous trail for the five years prior to this summer was simply unconscionable. The good news is that at least half of the 132 trees down between Miles 170.5-175.5 have finally been cleared by work mainly in October 2024. A concentration of large downed trees make for especially slow-going around Miles 170.5-172 (east side of Antsell Rock), with the other formerly challenging area (Miles 174-175, east and south of Red Tahquitz) now cleared. A further 15 smaller trees are down from Miles 168.5-170.5 (Spitler Peak Trail to Zen Center Trail).

The Trail Report has largely completed trimming the formerly overgrown Wellman Trail in the past two months. Although only a short trail, it forms a major part of a well-traveled route to/from the high country peaks. It was last trimmed in 2020, also by the Trail Report, as sadly the State Park shows little interest in maintaining most trails in their jurisdiction.

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 two major trunks at about Mile 190.1, present for about three years, were cut by USFS on 5th November.

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 nearly a decade now. About six hazards on this section are thankfully 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 nearly a decade but with no action from the State Park. All but two 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).

Willow Creek Trail is significantly improved and nearing 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 uncut trees remain that need to be removed to fully restore the original trail route). Whitethorn trimming was largely completed, mainly by volunteers, on the Forest Service side in August and early September. On the State Park side some localized whitethorn trimming of the worst patches was undertaken in September, and the minor treefall hazards new in 2023/24 were removed, leaving just two major long term downed trees (both have simple workarounds for hikers).

The 34 treefall hazards that came down across Spitler Peak Trail during ice storms earlier in 2024 were cleared by the Trail Report in June, with two further trees recently removed in October. This brings to at least 122 the total number of downed trees removed by the Report from this trail in recent years. While another round of brush trimming work is required, in general the trail is currently in its best condition for more than a year. Spitler Creek continues to flow gently at its various crossings in the upper switchbacks (photo below), but Antsell Rock Creek adjacent to the trailhead has been dry for a couple of months.

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 September 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 serious 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 thirds 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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