Up early, foregoing sustenance, with a slight sense foreboding,
given the
tropical moisture in the
highlands --
cautious,
yet
resolute,
up
the
Idyllwild
Grade,
cumulous building up in the
San Jacintos,
stopping for parking and wilderness passes,
the latter at the Ranger Station, where predictions are that the main precip is over and that the Zen Mountain Center Trail is indeed an option.
Heading south to 74,
then east and north on Apple Canyon Road,
the retreat is reached.
Park and walk in silence,
as requested,
taking directions from the Palm Springs hiking book (the only one to thankfully alert of this route,
which is not on any other map);
opting for the high road (which proves the correct route),
the course continues as a very business-like trail --
relentlessly up,
with few switchbacks to the
Saddle,
clouds building,
but the way clear,
being Antsell Rock (a series of very substantial granite eminences)...
blasting by the
blasted-from-the-rock
Pacific Crest Trail of the
Desert Divide,
views
all
around
(down
Murray
Canyon
and
Garner
and
Coachella
Valleys)
... and
South Peak,
to
Red Tahquitz
Pass.
One raindrop felt, and a few more heard, but in the distance south, a thunderstorm, complete with sonic and visual fireworks, so time to return to point of origin, surreally, mostly in the sunshine, as the inclement elements rage south of Apache and Spitler Peaks.
Back in the car,
a leisurely course
is taken through
Garner Valley,
before
Thomas Mountain,
with views of the
Ridge,
then down
the
South Fork
San Jacinto
Canyon
to
Hemet,
north
through
the
Lamb
declivity,
and
thence
to
Beaumont and
Calimesa,
stopping for
all the
calories of the day at a
viewful
summit.
Rendezvous
again with
John at our Redlands spot.
