The hike begins at 5,140' elevation and climbs steeply for 3.5 miles to the summit at 7,772'. Because of our midday start, it was a little warm at 80 degrees, and initially big flies were a bother because they were lingering and biting. Our sunscreen kept them at bay somewhat, then they disappeared as we got into the higher forest area where it cooled down and became a more enjoyable experience.
The best part of the lower section were the rock gardens.
We passed a family of boulderers hanging out under an overhanging rock. They had come up from San Diego to hit this spot.
Cecelia enjoyed the plants and lizards while waiting for my slow ass to struggle up the trail.
The trail was in excellent shape with only a few trouble spots where you need to focus on where you're going due to an unclear path. A couple stretches run alongside a streambed, but it was dry.
I was moving so slowly that I told Cecelia to go ahead and I would try to make it. Eventually I hit the junction with a fire road that goes to a campground and the summit path that heads up to the lookout. I yelled for Cecelia but heard nothing back. So I proceeded up the singletrack, which was in poor shape but it offered a usable path with cairns at confusing parts. There is an old cistern near the beginning.
Soon I heard Cecelia shouting my name and we were back in communication. It still took me another ten minutes or so to reach the summit.
By now I was working on my last liter of water. I had brought three. But a nice guy with two dogs on the summit gave me a liter, so that solved that problem.
Cecelia was happy to see me because she thought I had quit, which is becoming my "thing" lately. I threaten to give up and then miraculously appear at the peak when everyone else is ready to head down.
We spent an hour relaxing and checking out the lookout. It's a nice tower but it wasn't open. It was built in 1962 and of course has an excellent 360-degree view of the San Jacinto range. Another couple said there was a rattlesnake on the rocks by them. Cecelia scrambled up to see it, but I, being dead tired, just took their word for it.
On the way down we took a break with the bouldering family. They were still at the same overhanging rock with their backpacks and crash pads. We all shared some stories and complained about the flies and heat from earlier in the day.
