I have been talking about doing this for a long time. My buddy Pat and I set out yesterday morning from Palm Springs (I'm sure you have seen lots of pictures so I'll post mine here only if requested).
We left the museum at 2:30 a.m. It was already warm and we were glad we did not leave any later. The lights from Palm Springs were with us till dawn. Awesome sunrise over the desert. We made relatively good time to Flat Rock. Then the trail gets very steep gaining another 2,600' to Grubb's Notch. Reached the top of the Skyline Trail in 6 hours 50 minutes, far from a world's record but we were happy with it.
We met our friends Dan and Alan at the Ranger Station. Dan brought pizza and a banana up the tram for us. After a snack and refill of water -- about 40 minutes of rest -- the four of us headed for the summit of San Jacinto.
We arrived at 1:30, 11 hours after leaving Palm Springs.
I thought the Skyline Trail was spectacularly beautiful and will do this another time. Nothing beats your first though.
Jerry
