San Jacinto Mountains: Day One

Yes, I am back from my backpacking trip. Yes, I survived. And yes, it was an amazing time. Seven women, four days and one mountain.

We started out in Palm Springs where we took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway two and one half miles up into the San Jacinto state park. The tram ride itself was quite amazing. As it rose 5,873 feet into the air the floor rotated so you could get a 360 degree view of the landscape. Although I could have done without the swinging motion each time we went by the supporting towers, a little too reminiscent of the sun wheel ride at Disneyland.

After lunch and some backpack adjustments we set off for Tamarack Valley where we would spend our first night. On our 2.6 mile trek to our first campsite we met one of the park rangers, Chris, who asked to see our permits. Chris was quite surprised at our planned route up, over and back around the mountain, about as surprised as we were to learn Chris was a woman, not a man. Not only did we learn from Chris that the day ahead of us was going to be hard, we learned that water was going to be sparse.

After a couple of miles of uphill hiking at a high elevation, we were all relieved to drop our packs at our first campsite. Chris had recommended staying at the Andesite Camp as it was near to water and deers often hung out nearby. Although I was not able to find the water, I did run across two deers in my search.

I had felt pretty good on the hike in, but about an hour after reaching our campsite a major headache came on and I was extremely sleepy. I am guessing it was the altitude. It was only 6:00 p.m. and I could barely keep my eyes open. We had fondue for dinner with bread and apples and chocolate for dessert.

Once I had snuggled down in my sleeping bag under the moonlit sky I began to feel much better. It was very cold outside, but I was warm and cozy in my bag. Slowly the stars began to come out. The stillness and silence of the nighttime forest settled around us and I slept.