Cactus To Clouds

7/20/21 Looking for a quick trail day in the Palm Springs area, I decided to do a partial C2C. A little past halfway up Skyline and back down for over 12 miles and 4,500' of gain. It was 91 degrees when I started, and 119 when I finished. An absolutely brutal day.

11/6/20  The following week after my scouting trip, I did the full C2C just in time before the first snowstorm of the season. I had to start at 3:15am in order to make sure to be back in time for the tram down. 12 hours round trip including about 30min on top. 22 miles and 10,700' gain. What a day!

10/30/20  After almost 9 years since I had last been up Skyline, it was time for another scouting trip to relearn the trail in preparation for a hopeful full C2C trip soon. 6 1/2 hours to Long Valley is always a tough day!

12/10/11  Another trip up Skyline to Long Valley. This time joined by Coach Dru on a scouting trip to learn the trail back down. 20 miles round trip, 8000' up and then 8000' down. A lot of great lessons learned, including that the downhill is brutal, especially in the dark!

4/26/11  Exactly two weeks after my successful Cactus to Clouds summit in the snow, I was back again. This time the goal was to get my Dad up the Skyline trail to Long Valley. 10 miles and almost 8500' of elevation gain is a tough day for anyone. And he made it!

Foiled by a snowstorm last time, I was determined to successfully summit Mt. San Jacinto in the snow via the famous Cactus to Clouds route. Definitely one of my more difficult treks yet. 22 miles and almost 11,000' of total elevation gain.

1/30/11  The first full attempt at summiting San Jacinto via the Cactus to Clouds route in the winter. Doing this route in one day is considered a pretty serious accomplishment in dry conditions. 11,000' of total gain in around 22 miles. I'm determined to do it in the snow. I just wasn't anticipating trying it in an actual snow storm...

11/24/10  I had been wanting to do the famous Cactus to Clouds trail before the first snow hit this Fall, but I missed out by a couple weekends. So, I decided to do an exploratory scouting trip. Definitely an amazing day. 8500' of elevation gain in 11 miles, hiking from desert sand to alpine snow. I foresee many more adventures on this trail in the future.