10/29/17 Another trip up to San Jacinto, this time trying the Seven Pines trail for the first time. Very remote, hard to follow, and gorgeous singletrack. Combined with losing the trail badly for a while made for a great 9 mile adventure.
1 To get to the trailhead of the Seven Pines trail, you take a little road off the highway to a tiny winding road to a rugged dirt road. It definitely seems to keep the trail from getting too crowded! It was clear from the beginning that this trail doesn't get much traffic. The only person I saw the entire time was a volunteer ranger.
2 The trail starts in dense oak woods then transition into pine forest.
3 Entering the wilderness, and this trail does feel pretty wild.
4 Perfect singletrack. Fairly easy to follow most of the way, but always rugged looking.
5 Occasionally the trees open up making for some great views.
6 Sections of the trail were completely covered in a deep bed of pine needles. A slightly trampled path of needles was often the only indication of trail.
7 Some of the best singletrack I've been on in a while.
8 A ranger had been through recently (maybe the volunteer that I saw?) marking the trail with pink ribbons. They annoyed me at first, but I was grateful for them later!
9 Absolutely perfect trail. Just barely able to follow without ever really losing it.
10 I'm not sure if the trees lean from the wind or to get more light, but it looks cool.
11 There were a couple small streams with water still flowing.
12 Made it to the top of the Seven Pines trail. The trail joins with a couple more heavily trafficed trails, and I start to see people again.
13 I had some time to spare, so I decided to head down the PCT on the Fuller Ridge trail for a little ways.
14 Fantastic views of Santiago and Baldy from the ridge.
15 Looks like there was a lot of work done along the PCT here recently. I little too much work for my taste.
16 Once I have my running mileage back up again, I need to run this section of the PCT. It would be perfect for a really long slow climb.
17 Some great Diamond Valley Lake views from Fuller Ridge.
18 I hit my turnaround time and started to head back. I was having a harder time following the Seven Pines trail going downhill in the late afternoon light. At some point (not here), I completely lost the trail. It just turned a corner and then vanished. The andrenaline definitely started to kick-in when I realized I was probably going to be late getting down, I had to pickup the kids at a certain time, and I had no way of letting them know I would be late. After about 20-30 minutes of searching, I finally stumbled across the trail further down and was back on my way.
19 Beautiful sunset. I was running most of the downhill in an effor to get down before dark and to pick up the kids before people started to get worried.
20 Made it back in the very last of the light. I had to drive the dirt road, and the super narrow winding road, in complete darkness. But I made it off the mountain just in time to get the kids!