The Three Saints, Interlude: Four Tries Up San Jacinto

I've tried to climb San Jacinto four times, and I've turned around four times. The closest I got was about 350 feet below the top.

This fall I set out to climb Southern California's three big peaks: Mount Baldy, San Gorgonio and San Jacinto. Baldy went on September 26. Gorgonio went on October 9. San Jacinto, at 10,834 feet, is the one left, and it's the one I know best for all the wrong reasons. Before I go back, here's how I got here.

All four attempts and the tram day on one map. Each dot marks that day's high point and turnaround. Terrain © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA), data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Where it started: April 12, 2024–

My first time on San Jacinto wasn't a climb at all. JS was in town, and we were getting our legs ready for the Laugavegur in Iceland that June. We rode the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway out of the desert heat to the top.

Up top it was full winter, a real winter wonderland. We had no microspikes and no plan for the peak, so we wandered the snowy plateau around Long Valley. I didn't start my watch right away, so it caught only part of the day: almost five hours and under six miles. The watch topped out around 9,100 feet, with the summit still another 1,700 feet up somewhere behind all that white.

JS leading the way through the snow

Winter on the plateau, April 12, 2024

Then we rode back down and ate dinner outside in Palm Springs at 80 degrees. We'd gone from snow to summer in one afternoon. Somewhere between the plateau and the patio, I decided I'd be back for the top.

Attempt 1: Deer Springs, October 13, 2024–

Six months later I tried it solo from the west side, starting at the Deer Springs trailhead just outside Idyllwild at about 5,600 feet. I was on the trail just before 10 AM, which was too late, and it was warm low down.

There was no snow that day, just a long, steady climb that started too late. From Strawberry Junction I headed east on the Strawberry Cienaga Trail toward Wellman's Divide. At 1:30 PM my watch read 9,068 feet. I was getting pretty tired, and I called it there, still 1.3 miles short of Wellman's Junction and 3.7 miles from the peak. I'd done 12.8 miles in 5 hours 38 minutes.

The view back toward Tahquitz and Lily Rock

The sign that told me how far I still had to go

9,068 feet at my turnaround

Attempt 2: Marion Mountain with JW, November 19, 2024–

A month later my cousin JW was in town, and we tried the shorter, steeper Marion Mountain route. It starts around 6,300 feet and joins Deer Springs higher up. We got a late start and weren't on the trail until 9 AM.

The trail was dry, but the late start caught up with us. At about 1:30 PM, at 10,380 feet among the old limber pines, a few hundred yards and less than 500 vertical feet from the summit, JW called it: we didn't have the daylight. He had judged the timing well, and we got back to the car with usable light. The day ran 7 hours 42 minutes for 11.7 miles.

My knees were the real story on the way down. The lower part of Marion Mountain is relentlessly steep, and I hadn't brought my poles. Partway down I honestly wondered whether I'd make it out. I've never hiked without poles since.

Fall color on the way down

Attempt 3: Marion Mountain with JS and WS, February 14, 2026–

We spent Valentine's Day 2026 on the mountain. JS was back, this time with WS, and we were tuning up for the Tour du Mont Blanc that August. Almost two years after our snowy tram day, JS and I finally had microspikes.

This time there was snow on the ground. The spikes handled the footing, but I hadn't expected how hard the snow would make it to follow the trail, and route-finding ate up time we didn't have after an 11 AM start. We turned around at about 9,835 feet, roughly 1,000 feet short, so we wouldn't run out of daylight. Coming down, we lost the trail between the campground and the trailhead parking lot.

Attempt 4: Marion Mountain with LG, March 8, 2026–

Three weeks later I went back with LG, determined to start early this time. We drove up the day before, stayed at the Bluebird Cottage Inn in Idyllwild, and had dinner at Ferro, the Italian restaurant in town.

We got up early the next morning. Then we decided we'd earned a good breakfast at Amelia's, the local café. That was the mistake. We didn't start until 9:17 AM, and that breakfast cost us about an hour of daylight.

With microspikes on, we got higher than I ever had, to about 10,485 feet, just 350 feet below the summit. But finding the trail in the snow had been slow going again, and we turned around for the same reason as in February: not enough daylight left. It was a 10-and-a-half-hour day for 10.5 miles. Once again we lost the trail in the dusk between the campground and the parking lot.

The turnaround at 2:40 PM, among the snow and the old limber pines, a few hundred yards from the top

The tally, and what's different this time–

Every time, I turned around because I was running out of daylight. In 2024 it was late starts. In 2026 it was late starts plus snow slowing the route-finding.

• Oct 13, 2024: Deer Springs, solo. Started 9:59 AM, turned at 9,075 ft, about 1,760 ft short.
• Nov 19, 2024: Marion Mountain with JW. Started 9:00 AM, turned at 10,362 ft, about 470 ft short.
• Feb 14, 2026: Marion Mountain with JS and WS. Started 11:06 AM, turned at 9,835 ft, about 1,000 ft short.
• Mar 8, 2026: Marion Mountain with LG. Started 9:17 AM, turned at 10,485 ft, about 350 ft short.

None of these started before 9 AM. This time I'm starting by headlamp, with a turnaround time set before I leave the car. I'll have microspikes and poles, and I'll check the latest trail report since snow fell on October 11–12. Every one of my San Jacinto partners, JW, JS, WS and LG, went on to walk the Tour du Mont Blanc with me this August. This time I'm going alone, like I did the first time, with the TMB and two of the three saints in my legs.

Fifth time's the charm. I'll let you know.