As someone took the first tram car up on Saturday and reached the summit, there are a few inaccuracies in all the reports I have read. Most who attempt to summit do not go via the 6-mile established trail to the summit. In the winter you take a very direct route that is less than 3 miles. Conditions were not white-out, not even near white-out the whole time we were out (go to the Mt. San Jacinto Hiking Club Meetup page to the pictures of our trip), between 8:30 AM and 4 PM. However, the wind and snow were heavy at time, but not all the time. Conditions were such that any track could be recovered completely in a few hours. I've been out tramshoeing in worse conditions.
We did not see a person outside our group the whole day after we left Long Valley Ranger Station until we returned. The standard trail route looked firmly established beyond Sid Davis Drainage, which most snowshoers travel to reach the peak.
The use of the term experienced hiker is meaningless under these conditions.
Last edited by wbtravis; 02/20/11 10:47 PM.
