Hiking the San Jacinto Mountains

Wednesday the 5th

Woke to another gorgeous day with temps in the 80's predicted for later. By 10:00 AM we're ready to head out to the San Jacinto Mountains in the San Bernardino National Forest. Our route takes us east through Hemet on CA-74 winding up through the foothills to 4,000 feet before we reach highway 243.

Turning left on the Banning Idyllwild Scenic Highway we eventually pass the 5,000 foot level and pull in to the town of Idyllwild (http://www.idyllwild.com/). This is a cute little mountain town full of small shops, restaurants and B&B's. Since it is still early, we decided to drive to the Idyllwild Nature Center (http://www.bigblendmagazine.com/naturecenter/index.htm) to do a short hike.

Visiting with the Centers director we learned about some of the exhibits on display, the live snake terrariums and some of the culture and history of the native peoples that lived in the area. Walking outside we checked the map and selected a short half mile hike through the pine scented forest along small spring fed streams. This was a nice walk in a beautiful setting.

Leaving the Nature Center we returned to Idyllwild. Parking in the heart of town we walked across the street to the "Red Kettle" for lunch. The place was packed and the outside deck was full so we took a table inside. We both had hamburgers and these were real home made burgers, big and juicy! With our burgers we had a chocolate shake... ahhhh, delicious!!

From the restaurant we drove out of town up into Fern Valley and Hubbard Park, not far from Suicide Rock. We probably gained another 600 to 700 feet of elevation by the time we reached the trailhead. Parking in the lower lot where there was still a patch of snow on the ground, with hiking shoes on, water and cameras, we headed out on the Ernie Maxwell Trail. The trail hugs the side of the valley leading down to Idyllwild and runs for about 2.5 miles trending slightly lower.

After crossing a small mountain stream we met several people coming from the opposite direction. After a brief chat we continued down the trail until we reached the halfway point where we turned around. . Having covered about three miles of mountain trails for the day, we decided to return to the car. Arriving back at the trailhead we changed into our sandals and returned to Idyllwild.

Turning right onto CA-243 we continued our drive north through the San Jacinto mountains reaching nearly 7,000 feet elevation before the run down to Banning. Following the long winding road out of the mountains we shed over 4,000 feet in about eight miles. This is a beautiful drive and we had perfect weather.

From Banning it was only a quick hop on I-10 over to Beaumont where we got on CA-79 south to Hemet arriving home about 4:30 PM. The rest of the day we just relaxed, worked on our photos and took it easy.

To see all our photos, click on:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski