2 July 2020
Humber Park to Tahquitz Peak to Tahquitz Meadow to Junction Meadow
(7 miles, +2,800/-1,200 feet).

Half Cookie and I had a trip planned for Rae Lakes a few weeks ago but a storm came through that sent winds up to 70MPH and temperatures down to 20 degrees.  Yikes!

Needless to say, we didn’t go.  Instead we stayed in Lee Vining and did some day hikes.  That was lovely, but Half Cookie really wanted to do some backpacking to prepare for our upcoming 2 week trip with friends on the JMT.

At the same time, we really wanted to be out of town for 4th of July and all of the mass chaos that is usually associated with a festival of blowing-things-up.

So we decided to do a trip to San Jacinto.  But how?  In the era of COVID, it was not clear how to get a permit.  Online it said the ranger station was closed and that we should call. Then we called and a message said we should email.  And then we emailed and got a permit.  And then they decided permits were not necessary.

Whew!

Anyhoo, we decided to base camp near the top of the Devil’s Slide Trail and spend a couple of nights chilling out.  After running some errands, we got on the road and arrived around 2pm.

Devil’s Slide is steep, but not that long.

At the last switchback we went off trail to a spot I thought would have a nice view of the sunset.

We ate dinner around 5pm and then headed to Tahquitz Peak on the PCT.

At the peak we found a historic fire lookout tower.  Pretty cool, though I never like walking on a man-made structure where I can see the ground far below between the boards!

We headed back to camp and needed to drop down to Tahquitz Meadow to get some water for camp.

I wasn’t sure if we would make it back before sunset, but we did and it was lovely to watch the colors change as we sipped some Ancho Reyes.  I even (willingly) carried two shot glasses all the way to base camp!