[pct-l] San Diego Area Hiking

[brick@fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

At 09:47 AM 3/20/02, you wrote:
>Thanks for the great info and links, I also have heard from other people that
>Devil's Slide Trail, to Idylwild to PCT Summit of San Jacinto is great. After
>getting such good responses, I've decided to extend my stay and try to hit a
>few places.



The whole San Jacinto area is great, but I don't consider it to be "San 
Diego Area." It takes me 3 hours to get from my home in San Diego to 
Idyllwild.

Devils Slide is a Zoo on weekends.....the Humber park trailhead parking 
overflows, and you need a wilderness permit, even for a day hike. Get your 
permit early, or there won't be any left.

If I had a car shuttle, I would do the following 30 mile hike:

PCT on the Palms to Pines Hwy (Hwy 74, guidebook map B5) to Strawberry 
Junction (a few miles past the Devils Slide Trail) Map B9 then down the 
Dear Springs Trail (also known as the Marrion Ridge Trail) to Idyllwild - a 
much nicer, less steep and less used trail than Devils Slide. The Dear 
Springs Trail is longer, because it descends almost right into "downtown," 
instead of Humber Park in Fern Valley, several miles above town.

I would camp at Apache Springs about 16 miles up the trail. It is an 
amazing place overlooking the city of Palm Springs, perched on the side of 
the Mountain, just a short (but steep) scramble below the trail. GREAT 
places to camp, with water.

You will need a wilderness permit, but there is no Quota from the Pines to 
Palms trailhead. You can get the permit (self issue) at the ranger station 
in Idyllwild.




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Brick Robbins                       mailto:brick@fastpack.com