This one was a doozy on the drive out, Palm Springs, by far the furthest one out from Ventura. A note of interest is that purchasing the Tram tickets online has a surcharge, but purchasing the tickets at the Tramway, there is no additional fee. Also, online you can’t purchase tickets before 9am. We were able to get our tickets changed from the 9am tram ride up to the 8:20 Tram. The ride up on the Tram and feeling the temperature drop was great. Climbing the 2400’ over the 5-6 miles was a major relief and almost felt too easy. What’s surprising to me is how many people were hiking to the top. Going up via the Tram felt like it was cheating because it felt so easy, at least in comparison to hiking it from Idyllwild and also having done Mt Whitney 2 weeks prior.
The views were spectacular of course and it was perfect weather for hiking. Riding the tram back down into the heat was better than having to hike into it. One of the highlights was getting done with the hike early and there was hope to get back home before the sun had fully set, but Murphy's law came in full force on the drive back in the form of a flat tire. We did make it back safely, but driving home on the spare is definitely an experience I do not wish to repeat.
Responses
My hat is off to you, @gdong2012, for carrying that Dino costume up to the summit (and putting it on!). Awesome!