I drove from Santa Cruz to hike San Jacinto when I got a surprise day off on Tuesday and having Wednesday off, I began packing my gear.  This time I planned to sleep before hiking so I called ahead to the Idllwild Campground to get details on camping ad hiking.  I was good to go and made my way South by mid afternoon.  I arrived in Idllwild Campground around 11p and decided to set up my sleeping gear in my backseat.  My alarm was to go off at 5, so setting up camp wasn't really necessary.

I woke up early to get a sunrise start and was on the trail by 6am.  It was a short drive from campground and I was able to park at the trailhead.  I was on a solo hike so I was stoked to have brought my Garmin for peace of mind.

The steady climb up hill is not too gnarly unless you make a wrong turn and keep going straight when your supposed to go up. Then you decide to boulder and scramble up to take less time but eventually make it back on that red line.  I liked this mountain and when I was completely alone singing at the top of my lungs, of course 2 hikers come down the trail.  We chat it up about the summit and trail conditions.  They camped in the emergency shelter because of the wind ut it seemed to be mellow when I was up there.  It was a warm sunny day with clear views all around.

I made my way through a few junctions and finally made it to the shelter and it's pretty cool.  It sleeps 4 on two bunks and has some emergency supplies donated.  I love all the stickers in the windows- some were of hiking groups I'm a part of or that I know through social media.  It was fun seeing them all.

I finally made the scramble up to the peak and hung out for some snacks.  Another hiker came up shortly after and was doing the Cactus to Clouds hike, something that I wanted to do this year but will have to wait. On the way down I was really appreciating the fall foliage and imagining what the trail would be like covered in snow.  I made my way back to Marion Mountain Trailhead and headed back to the campground to shower.  I only had a $20 bill on me when I arrived after hours and wanted to pay the rest to the person working inside.  I was able to catch the Sunset as I drove down the mountain to have dinner in Downtown L.A.  A good day of hiking and I made it back before dark!