San Jacinto Peak Rewards

This is my 4^th Peak on the 6 Peak Challenge.  I was a bit nervous for this hike because I hike the pace of a snail.  Generally can manage a 20-25 minute mile but with incline I can drop to 40-55 minute mile and I was not sure how challenging San Jacinto’s inclines would be.  I had completed this hike decades ago and remembered it was tiring but I did not remember the hike itself.  The plan was to catch the 8am tram.  We specificallychose Veteran’s Day because it was a holiday and fell on a Monday.  We emailed to confirm there would be an 8am tram for the holiday.  Trams normally run 10am on weekdays but start at 8am on weekends and holidays.  Got up at 4:00am to make the 2 hour drive only to get there at 7:35am and be told that Veteran’s Day is not recognized as a holiday!  What?!?!?  That is so wrong in so many ways but this is a hiking log so I will not go off on a tangent about our Veterans and the lack of genuine acknowledgement they are entitled to.  So….. we leave and return around 9:45am to a line of cars at the kiosk and parking at a minimum.  Needless to say, we did not catcha 10am tram or a 10:12 tram or a 10:24 tram.  Finally we board the 10:36 tram.  By the time we organized at the top and made our way to the trailhead – approx. ½ mile from the tram station, it was after 11am.  The trail was easy to follow and if you take it slow the incline wasn’t horrible.  We made the summit around 2:30 – approximately 3 hours.  It was cold and there was a rock scramble for the last 50 yards to the summit.  But overall, we were blessed with good weather.  A bit windy at times but the sun was nice.  It was just as long to get back down the trail.  The ranger was very adamant that we get down off the summit and out of the canyon before 4:00pm due to the sun setting behind the mountain and bringing darkness sooner.  We ended up finishing the last 3 miles in the gloaming light and ultimately in darkness.  Around the 9^th mile, I started hearing shouts and voices but assumed they were kids.  I caught up to my friend and mentioned it and she said she had heard someone calling “help”.  I had heard someone calling “hello”.  We started calling back and it was a man who was completely unprepared to be doing a 12+ mile hike – he had nothing but a water bottle and a flashlight.  But hey! He had a flashlight!!!  When he got to us he said he had lost the trail after reaching the summit and basically had just started walking down trying to find the trail.  Wow.  Okay, we all made it back to the tram station a little quicker with the use of a strong flashlight over our iPhones and headlamps.  That last .25 miles up the ramp to the tram station killed me.  I literally was holding the rails and was not far from crawling on my hands and knees to the bar for my celebratory beer LOL!  It took all my energy to reach the bar stool.  The person next to me noticed how weak and tired I was and I told them I had just summitted San Jacinto.  They were so impressed they bought me a beer which I gladly gulped down and immediately started feeling better and excited that I had accomplished bagging San Jacinto Peak.  The tram ride back down was great and I was rewarded with the scenic valley lights below as I started my game plan to bag Peak #5!