Big Hike #2: San Jacinto

I did this hike back on October 2nd and it was by far the HARDEST of all the 9 hikes that I did. I had to skip a week between this hike and my previous one due to Prince not being well, so part of me felt that I’d lost some momentum since I had been hiking every Sunday for 7 weeks straight. I did this hike on a Monday due to a weekend of rain which meant it was COLD up in the high altitudes. It was a brisk 38 degrees when I started, and because it was Monday I was the first one out on the trail.
This trail was 13 miles with a steep elevation gain of 4500ft over 6ish miles. There was a lot of rock climbing/scrambling on this trail which is what made it so much more difficult compared to all the others. Between the cold, the rocks, and the steep climb, my body was definitely pushed to the test.
It was beautiful though. I crossed little streams almost every 20 minutes or so and once I reached a certain altitude, there was a beautiful dusting of snow everywhere. When I finally reached the top, the last .2 miles was a straight rock scramble to the summit. I had the summit to myself, aside from a little chipmunk watching me eat. The Sun was glorious after a chilly hike in the shade on the way up. It was much warmer for my climb down, but the climb down is what really killed my body. It took me a total of 10 hours for this hike, and my legs were hardly functioning by the time I got back to my car, and for a few days after. I truly thought this would be my last hike because of how hard it was, but I also didn’t want to give up knowing I had one more to accomplish. Shout out to my amazing massage therapist and chiro who helped keep me and my body going!
Last picture is the print of what I’m assuming is a big horned sheep! The print was easily the size of my palm!