I hiked the Marion Mountain trail to San Jacinto Peak on July 22 a few days before the fire. The Alltrails app lists this as 12.2 miles with 4,494 ft. of elevation gain.
I should have paid more attention to the 4,494 ft. of elevation gain. Wow this was a Stairmaster hike if I ever saw one.
Literally every few yards was one or two or three foot step ups over a tree trunk, a rock or a boulder.
The going up was OK, but with sore knees, the coming down was, to say the least, a challenge.
This is also the only peak that I have hiked that the trail does not go all the way to the peak. It stops at a boulder clad peak where you need to literally crawl up boulders 4 to 6 feet in diameter to get up to the top. A real mountain climbing experience.
Still in all it was a truly beautiful hike in one of the most scenic areas in So. California. So I’m sure I’ll be back.
But next time I will pick a different trail instead of the Marion Mtn. Stairmaster trail from hell.
Just sayin’.
Responses
The Marion Mountain trail is hard, no way around it. The boulders at the top are easier in the snow, Great pictures!