This 3-day trek was easily one of the most memorable experiences of my life. A total of 5 people, the crew was formed by friends and friends-of-friends with little prior knowledge of one another. Nonetheless, the chemistry of the group was unmatched by any other group I'd been a part of. This made the most challenging moments bearable. Although every member of the crew had no prior experience backpacking, they were all respectful of the rules of the outdoors (leave no trace) and proved to be valuable members of the crew in their own unique ways.

The first day, we hiked 9.8 miles from Devil's Slide trailhead to Deer Springs camp. The ascent was 3,540′, and took us 8:21 (including all breaks) to reach our destination. The gps on the AllTrails app predicted the mileage to be 8.1, learning we had to hike an extra 1.7mi got everybody in the mood to blaze the rest of it. We expended the very last of our energy pushing to the campsite before we collapsed from exhaustion. Our packs were quite heavy, most of them being 50+ pounds. We planned for a dry camp, so we packed in all our water. When we got to camp, we realized that the stream was full and flowing. We could've replaced the 3 gallons of water with an 8oz. water filter… Nonetheless, the dinner of baked beans, rice (unfortunately closer to “Al Dente”), canned chicken, and instant potatoes hit hard and was of great comfort at the end of a strenuous day.

The next day, we slept in and broke camp at roughly 11am. I had only anticipated 6 miles on the day: 3 miles to the peak, 3 miles to Round Valley camp. The inclines were trying, but our steady pace and system of switching points every 15 minutes proved to be very effective in keeping everybody in a uniform group. Once we reached the summit trail, we were thirsty for the peak. The last part was a scramble up boulders, but it made the victory over San Jacinto Peak taste even sweeter. We took our time at the peak to eat lunch and take photos of the heart-stopping vistas. There was an intense feeling of accomplishment among our crew. We had gone from our comfortable lives at sea level a day before to a lofty pinnacle of 10,834′. Coming down from the peak, downhill was welcome to our aching muscles. There seemed to be no trail that branched off to go to Round Valley camp, so I followed the gps on my app. This led us to an old and exceedingly overgrown trail with spiked shrubs in every direction. This slowed us down drastically. A few miles later, it cleared up and we followed the remains of the trail to Round Valley. Dinner that night consisted of freeze-dried dinners and another packet of instant potatoes. The fuel to my stove ran out right as I prepared the last item of food. Talk about impeccable timing!

The last day, we were all sad that it was the last day we would wake up in the paradise of the outdoors. Furthermore, the trip would end and it would be a while until we would all see each other again. We had great conversations going downhill, marveling at the heights we had achieved and laughing at the inside jokes and nicknames that we had made. We celebrated our feat with unlimited Korean BBQ after we came down the mountain. This was truly a trip worth remembering for a lifetime. It's rare to be a part of a crew that was willing to be so open with one another and humble. I loved everything about this trip, and I will never forget this backpacking trip up to Mt. San Jacinto.

Final stats: 24mi, 6,310′ gain.