Mt San Jacinto Photos!

Palm Springs and San Jacinto

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Palm Court Motel, where I stayed for the first two nights in Palm Springs. It sits near the base of Mt. San Jacinto; you can see the San Jacinto range behind the motel buildings.

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The trailhead at the Ranger Station, near the tram station at 8450 ft. This is at the edge of the snow line; from here up to the summit is a 2400 ft climb through snow.

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The steep snowy tree-covered slopes of Round Valley leading up to the ridge. Note the sky; it was a beautiful blue with just the odd fluffy cloud on the day I was climbing.

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The view from the ridge leading up to Mt. San Jacinto from the tram station, facing approximately west.

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Another westerly view from the ridge, showing the rocks and vegetation that cover most of the route up the side of San Jacinto.

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The desert cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert and Cathedral City, viewed from the 10,840 ft summit of Mount San Jacinto. The fall to the desert floor is around 10,000 ft straight down.

One important point; the altitude and snow made the climbing very hard going, at about the limit of what I could manage. Coming back down in late afternoon I started to suffer from altitude sickness with nausea, cold, disorientation and fear. Fortunately I was close enough to the tram station not to be in too much trouble -- still, be warned!