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Tram from Palm Springs
October 1,
1994
John & Carol McCully Three days before the outing the Los
Angles Times reported a low of 85 degrees and a high of 108 for Palm Springs.
Having 108 degrees chase one up 8,000+ feet of gain provides an extra dimension
to things, turning back into such heat might prove fatal. The legendary Bill
Banks left a cancellation notice on my answering machine, remarking that it
reminded him of hiking in Death Valley in the summer. A couple of other folks
also canceled. As it turned out the heat abated later in the week and by
Saturday Palm Springs had a low of 71 and a high of 98. As the temperature at
the tram station was about 55 the hottest we encountered during the day was
about 80. Three quarts or less seemed enough for most of the folks on the
hike.
Fourteen people met at 5:15 am at the corner of Calidad and Ramon
Road and managed to hit the trail by 5:30. By 6 the sky was bright enough to
turn off the flashlights. For the first 2 miles and 900 feet of gain the trail
is extremely well maintained and some people didn't use flashlights at all. The
hike was fairly uneventful. Jim Brown signed out at 9:55 and got to the tram at
11:40. The rest of us arrived at 1:30, for a total time of 8 hours. It would
appear that someone like Jim could make it to the tram in 4 or 5 hours. Oh to
be young again.
Two people on the hike besides Carol & myself had
done this trail previously. Bill Siegal did it with Sid ("San Jac") Davis about
15 years ago, and Betsy Morgan was on a HPS scheduled trip on Memorial Day 1979
where about 15 people actually got the summit of San Jacinto. Betsy may hold
the distinction of being the first woman to have done San Jacinto from a city
street in Palm Springs as a day hike.
Bill Siegal, Peter Doggett, and
Bruce Trotter decided to go for the peak, but the rest of us being mortal
decided to head on down. The peak baggers got back to the tram just after six
and caught the 6:20 tram down.
Participants were William Siegal, Merwin
Lucas, Cy Kaicener, Bob Greenawalt (73 years old!), Mario Gonzalez, Peter
Doggett, Jim Brown, Phil Reher, Maria Giles, Barry Holchin, John McCully,
Carol |
McCully, Bruce Trotter,
Betsy Morgan. -- John McCully
Spectre, Sheephole
Nov 5-6, 1994 DPS
Trip,
Erik Siering & Bob Sumner Bob and I like beer. Our
advertised desert peak climb and beer rest predictably attracted a number of
college students new to DPS ways, who did well at both hiking and drinking.
Occidental College's affiliate arm of the Sierra Club was represented by Jeff
Noryule, Bion Bartning, Shannon Shula, Allison Graboski, and "Po" Barnes. We
learned this was Po's first ever hike, let alone climb- the newcomers all did
great. Familiar characters included Howard and Barbara Eyerly, Eileen Ricks,
Ann Kramer, and Peter Rosmarin (down from El Cerrito).
We met Saturday
morning at the Hwy 62 dirt road turnoff for Spectre Pt. Squeezing into the two
available 4wds, the twelve of us cruised over to the monument boundary
trailhead, narrowly avoiding a scurrying badger on the sandy road. We scrambled
up the rocky gullies of route B to reach the bird-dropping encrusted apex of
Spectre around noon. Our summit Wild Boar Amber Ale was soon history. As we
returned to the trailhead, some of us paused for an extra credit scramble up
Tensor (aka benchmark Aqua). Viewed from Tensor, the north face of Dyadic is
quite impressive, with a variety of technical climbs. It merits a future
exploratory visit. Another nearby rock spire garnered favorable group mention
with vivid allusions to El Grandissimo; it would make an interesting peak guide
route descriptor.
We drove to Sheephole Pass via Hwy 62 and the dirt
Chadwick Road. However, the Ironage Road is shorter and in far better condition
by comparison. Asher Waxman and Karen Leonard were waiting patiently for us
here (their supply of beer intact!) A festive trailhead campfire, chowing down,
and relentless beer tasting ensued. The discovery was Pete's Wicked Ale (Red),
although the Samuel Adams Honey Porter was also appreciated. Over the course of
numerous brands of beer and Bob's manly quesadilla's, the merits of radical
feminism were advocated at length, much to the leaders' alarm. The campfire
faded late into the night.
Sheephole was accomplished Sunday morning
now with Asher and Karen, but less the Oxy students (go, |