[pct-l] Getting off the trail between Idyllwild and Cabazon? The Outlaw trail

[pfreiman at ucsd.edu (Freiman, Paul)]

Back when I was the exalted leader the San Diego Peaks Club in 1995 I inadvertantly lead my group on the same day that the Coachella Valley Hiking Club was having their 3rd annual hike (and I have the t-shirt to prove it).  I counted 85 people on the trail that day.  It's a very good trail now.  Can't get lost.  On that day two of my hikers (one of them was Virginia) got to the tram (8000 feet net difference) in 5 hours and to the top (10,000 feet net difference) in 7 hours 15 minutes.  I remember just hiking to the tram (I usually did it in 8 hours) and Tim and Virginia got there 10 minutes after I did (but they had done 22 miles and 10000 feet of gain compared to my 12 miles and 8000 feet).  I asked Jerry Schad to put it in his book "101 hikes in Southern California".  If you want tips on hiking it give me a call.  There are some Palm Springs hikers who hike it many times a month.  The weirdest thing is the 40 degree temp diffence between the bottom and the tram.  You can do it any time of year, but in the summer you may want to start at 2-4 AM in order to be at a high enough elevation when the heat hits.
http://home.san.rr.com/mondayhikes/hikes.html
Take a look at Palm Peak to Pyramid for some good shots of Virginia.


-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Saenz [mailto:msaenz@mve-architects.com]
Sent: Tue 02/07/2006 8:52 AM
To: Freiman, Paul; pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: RE: [pct-l] Getting off the trail between Idyllwild and Cabazon?

Nice views out of Wellman, yes. Round Valley is nice to pass through
too.

Paul- You know a gal who "frequently" climbs the trail from PS to the
top of the tram???!!! That trail is INSANE. Didn't a SAR volunteer die
on that trail a couple years back? I know some people have climbed that
trail, but I've never heard of anyone who "frequently" climbs that...
The ride up the tram is impressive enough- to think about climbing that
route is, well, unthinkable!

I've heard somewhere that that trail is the most elevation gain in the
shortest distance of any other trail in the US.

Michael Saenz ,  Associate Partner
McLarand    Vasquez    Emsiek   &   Partners,   Inc.