snow and new heights

Day 11 ~ miles 178.6 - 186ish ( plus Mt. San Jacinto side trail)

We were awakened in the night several times by gusty winds, and the rain and sleet tapping on the cabin window.  Despite waking up to the sleepy little town of Idyllwild covered in a thin layer of ice and snow, intermittent sleet, and our destination up the mountain shrouded in clouds, we were still itching to get back on the trail.  We convened with several hikers at the coffee shop and shot the breeze for awhile, hopelessly waiting for the weather to improve. 

Eventually we gave up waiting and caught a ride to the trailhead, where we arrived around 10:30.  The trailhead's snow cover was more than the dusting we got in town, and as we climbed, the snow amount increased.  For the first few miles it was really fun and beautiful hiking in the snow.  The higher we climbed, the more difficult hiking in the deepening snow became. 

The PCT really doesn't go over any mountain peaks.  Mount San Jacinto is a 10,800 foot peak rising above Idyllwild...there's a sidetrail to the peak off of the PCT.  We stood at the trail junction for several minutes, debating whether we should go or not.  We decided that we'd do it, we may regret it if we don't. 

The sidetrail was difficult.  We had forgotten how slowly we move in the snow; also it was getting colder and as we climbed beyond 9,000 feet, we could feel the effects of the altitude...we were dizzy and tired, so we took it even slower.

We reached the frigid and briskly windy peak, quickly had someone take our photo, and (tried to) hurry down the mountain.  Even going down, the hiking was super slow.  Luckily, someone had broken trail prior to us going down.  We walked to the next water source and filled up, and plopped down on the very next available spot suitable for a tent.  The night was bitter cold, maybe the coldest I've ever been.  We did our evening chores and snuggled up in the tent, eventually warming up and sleeping hard from exhaustion.