Well, thanks to all for the SoCal hiking advice. We decided on a tram ride up San Jacinto, followed by some hiking, hopefully to the peak, but the brother-in-law decided to come along, so that sort of limited our options; Brother In Law is extremely overweight and out of shape, so the peak was obviously out. We had a good time, though. Very pleasant drive from Hawthorne out "the 10" (do all LA people put "the" in front of freeway names & numbers?) with views of Baldy,
- Distant mountains from the freeway, probably Baldy.
and then probably San Gorgonio. We saw a very odd species of tree growing along the freeways—take a look at the photograph. It appears to have very unusual fruiting structures (it looks like a gymnosperm, so they're probably not really "fruits" as such), and we had evidence that it was reflecting (or perhaps even radiating!) in the RF region of the spectrum. We've seen similar species—perhaps even the same species—near the New Jersey Turnpike. Very interesting, but we didn't have time to stop and investigate more closely.
- Strange species of tree growing along Interstate 10.
We managed to persuade Brother In Law not to stop at the Morongo casino, but we got some excellent views of the peak when we stopped nearby to pick up some lunch.
- San Jacinto peak from near the casino.
And, as those of you in the area know, we got to look at a
lot of wind-powered electrical generators!
- Wind turbines.
The tram ride was much cooler than expected (and, surprisingly, it didn't excite my acrophobia sensors even a tiny bit. hmmm...), because the floor of the tram car rotates, making two complete revolutions on each trip.
- Loading into the tram.
Arriving at the top, we noted with dismay that the only trail goes down, and quite steeply. We were, of course, contemplating how Brother In Law would manage to get back
up all those switchbacks, but we gamely set out anyway.
- Lovely lunch area at top tram station, but it's all downhill from here!
We managed to get all the way to ranger station (about half a mile, perhaps) before Brother In Law decided the air was too thin, so we decided to head back to the tram.
- The ranger station.
Brother In Law managed the switchbacks fine, although he needed to pause for breath at each turn. I think we'll postpone that Whitney trip for a while
He was pleased to have made it at all, though, and obviously had a great time.
- Brother In Law, safely arrived back at the tram station after negotiating the switchbacks. Whew!
Thanks again for all the advice, and maybe the next time we head out there we can take a
real hike!
