Mark Jahns
Visited for the full moon on February 22, 2016. Drive from Palm Springs was about one hour and fifteen minutes. If you want to get the best sunset shot through the arch I would recommend getting there early. The arch was already crowded with about six photographers with all their gear set up in the best locations. Got some great evening shots under the full moon.
4.0
Started hiking at 5am from the Art Museum on Feb 20, 2016 with a headlamp and a wonderful cool breeze. Hiked for three hours and didn't feel the elevation gain or any pain. Great trail and well marked with nice stretches of flat terrain mixed with the ascent. Started seeing snow along the trail at about 6,700 feet. From that point on there were large portions of the trail covered with snow - really could have used poles and micro spikes! The last mile or so was extremely difficult with limited gear for snow and ice. Thankfully there were plenty of postholes and footprints to manuever slowly and carefully. From the first snowfield at noon it took almost two hours to hike up and across approximately 20 more snowfields. I found myself punching my fist through the ice covered snow to maintain confidence and balance. Some sections could have been treacherous in a slip and fall. Purchased my ticket for the tram ride down at 2:00pm for twelve dollars. Nine hours from Museum to Tram with serious delays due to the snow. Ranger said for the stretch from the Tram to Jacinta Peak that spikes and poles were a must and that is was snow and ice the entire way. Not a cloud in the sky and seemed to be little or no wind with morning temps in the low 60 and comfortable at the top in the sun. Lucky to find a taxi cab at the Tram parking lot for a twenty five dollar cab ride back to Palm Springs near the Art Museum. Kudos to the awesome hiker that found my shirt that I lost somewhere along the way!
5.0
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