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| Home > Hiking in U.S.A. > Catus to Tram |
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CACTUS TO TRAM by Alex Chen This was one hike that I got anxious and started reserving energy the day before. We left LA for Palm Springs early in the morning. We had done a great deal of research and knew it was going to be a tough one. The name of C2C= “Cactus to Clouds” immediately scares people, not to mention the huge change in elevation: 500ft to 8,500ft at the tram and then 10,834ft at St Jacinto. As we have anticipated, the weather was extremely hot. The cooler and fridge at the hotel came in handy. Most of us froze 6 liters of water for at least 2 days to sweat out on the hike. We had dinner early and set for bed a bit after 8PM. The two female members in our team, 33 and Hester, did not get any sleep because they felt nervous and anxious. We started the hike at 1:30 AM with our headlamps, and the temperature was already 85 degrees. We began sweating immediately, but there was a little breeze and it felt good to hike on rocks. The light from Palm Springs reflected off the rocks so we were able to see a bit of the landscape in the dark. I felt like I was hiking on the moon. Fearing the hot sun, I wanted to gain some altitude and get to the shade as soon as possible, but our pace was much slower than I imagined. Finally, everyone reached the first resting spot. Then, we all took our turns in taking dumps before the sun came up. There were some unusual unforgettable moments there. On with the torture… We had lunch by a dry creek where I took a nap, and was awakened by the sound of a big fly. A hummingbird landed on my hat, and yes, I attempted to swat it. We slowly came closer and closer to the tram, passed a sign that read “Hunting is prohibited after this sign”. Some of us got a little anxious at getting to the tram and decided to hike up as fast as possible to reach the top. This proved to be longer than expected, but we finally reached the tram by 4:30PM. Well-prepared or over-prepared, some of us had more than a liter of water left. We heard lightning and thunder roar a few times up in St Jacinto. I was thinking, no problem, as long as we have rain gear. But we checked with the rangers and were told not to continue. We then decided to call it a day and took the tram down. The tram down was amazing because it showed us how far and how high we had hiked. A friend drove us back to my car, and I saw a sandstorm that moved clouds. It reminded me of the movie “The Mummy”. We ended the day at the motel’s swimming pool playing all sorts of games under water, complements from our “Super” fun girl. Even though we did not get to the clouds, I considered the hike successful. There was nothing we could do about the weather; besides, it gave us an excuse to hike and torture ourselves next time. See Photos of Cactus to Tram hike Read about other hikes: Strawberry Pk Clamshell Pk Cactus to Tram Sugarloaf Mt. Whitney MR Mt. Russell Cactus to Clouds Iron to Baldy |
© copyright 2006 Hester Han. All Rights Reserved.