Marion Mountain Trail

Two weeks seems to be my limit. If my feet haven’t moved me through a landscape, or if I haven’t ridden a bike through the hills, I begin to get a little antsy, cranky, and depressed. This fall has probably been a little worse than usual, since our summer was quite a bit less active than normal. For the first time since probably the late 1990s, I didn’t get out on a backpack during the summer. In fact, for the entire year of 2018, I haven’t made it out on a backpack, and I probably won’t. It’s a disturbing occurrence to me that hopefully isn’t a trend.

I needed a day out, and Mt. San Jacinto is my usual choice if I really need to exhaust myself. I chose the Marion Mountain Trail — a new option that I haven’t tried before. The trail was great, a fairly constant ascent, which was exactly what I was looking for. For a very short distance, this trail up to San Jacinto travels along the Pacific Crest Trail, which is always a dream to walk on. So well graded and pleasant. Next time I may just connect up with the PCT and walk that for a ways since the walking is so nice.

I continued up to the saddle, before a side trail ascends up to the summit of San Jacinto. Summits never interest me too much, especially ones as crowded this one, where many can take a tram most of the way up. So I turned around before reaching the top, and enjoyed my nice walk back down to the car, as a wall of clouds moved in.