Today was our last hike in 6 highest peaks in Southern California – hiking to San Jacinto Peak. We opted to start the hike at the Palm Springs Aerial Tram because we have heard about it for a long time and it looked fun.
We had no problem parking because we arrived at 7:20 AM; save our legs for the hike :). We parked and went up to the Tram building. You can see by the sign that the tram base is at 2,600 feet.
We got our tickets squared away and were happy to be on the first tram up the mountain. This is a seriously large tram and runs about every 15-20 minutes.
You can see the tram bottom and the first tower below. This tram does not waste any time gaining altitude. The floor inside the tram rotates the riders around as they stand so you get to see out of every window (genius).
The coachella and palm springs valley looked out in all directions below. As we went over each tower the tram swayed back and forward making everyone grab onto a railing – totally fun!
At the top we left the tram building and started the hike to the peak. It stared in a rocky forest and went up very quickly.
The views of the valley below were amazing all the way up.
At the very top we needed to climb up some huge boulders to find the peak.
There were two backpackers on a weekend trip at the top who were kind enough to take our picture. The views here were spectacular 360 degrees. We could see Saddleback and San Gorgonio mountains very cool. The weather was warm with a light breeze.
The hike down was warm and still a bit rocky at the top. You can see from this picture on the peak in front that it looks like snow because on the ground is all white rock and simply trees growing up around it.
We had a snack at the restaurant at the top of the tram and met a great couple visiting from the Netherlands. As our tram arrived to take us back down we were sad to leave and that our 6 peak challenge was completed. Our discussion immediately move about what’s next :).
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