Angie Lee looks happy and unruffled at the summit of Mt. San Jacinto. You wouldn’t guess that a half-hour earlier, at the base of the final bouldery scramble to the top, we nearly gave up and turned back.
Our route was the Marion Mountain trail, a relatively short but steep ascent of the west face San J from a trailhead near the town of Idyllwild. We wondered if we’d find snow on the mountain. Although it was only late March, it had been a dry winter. 
We found it alright, starting at about 9000′. At about 10000′ we lost the trail and found ourselves trudging up slope in knee- and hip-deep snow. We struggled to reach the saddle, at the base of the final boulder pile.
Just as we decided to risk a dark descent and turned to summit the peak, we came across a young family – Dad, Mom and two little kids – who appeared to have reached the top in light sneakers and flip flops!
The photos I did take fail to capture the rigors of this route. Much of the trail was littered with tree falls and tumbledown boulders, making the descent especially challenging for sore feet. All the way down I thought of the parents carrying the kids for six tough, steep miles.