I spent Wednesday and Thursday backpacking the San Jacintos with Ellen and Marilyn. On Wednesday we set out on the Deer Springs Trail thinking we might take the usual x-country route to Mt St Ellen and camp somewhere on one of the plateaus nearby. Along the way, our concerns about either carrying all our water or hoping we would find water up there caused us to reconsider. We decided to stick to the trail to Little Round Valley.
We made camp at the Thunder View site and hoofed it back down to Bed Springs to gather enough water for dinner, breakfast, and hiking in the AM.
After partying and dinner and a fairly good night of sleep we broke camp and headed x-country for the saddle that would line us up for some exploring. We bagged Newton Drury Peak (a first for us) and went in search of water at the head of Bed Springs. Not only did we find water, but also a bunch of rusty old stuff: a bed, coffee pot, grill, mixing bowl, etc. I had to wonder how the bed got there.
Then we continued on to Mt St Ellen where we had lunch and scrambled to the top of the rock and took in the view. The register with Ellen's album were still intact, and among the few entries was one by Hikin Jim who had been up there just a few days earlier.
Thus far our navigating had been impeccable until we got the brilliant idea to descend back to Deer Springs Trail via the Deer Springs drainage. Things went great until we were about halfway down. Then we found ourselves mired in refrigerator to VW sized boulders and brush. Our attempts to move left out of the drainage were fruitless. A very technical move called "the gluteal maneuver" (sliding down rocks on our butts) was necessary several times. Eventually we wound up in a swampy, deadfall-strewn meadow and shortly thereafter rejoined the trail.
It was a long hot walk back to the cars, but burgers and beverages repaired our thrashed bodies enough to drive home.
Today I will finish cleaning up my gear and put it away until our next amazing adventure.