"By popular demand...here comes the email of our great adventure on Mt. San Jacinto.
We started off on a great note, took the tram ride to 8000 ft and walked to the ranger station to sign in our permits. That is when
we realized that we didnt have a map! So Eddy and I went back and got a map ..I was already tired :)) The time was 9.15 AM.
3.5 hours later we are at the peak..scrambling up the rock..desperately trying to get to the peak before it started raining. The next thing we did was desperately scrambling down to avoid being drenched. We barely made it in time to a shack 30 ft below the peak. The next 1.5 hrs we were all sitting in the leaky shack, while a great hailstorm raged outside. That is when the talk began..something about gods, being human, the lady of the woods ( we met her at wellmans's divide and she predicted the outcome of the hike to the very second), humility and even humiliation.
3 hrs later at 5.45 PM 4 weary backpackers arrived at the tram station barely able to walk. As agreed, I am now going to speak for all 4 of us, We were truly HUMBLED. Mt San Jacinto made us feel very human.
For me, I was not only humbled...but i was utterly humiliated. I am not doing any more hikes before machu pichu.
Jo says:
"If we have to suffer, lets just go and suffer in Peru..once and for all".
I concur.
The attached pdf file has some pictures of some of the better moments.

-R.A."

:)
I could not have said it better ! Taking the pic was extremely imp coz we managed to get to the peak which was an achievement of sorts considering we were hugely under-prepared for it. We made many mistakes :

1. Ed stuffed his backpack with cushions to make it heavier instead of more food / water/jackets
2. I carried way too much gatorade and too little water.
3. We didnt carry jackets even though we knew we were expecting it to rain
4. I wore a sleeveless top. STUPID. At 10,800 ft with a hailstorm I was freeezing to death.
5. R.A carried almost 30 pounds. And we had no food other than power bars. Not good at all for the not so well trained !

The wood-witch ( I call her that :) ) saved our lives by telling us exactly what to do in advance and predicting our hike super accurately. Whether it was the altitude or tired bodies affecting the mind or just that the woods were enchanted, that place makes you want to wander off the trail or cut across switchbacks time to time :). Sitting in the middle of the desert its actually lush green on one side of the ranges. Absolutely spectacular. Def worth the time and energy.

Infact every time human will and spirit endures, it is nature who is humbled. It took every ounce of energy in our bodies to finish it. So according to me, in a way, by this strange logic, we humbled Mt San Jacinto :)