We summited on Saturday, June 13th. We were a group of 6. Myself, my wife and 2 teenage boys were joined by my Brother and Sister-in-law who flew in from Atlanta, GA. My wife, kids and I all did several SoCal peaks as training, including the Cactus to Clouds (Palm Springs to San Jacinto Peak - 10,600' elevation gain). My wife did the 6-pack of peaks in its entirety (Mt. Wilson, Mt. Baldy, Cucamonga Peak, San Gorgonio, San Jacinto via Skyline Trail, and San Bernardino). One of my kids and myself did 5 of the 6 and the other kid did 4. So, other than high altitude training we were prepared. We took Diamox to help with High Altitude Sickness. My Brother and S-I-L were not able to do much of any training. My brother and I had previously tried to do the day hike and were unsuccessful so he was aware of what was needed to make the summit this time.
We all started together at 3:30 am. We made Trail Camp about 9:30 am. My brother and S-I-L were quite a bit slower than us. One of the challenges was they chose to bring 2 one liter bottles of water rather than buy a day-hike pack with a room for a reservoir. This meant every time they wanted water they had to take their packs off. This isn't a big deal in-and-of-itself but it does take time which adds up.
At Trail Camp they asked us to go on ahead of them which we did. We summited at 12:15 pm. We passed them on Trail Crest when they had .7 miles to the summit. They were about 1-1/2 hours behind us. We told them we would wait for them at Trail Camp. Then the storm hit. It began hailing (Dippin Dot's sized hail) as we began descending the SB's. The hail hurt and kept going for a long time. It hailed on us the entire descent to Trail Camp and then some. The temperature dropped considerably too. I told my wife and kids to hike to the portal (we brought 2 cars to the portal just in case someone decided to turn around). I intended to wait for my brother and S-I-L. I got very cold and walked down toward the Portal about 1/2 mile to check those conditions. Walking back up to Trail Camp helped me get warmer. So, I decided to ascend the SB's again to try to find them. I passed several people who saw them on the summit, one couple had seen them at Trail Crest on their way down. But it had been 1-1/2 hours since my wife and kids began descending and I was about 1/3rd the way back up the SB's. I had a clear view of the Cable section and did not see them. So I know they were at least an hour from the point where I was at. I began getting very cold myself (shivering, fingers and toes getting numb). The SB's were a stream of water about 2 - 3 inches deep at this point and these conditions kept on past Trail Camp too. I decided I needed to descend quickly to see if there could be any options of help for them. I spoke with several campers at both campgrounds giving their description and telling them they may need help. I made the descent from Trail Camp to the portal in 2 hours and was able to make it before my wife and kids left (my brother had the key to the 2nd car). We discovered at the Portal Store that they only send out Search and Rescue operations when someone has been missing for 24 hours or if there was an injury. We sent my brother and SIL text messages hoping they would get the texts when they got to the treeline where we noticed on the ascent we had some cell phone coverage.
In the end, they made the descent. They made it back to the car at 12:30 am on the early morning of Sunday 6/14 (so they were on the trail for 21 hours). They had a lot of help from a lot of other hikers on trail, helping them navigate the SB's on the descent, giving them hot tea. One man generously gave my S-I-L a fleece jacket. They were offered tents to stay the night. I wish I could personally thank all the people who helped them.
In the end, we all made it back safely and other than some rattled nerves we'll look back very fondly. This post may scare some people and I don't intend it to scare anyone away. Rather, BE PREPARED for any conditions. The forecast for our hike, according to the National Weather Service, had a high temp. of 53 at the summit and 20% chance of showers after 11 am (but we had snow, hail, rain, wind, significantly colder temperatures, etc.). The forecasts for that elevation are not perfect. Plan for the worst. Start early.
And I cannot put enough emphasis on training.
I go back-and-forth as to whether I should have stayed with them. I'm glad my whole family didn't stay with them because that would have put my wife and kids in jeopardy too. Also, my brother is an Eagle Scout and my SIL is a physician. They're both very smart people. But their lack of training and some preparation mistakes cost them time. However, the storm was the major factor in their delayed descent. It took them longer to descend to than to ascend.
