Distance: 5 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 9068' (Divide), 9356' (Landells)
Elevation Gain: 1700'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.3
Round trip time: 4 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 64 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 aerial tramway and $15 parking
Difficulty: Moderate (scramble, route finding)
Sean Green and I set out for Divide Peak and Landells Peak near San Jacinto. We took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to Mountain Station, got our permits from the ranger station, and headed down the Willow Springs trail. At one mile, there was a junction with the High Peak trail and the Hidden Divide Natural Preserve area starts just after that. We got glimpses of Divide Peak on the way, but trees blocked any view of the peak from the junction. We left the trail and started uphill through deadfall and knee high brush, quickly reaching the granite base of Divide Peak. After a couple of class 3 sections, we sat on top of Divide Peak looking down on Hidden Lake. I found an old ink pen below the summit, but no register. We could also see Landells not far away and numerous pinnacles of granite in between.
We descended the same way and started a sidehill traverse west toward Landells. We reached a saddle between the peaks and started climbing an airy class 3 wall. The wall had chunky, solid holds. It could have been a climbing gym wall. When we reached the top, we realized that Landells was at the west end of the pinnacles. We climbed an unnamed summit, about 50' lower than Landells but higher than the intervening pillars. I dubbed it Landells East. While I was disappointed, it was the best and most sustained scrambling of the day. Worth a visit. We down climbed Landells East and continued our westward traverse.
Before we reached Landells, Sean started feeling some intense leg pain. He didn't want to injure himself so he headed down to High Trail and said he would meet me at the trail junction. I continued toward Landells and reached the class 2 summit block only a few minutes later. I found a register in a container wedged between two rocks. It went back a few years, but did not have many entries. The cover said Luella Todd Peak. Inside were a couple of entries calling it Landells Peak. I returned to High Trail and met Sean at the junction. We decided to walk the quarter mile to Hidden Lake since it was new to both of us. Hidden Lake was a high altitude lake fed by snow melt with a granite basin holding the water. The lake itself was off limits, but we walked to the end of the trail with a nice overlook to Palm Springs. An interesting area and ecosystem. On the way back, we met Ranger James, and we had a long discussion about Luella Todd vs. Landells. He said Luella Todd was a Sierra Club membrr they named the peak after. The state dedicated the peak to Don Landell, owner of the helicopter aviation company that helped build the tramway. The official San Jacinto wilderness maps provided have it labeled Landells Peak. So, some dispute about the name persists, but I decided to stick with Landells. I have no dog in the fight. The official California topo maps I checked don't assign any name to the peak other than 9356'. As an aside, Ranger James said Landells and Divide Peaks both fall within the Hidden Divide Natural Preserve and carry hefty fines if you are caught off trail. We were not fined. The boundaries of the preserve are not shown on any map, so hiker beware. This was a really fun excursion and I credit Eric Newcomb for his original report that planted this trip in my head. I'd been wanting to climb these peaks for years.
Other Reports:
Landells, Divide Peak and more via Cactus to Clouds (Eric Newcomb)
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