‘San Jac Jon’ takes to the trails

Idyllwild local Jon King has been hiking since he was a boy. Originally from the United Kingdom, King bonded with his father who was also a keen hiker.

King’s love for the outdoors has led him all over the world. He took his passion and education as a wildlife biologist to work, allowing him to spend a majority of his time outdoors. He specialized in endangered birds.

King started hiking the San Jacinto Mountains when he moved to Idyllwild seven years ago.

King realized the need for accurate trail and weather information for the local hikers and the thousands of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) hikers who come through every year as they make their way from Mexico to Canada.

“In 2016, I started this and originally focused it on the PCT,” King said. “Three years or so ago, I moved it to a full-time website.”

King volunteered with the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit. He currently volunteers with California State Parks as a wilderness ranger, the San Bernardino National Forest during fire season manning the lookout towers on Tahquitz Peak and Black Mountain, and for the Pacific Crest Trail Association to help monitor and report any needed trail repairs.

Volunteering his time, King hikes almost daily to check the condition of the many trails, reporting it to the San Jacinto Trail Report on his website sanjacjon.com.

“Often times the Forest Service and State Parks check my website for the most updated information,” King said. “For them to send resources up in such inclement weather can be expensive and dangerous, so I quickly realized I wanted to get ahead of potential problems instead of coming in after.”

King updates his website once a week year-round. If conditions require it, he provides more frequent updates such as anytime there is a significant storm, weather or trail activity.

“I hiked up Nov. 7 during the big storm to see what was going on,” King said. “I take the weather every time I summit and document that in the trail report as well to help highlight extremes and potential dangers.”

King accomplished some personal milestones after hiking up into the San Jacinto Mountains nearly every day this year, hiking 5,000 miles.
His goal was to reach 1 million feet in elevation gain by the end of the year. He accomplished that Oct. 11. He’s now at about 1.1 million feet.
Last year, his website received 100,000 views. While this year has been less due to a decrease in hikers, the website traffic continues to grow every year.

With all this hiking, you can imagine the amount of wear and tear King does to his equipment. Due to that, King does accept donations for direct costs on equipment that can be made at sanjacjon.com/donate.

King explained, “I go through six or seven pairs of boots a year and wear through a lot of other equipment much faster. So, I just want to try to cover my costs where I can. It’s not about making profit for my time.”

Check out sanjacjon.com for the most updated information on trail and weather conditions.