C2C on Memorial Day (5/25): Will I melt and evaporate??

[mikekostura]

Hi All!

Thank you so much for this AMAZING resource. I completed my first C2C in October, thanks to all of the tips here. It was such an AWESOME hike.

My only opportunity to go this spring is on memorial day. I know it will be really hot. Here are my questions:

Am I insane to try?

How early should I leave to survive (I'm a bit on the slower side, figure 8 hours to Long Valley to be safe)?

Will it just be me, the tumbleweed, and the gila monsters out there?

Should it be reasonably cool from Long Valley to the Summit, or still unbearably hot up there?


Thank you!
- mike

[zippetydude]

Hi Mikekostura:

The trail is staffed all three days of Memorial Day Weekend with beautiful bikini-clad girls spraying hikers with mist every quarter mile. Also, all drinks at the Tram bar are free for hikers that can show they did Skyline. You'll love it!

Actually, you might start hallucinating along the way and see such accomodations, but other than that, yes, it'll probably be just you and the tumbleweeds...

The danger is compounded with increasing time, so an 8 hour pace may not be your friend. If you start at the coolest point of the day and can get sufficient altitude, the adiabatic lapse rate (when it cools 3 degrees per thousand feet of elevation) helps a lot. On the other hand, if you're steady but the heat increases faster than you climb, it can be miserable. You don't want to be at Flatrock in the sun in 90 degree weather. If you start early (some start as early as midnight) you'll avoid the sun, but you'll be catching some of the previous day's heat as well. Kinda problematic. If you go, hope you have fun. If you don't , you'll probably have many chances to do so in the fall.

z

[hikehigh]

All depends on the weather that weekend. Why not start at midnight? That will put you near above 7000' before the sun comes up.