Skyline - some basic questions

[hawkbill666]

Hi all,

I have been reading the forum for quite some time but have some basic questions about an October trip up skyline.

Will tennis shoes do? I have looked at all the recommendations on mids, cross trainers, lite hikers etc, and none of them work for me. I just went up Granite mountain here in Seattle in my big heavy leather hiking boots and everyone I saw had light shoes on. I go everywhere in my tennis shoes and I sure like them.

Is 4 liters enough. It seems to be above average temps in PS this October, so perhaps I need more?

What is the recommended eats for a day hike up skyline? Someone here previously had a geocities site that talked about EVERYTHING skyline, including diet, but its down now and I didnt get to read it completely.

Does somebody have waypoints? I have seen entire tracks, but I am just looking to input a dozen or so of the main waypoints, flatrock?, crag, maybe some waypoints at the very start as people report struggling with the start, etc.

Thanks ahead for any help, and apologies ahead if I am asking for repeats.

This is a great forum, nice to meet you all!

Scott

[Florian]

Hi Scott,

If by tennis shoes you mean good quality "running shoes" you'll probably be okay as long as you don't mind hiking on rocky trails with them. If temps were going to be cold i'd certainly recommend boots. I wear mid-height lightweight boots as i like the ankle support.

4 quarts of water is the minimum for safety. Probably depends on your speed as much as anything. Fast hikers that do the trail in 4 or 5 hours will drink less than slower hikers that take 10+ hours. There is NO water along the trail until you get to the Long Valley ranger station near the tramway.

Food is personal choice. I don't eat a lot while hiking. A couple powerbars, some nuts, granola bar. I drink both plain water and diluted gatorade or koolaid.

I have some waypoints i'll post later.

°Florian

[Florian]

Some waypoints ...

Ramon trailhead, N33° 48.953', W116° 33.358'
Dry Falls Overlook, N33° 49.379', W116° 34.042'
Trailer Vagabond (Shade Rock), N33° 49.118', W116° 34.314'
Wrong Way Rock (my name for a rock i like), N33° 48.728', W116° 34.691'
2HRS (my aim point for 2 hours), N33° 48.669', W116° 34.830'
GCB1B0 geocache, N33° 48.721', W116° 35.243'
Water bucket, N33° 49.105', W116° 36.828'
(Flat Rock goes here but i don't seem to have the coords)
GC28NNZ geocache, N33° 48.785', W116° 37.413'
Crest (Grubb's Notch), N33° 48.729', W116° 38.225'

°Florian

[pdforeme]

there's a track or waypoints (like 3,000 of them) somewhere deep in this forum. i used them in the dark and worked great. sorry i cannot recall which post. (was a year or 2 ago)

[zippetydude]

Hi devilboat! Welcome. As far as tennis shoes, well, I think you're on just the right track if you already wear some particular shoes and like how they feel.

I have some comfortable slip-on shoes that I wear when I'm camping (not for hiking or running, mind you) because I'm too lazy to tie my shoes. They're so comfortable that I forgot I had them on when I hiked Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite a couple years ago with Walt. I noticed when we were already underway, and never considered turning around. Walt had done something very similar before, as i found out, and his result was just fine as well. You'll be fine.

Incidentally, it's a little warm right now, but may drop suddenly in a couple days, so don't worry too much about the weather as long as you're leaving at a reasonably early hour.

As far as food, I don't usually eat much solid food on runs (although I can't run very much of Skyline), so I just take gels. Of course, if I'm hiking with Steve and Fern, I take it as my noble duty to help them lighten their excessive load of heavy food items.

Hope to see you out there!

z

[hawkbill666]

The coords are perfect (although I would still like flatrock, if I can beg for more), I just want to have some basic ones in my GPS, mostly to help me know the right map transferred.
I know there is an entire track on here somewhere, but I am trying to be cautious and not focus on technology too much (as I often do) and just use it as a backup.

Thanks on the food and shoes. Its not like I dont hike locally, but I have never done anything as long as skyline, so just trying to see if there is something different I should consider. I too eat pretty minimally while I am in the heat of a hike because I need the blood helping me get up the mountain, not digesting. So I know its a balancing act.

But I have never focused on pre hike eating. Generally do the hikers on the board feel that carbo loading pays off? I want to do everything I can, if that will give me an edge, pasta it is !

Devilboat!? How did you know

Thanks again

Scott

[Florian]

I have a Google Earth kml file for the Skyline here ► file:///C:/html/blog/skyline_trail_051609.kml

°Florian

[Marknhj]

But I have never focused on pre hike eating. Generally do the hikers on the board feel that carbo loading pays off? I want to do everything I can, if that will give me an edge, pasta it is !
Scott

It's worth searching on here for some of Ellen's posts regarding nutrition. She's our resident expert, and is actually a real-life nutrition expert, and not a self-appointed message board expert!

Following her advice I eat as much as possible the day before doing Skyline. Like some of the others, I don't like eating while moving so I have a gel about every hour, starting at the picnic tables. When it's hot and/or humid, I also take some electrolyte capsules. I have a tendency to bonk on occasion above Flat Rock, but I've found this limits the bonk-factor for me.

I used to do the pasta thing, but my best times have come after eating a Carl's Jr. $6 burger, large fries and a gallon or two of their Powerade the night before! I once did a pr after consuming an apple fritter at 4300' after discovering I had run out of gels. I've also found that sticking a mocha gel with caffeine into my pre-Skyline coffee, wakes me up very effectively!

[Florian]

The coords are perfect (although I would still like flatrock, if I can beg for more), I just want to have some basic ones in my GPS, mostly to help me know the right map transferred.

Got coords for Flat Rock from kml file ..

Flat Rock, N33° 48.923', W116° 37.088'

°Florian

[Norris]

If you are going up Skyline for the first time without anyone who has hiked it before, you may want to reconsider not taking a complete track. Just my $0.02. Send me a pm if you want a Garmin .gdb file.