Cactus to Clouds

[zippetydude]

Yep. I wasn't worried about your chances of making it with 89 as a high, but I think you also took a smart, very measured approach, what with naps and all. Besides you, bluerail is one of the very few people I know who take naps in the middle of an adventure. You two should cuddle together sometime.

z

[Ed]

When I arrived at the museum at 4am, I was stunned at the number of people there, I think a group of 14, plus a few others. I must have seen about three dozen during the day. Many first-timers, people taking rest stops in strange places, such as 5 minutes below the picnic tables, keeping track of time, etc. I thought, good thing Steve and Cynthia are not here, they would croak.

The saving grace was the temperature. I was a little uneasy at first, it seemed warmer than forecasted, but it cooled down a ways up. As someone here noted, it sometimes seems warmer on the way up to the picnic tables. I drank a quart on the drive to museum, and less than the 3 quarts I carried on the hike itself. Some people were carrying and consuming much more, judging from their conversation, but they were bigger (I weigh about 170 lbs). Too bad we don't have guidelines for water based on temperature and body size, I think judging how much water to carry is difficult until people have some experience.

All in all, a good day, considerably cooler than forecasted a few days earlier, and much cooler than a week before, when the three rescues occurred. But I am still all ears when Steve and Cynthia are handing out advice. I think my ability to judge the hike has improved with experience, but it is still a tiny fraction of the regulars. Experience counts.

[cynthia23]

Hi Ed, and thanks for the props. But although I've been around a year or two longer, Steve has enormously more Skylines under his belt than I do, by a margin I can't even imagine. Hundreds more, I'm sure. However, I do try to get at least part way up the trail every month or so. That's why I get to see so many chagrined people coming down

While this Saturday was a relatively mild day, the upcoming Saturday certainly won't be. It would be really bad if that many people show up this Sunday. Predicted temps are 103.

[bluerail]

i started up about 5 friday afternoon, it was actually cool by 4200', what a great weekend weather wise.

[Ed]

I went up today (Tuesday), and the weather was similar to Saturday, perhaps better. Warmish at first, then cool with breezes. Saw nobody else on the trail. Probably the last day for me until the fall. I have done the hike later in May, but it was an unusually cool day.

[joeseeley]

My buddy Keith and I set out for our first Cactus to Clouds attempt yesterday at 1:30am in the morning across the street from the Art Museum. We drove out from Oxnard at 10:30pm, knowing it was going to be a bruiser of a day.

We are preparing for a big run (San Diego 100) in a few weeks so really wanted to get this climbing in beforehand.

We aren't elite by any means, but like to consider ourselves in somewhat fit shape, and it took us until 8:30am to reach the tram and 11am to reach the peak. We didn't kill ourselves, taking breaks to watch the sun rise, clean up a little at the tram station, and taking care not to roll ankles on the rocky parts of the upper path.

Here is a Strava recording of our hike:
[url]
http://www.strava.com/activities/141928781
[/url]

(As an aside, the GPS didn't capture the full 27 miles and Strava counts every up step as elevation, that's why the numbers are a little off)

That all being said, this route is a butt-kicker of epic proportions by any yard stick you care to measure!

We beat the heat just fine since we were over 5,000 feet by sunrise, but the final couple miles up to the tram are especially humbling in extreme. Every step is an effort and you always think you're just five minutes away from Long Valley, but then you find out you have to go up yet another step, agonizing switchback, and you're actually at least a half hour away. You just have to have courage, suck it up, and use everything within you to keep moving forward...also obviously, there's no going back down!

The first 11 miles up to the tram are - not accounting for altitude - harder than Whitney hands down. If this is the 5th hardest hike in the US, I have no interest in doing 1 through 4.

However, the 2nd leg of the journey from the tram to the top is much more Whitney-like and do-able. It's magical as you reach the top and see the snow-capped peaks and the view, even on a day like yesterday with a lot of haze from the fires, is out of this world.

On the way back down to the tram I reflected on how fortunate we were not to have injured ourselves in anyway and how blessed and unworthy I was to have experienced such a day. It was a lifetime achievement and something I hopefully will never forget.

To anyone who's thinking of attempting this beast, take it seriously, this hike is not to be trifled with. Even then, know it's going to be gnarly-poo in the extreme.

We didn't run into anybody else on the Skyline trail, but there were hoards of hikers after 10am on the upper path coming off the tram and we were appalled by how so many of them were seemingly completely clueless and unprepared: no sunscreen, no proper covering (the sun was baking up their by noon), and tiny little 8 ounce bottles as their only source of fluids.

We knew a lot of these jokers wouldn't make it up to peak without getting into serious trouble. There really should be a sign out by the ranger station warning people to take proper precautions. I bet the rangers stay busy rescuing people in a bind!

But all is all it was an world class event and something unique: I don't know where else you can go and climb 10,000 straight up, at least here in the lower 48 states.

Thanks to all on this board for all the advice and descriptions which we read before making our attempt. Without it, we surely would not have been successful.

Sincerely,

Joe Seeley