Skyline Trail conditions

[kd]

Mark,

Simply fabulous says it all. The conditions were excellent. The weather stayed nice and cool and the desert flowers were popping.
I had a great time with my trail mates, Mark and Steve set a great pace that got us up out of the desert quickly. Dan and I spent a good deal of time with Ellen until after somewhere near the traverse, where she just found another gear that neither of us had. Ellen was amazing in that section.
We finished up at about 5:42-- happily suprised, it was Dan's first trip.
After a rest and some laughs we picked up a permit and hiked over to Humber Park via Willow Creek trail. The conditions up top were truly excellent also, the trail was in great shape and the creeks were full of running water. Oddly, we saw no other hikers between the tram and Saddle Junction. Devils slide, however was full of folks.
We got to Humber Park around 1:45 and waited for our ride. My friend Kathy brought her mountain bike and she and I rode down the Earnie Maxwell trail, over to the dirt control road ( the original Hemet to Idyllwild) and down to the bottom of the mountain.
I am a rookie mountain biker and after the first couple rocky sections, I wished I were still chasing Ellen up the last sections of Skyline (safer than riding). The west side of the mountain was popping with purple lylac and other wildflowers. We got to the bottom of the hill about 4:25.... just about a 12 hour trip. What a great day of adventure.
Mt San Jacinto truly is something special.

--Kevin

[Cy Kaicener]

Thanks for the trip report Mark and kd - I could kick myself for not going. I was faked out by Kevin's (the weatherman) pessimistic weather prediction.
We will be going this Saturday at around 2.00 am or soon after. The Outdoorsclub has a group going at 4.00 am if you come across a lot of people.

[zippetydude]

So that's what happened to you Cy! I was surprised not to see you. There was a great group up there, and I had a chance to meet many of the regulars from the board in person. Fun folks, one and all. I'm hoping to get a couple more trips in before the weather gets hot.

Mark - congrats again on your Personal Record!

Kathryn - great job on your first time!

kd - it was good talking with you and Dan at Flatrock. I guess you still had a whole lot more energy, since you kept hiking and biking for a few more hours. You don't get tired very easily!

Dan - I see from Kevin's post it was your first also. Well done!

Fernando - I'll be looking for you at the Tram Road Challenge! 39 minutes! Argh!

ss - I want you to show me that Shady Slope trick. I liked the path from the Notch over to the Tram - beats that cement walkway!

bluerail - I'm looking at the calendar trying to figure a good day to do the PCT. If the snow's gone, we might be able to squeeze it in before it gets too hot. We could always go in October, but I'd like to go sooner if possible.

Ellen: I always have fun talking to you. I learn a lot and can't wait to read that chapter we were talking about.

Tina: Too bad you weren't up at the top. We could have had some fun. I won't mention his name, but about halfway up, a guy asked me if I had seen a loudmouth blond. I won't say who it was, as I don't want to get him in any trouble. Okay, it was bluerail. Of course, I had no idea who he might be talking about, so I asked, "You mean Tina?" You know, you can't find this kind of abuse, er, I mean camaraderie, just anywhere!


Walt: If you happen to read this, we were thinkin' about you man. When are you gonna come out and suffer for fun again?


Incidentally, I noticed that nobody even looked tired this week. Well, nobody but me. These old legs are gonna have to step up to the plate if I'm gonna keep up with you young punks, posting faster and faster times every trip! Nice job out there everyone. See you out on the trail.

z

[waveluv]

Hi! I'm going up skyline this Saturday. When does the tram close? thats where we are going.

[drndr]

Predicting the weather was ridiculous this Sat. Besides KevinM saying the weather was going to be bad, NOAA also had it wrong. By 4am when I was leaving for the desert they had at least backed off the snow reports. They were still predicting high winds with low wind chill temps and some rain. Obviously turned out to be beautiful! And unfortunately I over packed expecting the worse. Again. We took 3 new people to skyline and they all made it and all had a blast.

[zippetydude]

drndr: Did we see each other on the trail?

Also, I've thought about bringing a couple of first timers, but I'm cautious. How long did they take? Did they enjoy the experience, or were they plotting your doom 30 minutes above Flatrock?

z

[Marknhj]

Also, I've thought about bringing a couple of first timers, but I'm cautious. How long did they take? Did they enjoy the experience, or were they plotting your doom 30 minutes above Flatrock?
z

I can give a personal perspective as it was drndr who lead me up Skyline for the first time, the same weekend one year ago. It was much warmer than this year and we made it up in just under 7 hours, which was perfect for me. One of our party was struggling half way and his friend, Mike, took her down after reaching 5000'.

I followed behind drndr and the LMB and after Flat Rock they kept telling me, "Don't look up"! We also played a word association game which was fun and took my mind off my aching quads. Mind you, every time since I've looked up and thought, "Good grief, I could be home watching Man U vs Chelsea"...

Of course, I then became overconfident and allowed the LMB to persuade me to go up again the following week, when it was 110. I almost keeled over above Flat Rock but was too exhausted to curse her name (much)...

[Hikin_Jim]

...allowed the LMB to persuade me ...

LMB? Loveable Mega-Babe no doubt.

[Kathryn]

Just wanted to say thanks to the group who I started up with on Skyline last Saturday...Ellen, Mark, Kevin, Dan and Steve-I fell behind at 4300', but thoroughly enjoyed your company to that point! Well, Steve got stuck with me at 4300'and had to go really, really slow at my pace, since I didn't know the way to the top. I had never been past 5000' before, so I really enjoyed seeing new terrain. The rest of the trail above Flat Rock was just as horrible as I had imagined it to be, after all that I had been told! Just awful! And at that point I kept telling myself- "I'm never going to do this again!" I promptly changed my mind shortly after the hike was over and plan to go up again this Sat. I also really enjoyed getting the opportunity to meet and put faces to the names of some people who I have seen on the board or have heard about through Skyline lore- zippetydude, ss and Fernando. We met along the trail and then again at the top and it was a real pleasure to have met you guys! The whole way up I was so preoccupied with just making it, since I really didn't know what to expect, that I paid absolutely no attention to how long I had been walking. Anyway, right as I climbed that last step, Mark ran over and told me my time. It was really cool to have someone keeping track and now I am really glad to know what it was.
Thanks again Everyone- Saturday was an awesome day on Skyline. I hope to see you all again some time!

[bluerail]

First off I want to clear something up. I didn't get "stuck" with Kathryn after 4300', it's just that after 20 years of living with the same person anytime you get to watch them suffer it's enjoyable.

I really want to say thanks to the group at the top, you guys made a great ending to a very memorable hike, and it was really nice getting to relax and spend some time with everybody.



Couldn't have been a nicer group. Although missing was LMB.

Speaking of which, she and I did a spur of the moment Baldy trip yesterday and ran into calicokat (k?). Nice to meet you if your out there buddy.

zip- I live in the desert and enjoy the heat. anytime you want to go just LMK....especially if you have a case of gatorade stashed along the trail.check your pms tomorrow.

ss - It's always a treat to run into you on the trail and nice to spend some time with you when everybody isn't in such a hurry.

fernando, if your out there, I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow.

mark, buddy, thanks for getting K through boot camp...now turn your tv off.

ellen, as always thank you and sorry we missed dinner.

kd, we all wonder where that gear of ellens comes from . it's like a perfect second gear, plenty of torque and speed on a steep incline. she never seems to hurt when the going gets crappy. weird.

It was really nice to finally get to spend sometime on the trail with you and hope we get to again soon. sounds like you had a great day saturday.

Karin, missed you girl !

thanks again guys - steve

ps..maybe we could stop the LMB thing here so I don't get pushed off a cliff in the middle of nowhere.