2008: A Full Moon Odyssey

[James]

WOW, WOW, WOW! When I first hiked Skyline back in May there was no moon out. Very dark and a sky filled with stars. It truly was a Portal to Another World.

Now, Friday, October 17th, exactly 5 months to the day later, the moon was full and the landscape visible all around. This was just as spectacular and no headlamp was needed.

I met up with Reego at the museum at about 2:45am and we hit the trail around 3:00am. Just as it was in May, stepping through the wall at the museum was like stepping out of an airplane door. But instead of parachuting to the ground, the destination was up, up, and up.

I hadn't been on any hikes in over two months and had been getting over a hamstring injury so I knew this would be a challenge. I was not disappointed…it was a challenge! But despite the huffing and puffing and aches, the hamstring held up ok.

Hiking by starlight is an amazing experience, ones eyes struggle to adjust to what is just out of reach of the headlamp making the hike unknown and exciting. By contrast, hiking by moonlight allows you to see everything you missed by starlight. The moon casts an eerie and artistic glow on rocks, cactus and canyons for miles around.

Just before Flat Rock, the sun came up and the glow off the mountain in front of us was spectacular. As was the glistening on the Salton Sea many miles away.

From there, Reego pulled ahead and I stopped at Coffman's Crag for a much needed snack. After getting to Long Valley, I did not know Reego had gone into the tram station to get breakfast. The maintenance crew had inadvertently obliterated a note Reego had written for me in the dirt.

Thinking Reego had headed for the summit, I filled out a permit and headed off in that direction. By now, the aches and pains (and hunger) were making the hike a chore and not enjoyable anymore. It was mind over matter at this point and that paid off with a nice photo at the summit just after 11:00am. No snow to turn me around this time, I'd made it!

But what happened to Reego?

After a couple of summit photos, I left a note for Reego in the summit hut register and headed back down. The hike back down was still aches and fatigue but I had renewed energy knowing there was some good food waiting at the end of this marathon. I tried hard to get the idea of steak fajitas out of my head. I was ready to eat the bark on the trees!

But then I ran into Reego coming up the trail. We talked a bit about the hike and the missed note on the trail. He too was aching but making good progress. He was headed to the summit then down the other side to camp at Little Round Valley. We wished each other luck as Reego headed toward the summit and I headed toward the tram.

Back in May, riding down the tram I was almost alone in the tramcar. This allowed me to have a few nice contemplative moments thinking about the desert and the snow, listening to Ottmar Leibert (do they ever play anything else in the tram cars?). This time though was different. It was later in the day and the tramcar was packed. I was the only hiker on board so I tried to stay a polite distance away from anyone for fear the 20+ miles might offend the olfactory senses around me. However, I was laughing about it inside, a small treat brought on by the last vestiges of released endorphins.

That night I treated myself to those steak fajitas (and ate like a pig all day Saturday too). The aches are subsiding and I am already thinking of next time. I never thought I would say that after hiking it twice but Skyline draws you in. It grips your imagination either by darkness, by moonlight, or the early morning alpenglow over the mountain.

The allure never fades; it only changes with the seasons.

James

[Reego]

I'm back home in San Diego after finishing my first Cactus to Clouds marathon. I can't give enough thanks to James! The hike was awesome from the start! I didn't even think to put my headlamp on at the start because I thought the city was creating a glow on the trail, when in fact the moonlight was leading the way up the trail for us. I only pulled my headlamp out for about a total of few minutes when we lost trail. The prettiest time on the trail was seeing Coffman's Crag shaded by the prettiest glow of pink due to the sun casting its first rays of the day on it. It probably appeared more pretty through my exhausted eyes than it was though! At the top I was hoping to find James and summit the peak with him and enjoy the feat together, but we must have just missed each other. I had gone up to the tram area to use the pay phone to make a quick reassuring call that I didn't get robbed or killed meeting up with some stranger on the trail (James) at 3 in the morning. I came down a bit later after using the phone and the facilities and cooked up breakfast on the picnic bench where I thought for sure I would see James passing by, but he had already probably passed, and I'm assuming we probably only missed each other by a few minutes. Since I hiked up skyline with all my backpacking gear to stay on the mountain Friday and Saturday nights I had a stove and a ton of oatmeal to cook up, so I cooked up the best tasting breakfast ever! After eating I mentally put on one of the strongest fights I have put on in a while to get myself to the peak. Once I got to the peak and relaxed and ate more food I barely made it down to Little Round Valley, where I cooked up more food. After eating for the 3rd time, I was done. I decided to post up and call it a day. I went to bed at 4pm and slept till 7am and slept the best of my life for 15 straight hours. The next morning I woke up super proud and decided to meander around San Jacinto and check out different parts since I was staying another night up on the mountain. I ended up hiking down to Suicide Rock, them over the Saddle Junction, then over to Laws Junction; the Caramba Trail from Saddle Junction to Laws Junction is one of my favorites! At Laws Junction I filtered out some water and started hiking again towards Long Valley. At Long Valley it was completely dark out so I hiked 2 more miles in the dark to Round Valley and camped there for the night with a total of 21 miles of hiking for the day. This morning I woke up at Round Valley with aching ankles and hole-ridden socks and hobbled to the Tram. The tram ride was my first ever! One of the workers was there for when the "Dirty Jobs" show on Discovery Channel showed up, so it was interesting to hear his story of doing the show and meeting Mike Rowe. I don't know if I'll be doing Skyline any time soon. For now I would like to hike various parts of the PCT in southern California to prep myself for my PCT thru-hike starting in mid-April. If I had to do Skyline again I would change some things. First off my pack was tad over 30 pounds, so I would try to lower this to about 25 pounds, but I always enjoy camping so I would definitely camp at the top again. I wouldn't carry as much water. I carried 4 liters in my pack. On the hike though I only needed 2 liters. I didn't even sip any water for the first 2 hours because I had so much water in my stomach. Before I started hiking with James I pounded 2 liters of water in my truck, one of those liters I added an electrolyte powder, which I guess worked really well since I didn't feel the need for water for 2 hours. I also wouldn't quite carry as much food in my pack, I still had enough food for 2 more meals this morning when I got home. One thing that helped me a ton was I carried two energy gel packets in my pockets during Skyline. I took one about 3 hours in and another at Coffman's Crag. These were great because I could shoot down the gel packet without stopping. The last one definitely boosted me to the top. I would probably carry three of those if I did it again. But those are all minor things. My time to the top was 5:20, not too shabby with a 30-pound pack! Thanks again, James, for a great moonlight hike! I don't think I would have did it as fast by myself. Right at the start of the hike I remember thinking to myself wow were blazing up this mountain! The pace never slowed and we kept going with our mission. Good luck next time with Skyline! I'm 100% positive you can break your 5:21 mark from the first time you did it, if you have a little more training behind you and a strong hamstring!

-Brian

[James]

Reego,

Thank you too for the great company and conversation on the hike. That was a great hike despite the fact I was aching more than the first time. Another nice thing was we really weren't looking to break any speed records. I don't think either one of us really thought about our time. We both were just amazed at the moonlit wilderness, the city below. The fact that we did go fast was likely attributed to the adrenaline the hike gives you. All of the things that make Skyline a special place.

Thanks again Reego, good luck with the PCT!

James