It was so nice to start Skyline in the daylight on Wed that I came back for a repeat on Fri
With the storm forecast, I suspected that this may be my last Skyline this fall. My muscles were also nearly recovered thanks to the wonderful Thanksgiving feast. I started at 7 AM. Although not warm, the desert sun was intense -- glad I wore suncreen.
Right before the Ramon Rd trail junction, I ran into four nice gentlemen (Skyline newbies) hiking towards me. Found out their destination was the tram and turned them around. Described the snow conditions from Flat Rock on, then continued on my way. Passed a man and woman at 4.3 K and a man resting at the bottom on the 5 K ridge.
I was surprised to find that the trail from Flatrock up to the traverse was already icy in spots. Fortunately, the traverse was in great shape -- snow was still soft. I put on my microspikes for extra security. After hiking in the sun all day, the cold air on the traverse felt heavenly. Ate lunch at Grubbs notch, hoping that the other Skyliners would show up so I could share a cab.
The man I had passed below 5 K crested, sighed, and shook his head. Classic reaction to completing Skyline for the first time
We chatted a bit -- turns out he is a seasoned PCT hiker and is even in a PCT video. He wanted to do the Full Monty, so rather than scrambling up the rocks to the tram, I walked with Doug (PCT name = Breathe Right) over to the cemet switchbacks and pointed out the ranger station.
I enjoyed the Sam Adams Winterfest beer at the bar and called Indie Jack to update him on Skyline conditions. Bless the man -- he shuttled me back to my car and then headed up the museum trail for a quick workout.
I chowed down at Las Casuelas and headed home.
Lilbitmo called me Friday evening about hiking from the tram -- yippee!!! Saturday morning was reunion of my San Jacinto friends -- Kathryn, Lindella, Lilbitmo, Norma, and Hengst Joe. Norma was taking a friend on her first snow hike. This was Lindella's first hike up San Jacinto in the snow. Team Artic Wolf leader Libitmo, Kathryn, Lindella, Joe and I headed up Sid Davis to Tamarack valley, then followed the tracks that Lance and I had made last Sunday up to the main trail. Air temp wasn't bad, but the wind was chilly. We got to the summit -- it was incredibly icy and very cold due to the wind chill.
When it was my turn for a summit photo, I held slain Riverside Police Officer Ryan Bonaminio's badge and an American flag bandana.
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A big piece of ice broke off the sign, so I held that up for another photo.
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I clambered down carefully and suddenly saw Lilbitmo flying through the air
My heart stopped. He'd hit an icy section on the flat summit rock and lost his footing. He knew he was going down and had enough presence of mind and skill to launch himself towards an area of soft snow. Only his camera got hurt. Lilbitmo -- please DON'T EVER do that again 
We had lunch in the hut and met Tim (Sierra Madre SAR member) and his wife Cathrine. Then, lo and behold, the Dynamic Duo appeared -- they'd come up Skyline
and were on their way to the summit. Speedy Steve and Fern joined us for a bit until we all got too cold to stay. The Dynamic Duo headed for the summit and we started down -- the cloud cover over San J looked ominous and we didn't want to get caught. We retraced our path to the tram. Even after a C2C, the Dynamic Duo beat us back to the tram Enjoyed various beverages at the tram bar (I confess that I had beer again) before battling the @#$%^& traffic home.
We took ice-axes and crampons but did not require them. I do not know the conditions since the storm last night but would be prepared for ice.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Team Artic Wolf
with all this snow coming in we have to make some plans for some of those routes we did last year, let me know if you have any in mind?
