C2C Trip Report from Friday, May 20th

[summitbagger]

Our group consisted of 4 hikers--Trista, Sharif, Leo, and Eric. All of us had attempted C2C back on December 3rd. But, unfamiliarity with the route and the short day caused Trista and Sharif to turn around just after Round Valley and Leo and me to turn around about 1000 vertical feet from the summit (in retrospect, we really had no idea where we were so it's doubtful we would've found our way to the top even if darkness hadn't set in). On April 16th, Trista and Sharif went up again from the bottom on a scouting mission. They got to the Rangers Station where they were informed of deep snow ahead. Lacking snowshoes, they opted for beers at the tram station and a ride down. On May 1st, Trista took the tram up for another reconnaissance mission. This time she brought her snowshoes and found her way to the summit.

So, this past Friday we set off to finally complete the entire C2C. Leo and I had been scheduled to climb Mt. Shasta, but unsettled weather up there made us scuttle those plans. Another shot at C2C would be our new plan. Having run out of sunlight when the trail got the most difficult to navigate the first time, we were determined to get an early start. So, we set our alarms for midnight and reached the trailhead at 1AM. An ungodly hour, but we weren't going to take any chances, especially since Sharif, Leo, and I had flown down from the Bay Area, and Trista had taken the day and a half off to lead her boys. Also to be on the safe side, we decided to lug along our snowshoes and microspikes. We kept checking this forum, but we couldn't find a post from anyone who had actually reached the summit without snowshoes since the recent storm. Last December, we carried crampons and ice axes too so at least these 20-pound packs were still a little lighter than back then. Either way, they were still lighter than the monkeys on our backs from the failed attempt.

We only had a little trouble following the white dots lower down on the trail, but that was mainly because we preferred hiking by moonlight with our headlamps off. The blue-tinged landscape was awesome. The calf-scratching bushes, not so much. We kept up a fairly steady pace and took a couple generous breaks (picnic benches, Flat Rock) and got up to Long Valley in just under 8 hours.

We dropped our bags off at the Rangers Station and walked up to the Tram Station for some sandwiches. The PBJ's we brought along were already getting tiresome. Unfortunately, the restaurants hadn't opened yet. Argh! The extra energy expended going up the ramp would've been greatly appreciated later on. All told, we spent close to 1.5 hours in Long Valley.

The ranger said that we probably wouldn't need the snowshoes, but once again we decided to err on the side of caution and bring them along. We wore nothing on our boots until just after Round Valley where we donned our microspikes. They weren't the most effective in the slushy snow, and we probably would've done better bringing our crampons. Snowshoes with their longer teeth may have worked better as well, but we never took them off our backs.

Route finding was difficult, but thankfully Trista had been up this way just 3 weeks earlier so she was fairly familiar with the route even though the snow level had dropped significantly since then in spite of the recent storm. She used snowshoes from the Rangers Station on last time. There was no way we would've found our way to the top without her leading the way. Where Leo and I turned around back in December was directly east of the summit rather than south as this approach took us.

We forged our own route up the incline instead of going through Wellman Divide. Where the route from Wellman Divide intersected our own, we finally decided to dump the snowshoes. It was our cross to bear, but we could no longer bear the dead weight. Feeling less encumbered but no less tired, we shuffled our way through the world's longest switchbacks. We saw "myotherboots" Robin on her way down. She had passed us a little after Round Valley and darted up the incline with a pace we could only match if we were going downhill. Is there a jetpack under that cowboy hat?

Not knowing exactly where the summit was but knowing that it had to be higher than all of the surrounding peaks, we kept plodding ahead. Finally, at around 2:45, about 13 hours and 40 minutes after we left the museum parking lot, we bagged the elusive summit. A light cloud cover obscured much of the view but it made it for a true Cactus to Clouds experience.

We hung out at the top for a while and then stomped our way back to the tram, arriving a little before 6:00 (so, all told a nearly 16-hour day on 2 hours of sleep). The final steps up the ramp were interminable, but they were much easier without the monkeys on our backs. We can't promise to be back anytime soon, but we can be sure that we won't forget our adventure on C2C anytime soon either.

Thanks for sharing your mountain and your wonderful forum with us!
Eric, Leo, Sharif, and Trista

[Sally]

Congratulations on your C2C to all of you! Anyone who can lug a pair of snowshoes up Skyline is a real trooper. Thanks for a great TR.

[Ellen]

Howdy SummitBagger

Congratulations on your C2C and thank you for a great trip report
I'm really impressed you carried all that gear up Skyline

Yes, I think Robin does have a jet pack, though she's so lean I don't know where she hides it

Hope to meet you on a trail sometime.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[Hikin_Jim]

Nice climbin'

HJ

[summitbagger]

Thanks Sally, Ellen, and Jim. Nice to hear the congratulatory words from the regulars. Trista had the pleasure of meeting you Ellen on a couple of her climbs, and we were all hoping to run into you again this last time. Every time we heard a rustle behind us we thought it was you catching up to us. Maybe we'll all come down again to join you on one of your group hikes; you seem like a great bunch.

Eric

[Ellen]

Howdy Eric

Aha, I though Trista looked familiar

Please join us on the next moonlight Skyline hike this fall. Probably Saturday Nov 12, starting at O dark hundred (1 AM).

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[myotherboots]

Great job Eric, Trista, Leo and Sharif! You certainly did your homework and were very prepared...it is nice to see that out there!

Trista, those were some nice looking snowshoes you taking on a walk... Had to laugh at all of us spread out all over the drainage on the way up to Wellman...

Come join us again soon!

Robin