hello everyone

[IgoslowUgoaround]

-waves-
WOW!
this is awesome!... i love the forum... read about it in the press enterprise this morning and joined up as soon as i got off work... i enjoy hiking and am planning on tackling "cactus to clouds" again late october... i am 31 and did it last year with only a couple weeks of getting into shape.... i only made it to the top o the tram in 8 hrs ... this year i plan on making it to the summit and hopefully with some new friends... i am going to start doing lil hikes like lykken and bump & grind to build back up my endurance (hiding in my climate controlled cave all summer)... anyone care to join me? lemmeknow if you are interested in the getting into shape hikes or the grand endeavor of a cactus to clouds adventure in the end of october...

[Perry]

Welcome. That's a great avatar! I love Calvin and Hobbes.

[IgoslowUgoaround]

thanks perry...
i did my first get back into shape hike and MAN i am out of shape... i started at the museum and had to stop 3x before i even made it to the tables ... i tried to go yesterday but saw a rattlesnake on the trail like 200 feet above the museum and turned back... that's the first rattlesnake i have EVER seen in the wild, and i have been hiking off and on for 15 years...yesterday i wore shorts but after the snake incident i wore levi's today... it was hot but -shrugs- better than a snakebite... i ran into three groups of people on their way down while i was going up and i wonder if any of them are members on here... well happy hiking and be careful of snakes!
-waves-

[guest]

Hi & Welcome,

May I suggest you hike the north side of Murray peak (Clare Burgess tr.)after you increase your fitness, it's not real easy to find. You can attempt to find it from the dirt road east of Von's Rimrock, but you need to use 2 dirt roads #& a couple trails to reach it.

Easier to hike up Araby (by SouthRidge Rim Crest) to top, go straight 1/4 mi. veer left & head east of old dirt road 1/2 mi. & look for the trail off to your right. You'll have to drop into a wash & back out to access the bottom of the trail.
It's like 2 Lykken's (or Museum trails) put together & one that many of us Skyliners use as a trainer.

ss

[zippetydude]

Hi. Glad to have you on the board!

By the way, there's good news and bad news.

The good news: Once it cools down, the rattlers mostly go away.

The bad news: Til then, Levis probably won't do much more than make you suffer from heat exhaustion. You can buy some snake chaps online, but they're cumbersome to the point that I never use them.

I don't blame you for being spooked, though. I'm the same way. Fortunately, Ellen usually goes ahead of me and scares them all away.

See you on the trail!

z

[Ellen]

Howdy and welcome

Love your screen name and avitar

Z-dude (man with cape) kindly left out an important detail about me being ahead of him on the trail to scare off the rattlers. It's easy to be in front of the fast folks when you start several hours ahead of them in the dark

Miles of smiles,
Ellen
Dead blond hiking

[IgoslowUgoaround]

-waves-
thank you everyone for making me feel so welcome and all the great advice... i am going to stick with getting into shape and hopefully i'll run into all of you in the splendor of our hiking trails and public lands...

p.s. last year a friend of mine showed me a really neat spot called "ladder canyon" out there in mecca... anybody else been there

[IgoslowUgoaround]

did my second hike... hiked the south lykken trail but ran outta sunlight and came down at the big empty water reservoir with all the graffitti on it... i saw two coyotes and they seemed pretty interested in me because they left after i continued towards them and then circled around behind me and hung out for a while... i tried to zoom in my cellphone camera enough to videotape them but it did not come out good at all -shrugs-... this year i have seen by far the most wildlife ever (it's prolly because of the dry summer)... it was pretty cool to see them... WOW i am in the worst shape of my life though because i had to stop 3x before i even reached the benches and was huffing the whole way ... this cushy sit-down job of mine has really taken a toll on me combined with my metabolism slowing and my refusal to change my diet at all... i WILL get it back though... i watched "the eiger sanction" on t.v. last night; man that movie is FULL of some beautiful scenery... it inspired me to get out there again even though i had stayed up pretty late and _______ on _______....
didn't see anybody out there today on the trail even though this is the coolest it has been in weeks... when i got back to my car i did see another car parked there and two dots moving up the trail in the distance... i wonder if they are members on here?... well gotta crash out, but i think i have decided on a date for C2C and that will be early morning on the 28th of october...
-waves-

[IgoslowUgoaround]

did my third hike today... did the lykken south again and made it to the first benches non-stop "YAY!" round trip (all the way to josephine vista park and back to my car) in 2 and a 1/2 hours... i am definately going to be ready for the big hike in october as long as the weather permits me... i saw two groups of people on the way their way down while i was going up again but i was too focused to say more than "hi"... i am always wondering if people i see are on this board... well i am going up the tram this sunday to scout out the way to the peak from the tram... biggest animals i saw today were the lil i dunno ground squirrels? tiny lil things the same size as a rat but with the bushy tail... well gotta crash for tonight

[guest]

Hi Igoslow,

Welcome to the board, and congrats of motivating yourself to improve your fitness, it really never is too late!
You have set a tight training schedule to get fit by the end of Oct, remember, it's like doing 8! Lykken's back to back, plus the added fatigue, altitude, energy consumption etc.

Many of us regular Skyliners train by hiking San Jac from the tram, and when the weather gets cold, the north side of Murray peak, either from the Araby tr. or behind the east side of Von's Rimrock, but this requires several trail & dirt road changes to find. It's about 2k ft of climbing & fairly steep, a bit like the last part of Skyline, minus the elevation.

If you do your "recon" from the top down on Skyline, be aware that the gov agencies don't recognize this as an official trail, and some folks have even covered part of the top trail over to keep tourists from hiking down & getting lost.

Most of us locals prefer to keep the trail low key and unmarked, so as always, if your not familiar with the whole trail, go with someone who is.

Happy hiking,maybe see you on the trail,

ss