interesting trail

[marmot]

its the skyline trail, and it goes up from the museum all the way to the top of the tram station. i took off on this trail, just to see how far i could go. wow, what an amazing trail, it cuts across the steep mountainside, its amazing, makes you feel like an ant. great trail with cacti and giant lizards. I found the first few miles to be exhaustively steep, but a huge bushy desert hill dominated the view, it looked like a big yucca stood on top, it also had a steep mountainside, and i knew that the trail would probably come to the top of this hill by following the ridge. and the trail did, through a series of small desert bumps along the way. once i passed this desert hill, i continued on the ridge. i passed the"Ohhhh" in rock letters on the way up, and a rock pile. im not sure the elevation of this was. Now, Instead of seeing a steep desert barren mountainside to the northwest, i saw a gradual slope filled with pinyon pines and trees. i thought to myself that i must be at a high elevation, around 4500 feet. i was making good progress. i continued through the pinyon trees over a couple of bumps. then the trail started to switchback down after reaching a small saddle, and then it continued west to another small saddle; went around a high bump. im guessing this saddle was around 5000 feet but im not sure. that is where i turned around, i was exhausted, and i was suffering from severe cramps and dehydration. i looked towards the top of the tram station, and it still looked like zillion miles away. I wasnt physically or mentally prepared to make the remaining 3500 feet. Because of the cramps and dehydration, i had to stop every so often on the way down. once i got to the bottom, i was just about ready to collapse.
im guessing i made it about half way up to the tram

i was drinking plenty of water throughout the hike, but i was still really dehydrated, does gatorade help?
Does not eating breakfast beforehand severely affect hiking ability? In your own experiences?
what are some hikes that will prepare me for the skyline?

[Perry]

weird. never heard of that one.

[Guest]

weird. never heard of that one.

thanks for the sarcasm,

now im wondering what elevation the rock pile and the "Ohhhh" in rock letters is at, about 4000 feet? does anyone know?

[Perry]

Just kidding around! It is an amazing trail. This time of year, I would keep two gallons of gatorade in the freezer the night before and bring salt tablets. Actually this time of year, I usually don't do it. I think some of the other hikers have the exact elevations of all the features. Somebody will probably respond with a better answer over the next few days....

[marmot]

oh, okay cool, thanks for running this great forum

[Cy Kaicener]

I would estimate the rockpile at about 4200 feet and the saddle where it drops down at about 4800 feet. From there to Long Valley is another 4000 ft of elevation gain. You should do a warm up hike of 5000 ft gain one or two weeks before attempting to go to the upper tram station, and go with someone who has done it before. Get a very early start to beat most of the heat.

[AlanK]

marmot -- I agree that Skyline is a great trail. By the time you reach the tram you have been through several climate zones and major changes of scenery.

You asked about hikes that would prepare you for Skyline. I don't know what your experience is, but there are plenty of Southern California hikes that will give you the satisfaction of reaching a nice peak while challenging you with less than 8000' of climbing. One of the classics are San Gorgonio via the Vivian Creek Trail. Further west, there is Mt. Baldy, which can be climbed in many ways. The Bear Flat Trail from Baldy Village gains 6000' in 6 miles. The Ski Hut Trail from Manker Flat gains 4000' in 4 miles. These and others are good hikes in themselves and good preparation for Skyline.

Actually, I think that the Mt. Whitney Main Trail is pretty good preparation for Skyline.

[Perry]

This time of year, once you make it halfway it's better to go all the way to the tram. Dehydration cramps make it difficult to walk downhill and the desert gets very hot in the afternoon.

Breakfast for sure. Makes a big difference.

[zippetydude]

Hi Marmot.

Maybe I'm upside down, but I took the rocks to say "4440" and I thought it was indicating that someone with a GPS was saying the trail was at 4440 feet at that point, or altitude-wise about halfway up. (I think Grubb's Notch is at about 8450, the museum is at about 450, if you take half of the 8000 foot difference - which is 4000 - and add it to the starting altitude, it would mean the vertical halfway point is at about 4440.)

Of course, by that point on the trail I'm usually getting kind of delirious and will sometimes play math games in my head just to keep my mind entertained, so I may be wrong. I'm about to get a new GPS, and I'll check the altitude next time I go by that pile of rocks.

Maybe the person who put the rocks there will post the answer to this mystery most profound.

z

[marmot]

know what would be weird, if somebody just continued from the picnic tables up the skyline thinking that it connects with ramon road somehow. at the rockpile, they look down at the city way down below, and they think, "gee, i wonder when its going to meet up with ramon road way down below." ha, talk about angles.