. I joined this forum a while back and you were all so helpful with info on the local conditions. Since then my girlfriend, our dogs and myself have made a few expeditions up the Museum Trail to the Skyline Trail with the notion of building up to the full climb to the Tram. One observation so far, you are all one of the largest group of masochists I have ever come across 
. unlike any other trail I've hiked, this one just does not seem to get any easier with time.
We hike in the evening/early morning to spare our dogs the heat. This makes it a little difficult to get a large visual reference point, and I do not yet own a GPS or altimeter (I'm just not that high -tech). My girlfriend however is a complete data hound and is wanting an approximate idea of how high up we are. To give an idea of our pace, on our last hike, we made it from the base of the Museum Trail to the Skyline Trail sign (Do Not Go Any Further Without.......) in approximately 50 minutes. We hiked for a total of 2.5 hours stopping at what appeared in the moonlight and headlamps to be the last of the frontmost peaks of the foothills before the trail possibly descended into a saddle to rise into another peak that seemed to be of a different composition (not brown and rocky). About twenty minutes before stopping we passed several tall, thin, white trees (about 8-10 feet tall with upward sloping branches and small green? leaves). Does anyone have any idea where approximately we stopped (either altitude of GPS estimate)
? Also we climbed a series of tight switchbacks up a very high sheer rock wall with a few white arrows near the end. Are these the shaded switchbacks to which Cy is always referring ?
Finally, a more down to Earth question: are there any shops in the Coachella valley to purchase hiking shoes/boots? Where do you all shop? And do you have any reccomendations for shoes/boots? The North Face light hikers which stood us in such good stead in Colorado are being absolutely torn apart by this trail. (My girlfriend has gone through two pairs in the last month)
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Thank you all again for any advice you can pass along.
