Skyline Trail /c2c in September and October

[wingding]

I don't have to work this Sunday, so I think I might try to do Skyline to the Tram. Anyone going to be heading up the Skyline Trail on Sunday?

[Cy Kaicener]

Here are a couple of interesting pictures from an October blog
http://dcube.blogspot.com/

[Cy Kaicener]

Rob, John M, and I did the Skyline in eight hours with a refreshing cool breeze the whole time. John was feeling so good that he has gone to the peak and should return in the dark. Zippedydude and three other runners way behind him zipped right past us. The best part was getting a ride back to our cars with four other women, two of which did Skyline as well. The other two are coming with me in mid March

[john m]

A big thanks to Rob and Cy for taking a first timer up the trail. I had a great hike with them and the first time is always the most memorable! I continued on to the summit and arrived at 215pm, standing room only on a Saturday afternoon. Back to the tram by 445pm and to my car by 530pm with the help of some interesting tourists.

All in all, it was an epic hiking day, long but very fulfilling. Skyline is a great trail and I plan to be back often. Thanks to all who post on this board and particularly to Cy (on his 219th trip up!) for all of his guidance and trail information.

As for the five separate guys who ran past us, you're superhuman, especially the one I passed on the way to the summit later on who had run to the summit from the valley floor and looked as though he hardly had broken a sweat.

[zippetydude]

Great job all you crazy thrillseekers who did the trail last weekend.

Cy, it's always good to see you out there. Did you realize that when you completed 125 times on the trail you surpassed 1,000,000 - yes, one million! - feet of elevation gain? That's roughly the same distance as hiking up to the space shuttle, which typically orbits at 300km above the earth. Now you're closing in on 2,000,000! That would be as much above the space shuttle as the space shuttle is above earth. And with skyline, not one inch is given freely - you've had to earn each trip. Sweet. You have some real tenacity inside.

Rob & John - my apologies if I was rude in passing - I should have introduced myself properly. I was so caught up in setting a personal speed record (which is about 50 minutes slower than Perry's speed!) that I forgot to do so. Congrats especially to John M, as it was your first time. Hope to see you guys out there again soon.

I'm taking the other route up (from Snow Creek on the PCT) next weekend, over the peak and on down to the tram. Hope to see some of you at the one of the tram stations. The way I'll be going is not nearly so steep, but is correspondingly longer. Hopefully bcox will be able to go with - everything looks good at this point. Wish us luck!

z

[Cy Kaicener]

Zippedydude - The teachers must have loved you at school and college. Those are awesome calculations. Your next task is to figure out how many miles and elevation gain you do in a year Do a week first, or a month, and then multiply. It might be a good idea to put in hours hiked or run and then include a graph. Maybe thats not such a good idea.
Here is another thread about a guy called Doug Mantle on a Baden Powell topic that you might enjoy
http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1535
http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1523

[wingding]

It sounds like everyone had a great day on Saturday. I ended up doing Galena Peak over in the San G. area instead of the Skyline Trail. Now I'm hoping to do the Skyline trail November 24th or 25th. Eventually, I'll get up past the tram.

[Yichus]

Hi, John:

Congratulations on your first Cactus to Clouds! I'm glad that you made it safely to the peak and back and that you were also able to get a ride back to the Museum. I really enjoyed hiking with you -- you're a lot of fun, and I admire your enthusiasm for the outdoors.

As I mentioned to you during the hike, I usually run Skyline (in a few hours, on a so-so day, and with ten breaks), but since you and Cy looked as though you needed company, coupled with the fact that I was operating on only three hours of sleep, I thought I'd take it easy, give you guys some company, and, well, enjoy the scenery, which I never really noticed before, given the lightning-fast speed at which I run the trail (inside joke).

Again, congrats and I look forward to hiking with you and Cy again soon--perhaps on a Friday.

By the way, next time—for sure—we’ll have chilled lemonade waiting for us at Flat Rock, along with breakfast of our choice.

[Yichus]

Hi, Zippedydude:

Oh, no apologies necessary. In fact, we should apologize…for not getting out of your way sooner. You came up on us so fast, a trail of catch-me-if-you-can dust in your wake, that we didn’t have time to clear the trail.

Good luck on your run up the PCT from Snow Creek. Watch out for rattlesnakes. They might still be out given the warm temps we’ve been experiencing. The Snow Creek area is known for its abundant rattlesnake population, at least that’s what I’ve both heard and read.

Rob

[Cy Kaicener]

This looks like its going to be another hi traffic day on Skyline this week end. The Sierra Club will start their postponed trip around midnight. I am thinking of going with them so I have lots of time to do the peak. I had previously mentioned going at 3.30 am.. There should be about half a moon. I will be looking forward to Zippedyude's trip report on the PCT.