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?