Too Hot?

[marmot]

Well, its just about mid- june again, and i want to have a go at the skyline trail again. I want to start around midnight to beat the summer heat, but does it really beat the summer heat? are the nights still really hot, like in the 90s and 100s?
Its seems like when I travel in the dark or at night, hiking seems to be quicker, for me anyway.
I tried the skyline in late may shortly after sunrise, and i had to turn around at 5000 feet, i was descending in the dead of afternoon and the heat was incredible and almost unbearable (which made my cramps, my tiredness only worse).
the only thing is that i wont be able to enjoy the scenery and biome changes as much now

[Cy Kaicener]

At midnight the temperature should be around 80 degrees, and drops one degree for every 250 ft you go up. Also you lose one pound of body fluids for every one thousand feet you hike up. Here is a trip report that might interest you. http://www.dayhiker.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000124.html

[TRumble24]

If your gonna do it this time of year, starting at midnight is the way to go. My friends and possibly my dad are going to do it in July or August, and the first time I ever did it was in August and we started at 1am. The goal is to get to the treeline by sunrise, because once that sun comes up it gets nasty with it beating down on you.

[zippetydude]

Marmotdude: It was 113 degrees in Palm Springs yesterday, but since I was in town I did C2C anyway this morning. I started about 5:00 a.m., and it was hot in Palm Springs, but it got cooler as I went. In fact, the first 3 miles were a little warm - nothing really unpleasant - and the later part of the trail was actually not all that much warmer than when I've done it at other times of the year. Still just as steep, still kicked my butt, but when all is said and done, it was a great trip up and it was nice at the top.

I ran into three guys doing the trip as well, one of them was a 13 year old. He was cruising right along and did not seem to think it was particularly hot either.

If you decide to go, it really is more pleasant in the fall, but it's surprisingly functional even right now. One caveat: I tend to keep about a 4 hour pace - if you go slower it could get a lot hotter, which would erase everything I said above. You might do well to hook up with one of the experts of the trail, like Cy, who has done the trail enough times to know what you'll need and can guide you through safely. In any case, you're right, it is an interesting trail.

z

[TRumble24]

I tend to keep about a 4 hour pace - if you go slower it could get a lot hotter,

z

Good point, pace definatley plays a factor. I'm average/slow depending on how I feel thats why I like to get the midnight-1am starts and avoid that heat as much as possible. I also enjoy doing most of it in the dark, especially if you plan it on a full moon, it's really a beautiful night hike.

[AlanK]

A couple of years ago, we did C2C at the end of June. The high was 112 in Palm Springs. We got going by 5 AM and managed to beat the real heat, although still found ourselves hiking in 90 degree temperatures for part of the time. (After all, it's probably in the 80s at 5 AM in Palm Springs in summer.) As others have said, the keys are overall pace, judging how much hiking you need to get in before the sun comes up, and knowing how high a temperature you're willing to tolerate on a hard uphill hike.

I would also add, in the spirit of marmot's post, that I would really dislike descending into the heat of the day in Palm Springs. Setting out should mean committing to going at least as far as the tram. I would therefore make sure I was prepared for hiking up 8000 feet by doing some of hte other climbs in the general area, like Baldy via Bear Flat (6000' in 6 miles), Vivian Creek, etc. C2C is not a good hike to use to find out if you likegoing uphill. It's a great hike to do if you really love going uphill.

[zippetydude]

Good points by Alan and Trumble. I hadn't realized how much the pace matters until it was mentioned here.

On Sunday, I left at 5:00. The temp was about 80. After the first hour (each hour being about 2000 feet higher) the temp was 74, the second hour the temp was 70, the third hour 67, and the temperature at the top was 66.

If I had gone at an 8 hour pace, I would have been at slick rock (Marmot: since you haven't had the chance to do this part yet, let me mention that slick rock is where the trail gets much steeper) at about 6 hours, and the temperature starting into the steepest part of the whole trip would have been about 83. I'm fine at 67, at 83 I would've been hating life.

I think Alan had some great advice about the prep - that's how I did it. I heard about C2C, tried it out a little just like Marmot, going up and back a few miles, then went up Vivian Creek, South Fork, San Bernardino, and Forsee Creek trails all summer. Beautiful trails in cool mountains, then did C2C all the way during the fall.

z

[TRumble24]

and the temperature starting into the steepest part of the whole trip would have been about 83. I'm fine at 67, at 83 I would've been hating life.

z

Hahaha wow you just described my first C2C experience in a nutshell, in fact after doing it for the first time I marked the spot on the map where I started to hate life, right after slick rock.

On the topic of pacing, if your not naturally good at keeping a pace, as I sometimes am not, GPS really helps out alot. I use my GPS my maintain my pace and schedule my rests, it made C2C go alot more smoothly. [/i]

[zippetydude]

Good post - I like the part about marking the place on the map.

I remember a couple of years ago I was doing a 50k run in Ridgecrest, and I made a mental note at mile 24 "Okay, I officially hate this now."

Worse still, a few years ago in the LA Marathon it got hot at about mile 20, and I remember thinking, "Too bad they closed the roads for this. I wish a car would hit me . . . then I could stop."

I would say that even though C2C is only about half the distance of a marathon, it's just as hard and takes me longer. Gives me lots of chances to whine really loud without anyone hearing. So, I guess the big question is: If a hiker whines in the wilderness and no one is around to hear it, is it really whining?

z

[Guest]

Haha an excellent question! I would say no, because when your out on a hike, especially one that is the caliber of C2C, whining a little is part of the process. It's all part of the morale swings, at least i get them, you feel real good for a couple miles, then the next one is a downer, but then you stop to stretch or get some fluids and you feel good again.

I liked your comment about the car, the first time I did C2C I was sitting on slick rock looking up the mountain, 1/2 a second away from calling the rescue unit, only debating with myself on if it would be worth the embarassment just to get myself off the stinking mountain. Of course looking back on it, that hike was a blast! Borderline masachism(sp?) maybe?