Skyline Sat May 28

[Ellen]

Howdy All

Robert and I left around 3:30 AM -- we were concerned about the heat. Ran into Ohiker (Mathew) on the ridge just above Shade Rock and RMRU Matt a bit below 4 K. Ran into Tim around Florian's cache.

Some @#$%^& left a bunch of empty Gatorade bottles in Saint Florian's cache. We packed them out -- Matt took most of them.

It's always a relief to reach the cooler, shaded traverse. When we popped up at Grubb's Notch, the wind was already howling. Speedy Steve and Robin started an hour later and arrived at Grubbs shortly after us

Thanks to Robert for his wonderful company and the celebratory beer. Also thanks to Tim and Mariko for giving us a ride back to our cars.

I suspect going to the summit today wasn't much fun with the wind

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[mattytreks]

Ellen- great seeing you and your friend on the trail! It sure was a beautiful day. I also saw bluerail on what I believe is referred to as Never Ending Ridge. Is bluerail Steve? If so, I can see why he's called Speedy

While scrambling up the final chute to Grubb's Notch we too heard the wind-a-howling, and decided to pass on a summit push. My thought was that it would have been that way all the way up.

All in all, a great day. This was my first time "leading" a Skyline trip -- I took some first-timers up and surprisingly didn't make one wrong turn, haha.

[Ellen]

Howdy Mathew

It was nice meeting you, too

Yes, Bluerail is Speedy Steve.

Great job getting everyone up Skyline safely Looking forward to seeing you on the trails again soon.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[rggibbons]

Hi Ellen,
Thanks so much - I had a fantastic time on Skyline yesterday! I'm really glad you were able to meet up again and start out early. I was a little worried about the possible heat but it wasn't too bad - warm but not miserable.

It was really nice meeting everyone on the trail. Good meeting you Matthew, and Matt and his group. And great seeing Steve again and meeting Robin...And a huge thanks to Tim and Mariko for the ride back to our cars.

I only get out to SoCal a few times a year so it's always really special to be able to hike San Jacinto. I've had people ask why I even bother, since I live in Colorado (which is known to have a couple trails too), but Skyline is probably still my favorite hike. It's just so unique and such a challenge.

Great to be back and hope to do it again in the fall...Robert

[David]

Ellen and Robert-
It was a pleasure to meet you at the top of the trail on Saturday. As I mentioned this was my first Skyline (and this is my first reply to a post). I was hoping to average 2.0 mph or better and came in at 1.9 mph. I left the museum at 5:00 am sharp and it was just after 10:00 when I saw you two. I hope try this hike again on Sat 6/11 so may well see you again. This hike has been on my to do list for over two years and it was great.
David

[rggibbons]

Hi David,
It was really nice meeting you too at the top of the trail Saturday. Wow, that's an impressive time for your first time on Skyline. I've never come close to doing it in five hours! Hope to see you on the trail again sometime...Have fun...Robert