The Craigmeister and I started at 6 AM, reveling in the cool conditions. I was more klutzy than usual and tripped on a rock past the picnic tables, bloodying both forearms
At the top of Shade Rock, I added to the carnage by poking my leg right below my shorts. The view of snow covered San Jacinto near 4 K was both breathtaking and unnerving. Craig dryly noted, "Yeah, I think we'll have snow on Skyline today." The weather was just perfect -- I even enjoyed the Never Ending Ridge, where we met Kathy Wing and her group 
Once we passed through Flat Rock, we started seeing small patches of snow. We met Elena and her companion at about 7 K -- she is a professional photographer and hopefully took lots of pictures. There is something very magical about being on Skyline with snow flocked trees and mist. There was no substantive snow on the trail until we reached the Thank you Jesus Rocks heralding the beginning of the traverse. Then -- boom! -- we were treated to a winter wonderland.
Fortunately, previous hikers had broken in the trail. Since the snow was fresh, the footing was not icy. When we caught up with Indie Jack, Kathryn and other San Jacinto hikers, we thanked them for leading the way. It turned out someone else had laid the track before them. I was hoping we would encounter these folks so we could thank them -- stay tuned.
It was fun to see the expressions of other hikers in full winter gear when Craig and I (Team Polar Bear) passed them wearing only shorts and t-shirts. We reached Grubbs Notch at 11:05 and made our way over to the cement switchbacks. Craig, Kathryn, Indie and others had extra clothing stashed at the tram station. Craig noted: "We can have our beer in 5 minutes or 5 hours" at the bottom of the ramp. I was sorely tempted to call it a day. I think both of us were waiting for the other person to pull the pin first
While Craig was donning warmer clothing, I tended to my wounds, then did the same. We took a deep breath, girded our loins and headed down the ramp. It felt like the middle of winter rather than fall.
I was astonished at the amount of snow in Long Valley. Although, some brave souls had beaten in the trail, I was dragging all the way to Round Valley. I could my feel hands start to go (they've been more sensitive to cold since the 2008 "event") and donned mittens and a beanie. Craig waited for me at Wellman's, then we began the looong slog up the trail to the Miller switchback. I apologized for my slow pace, Craig said no worries, he was feeling the effort as well. This part of C2C is hard on me even without snow
We continued to grind our way up, finally passing my winter home and beginning the tricky climb up through the rocks to the summit. I was amazed at the caravan of folks going up and going down in the final section. Took quick summit photos with my phone, then made our way carefully back down through the rocks. I landed on my butt more than once. Craig kindly accompanied me to the hut for a quick fuel break. When we started down again, people were still heading up to the summit
This was concerning, as it was after 3:30.
We booked down the main trail to the Ranger Trail. Craig went on ahead. I was talking with Jeff, who needed to get back to his tent in Round Valley. We should have cut over in upper Tamarack, but dropped too low and lost a fair amount of time making our way back over to the main trail. We saw the CCC tent camp on the way. Said our farewells at the trail, then I headed for the barn, singing "Homeward Bound." Due to the latest of the day, the trail had iced up significantly. I switched my tune to "Slip Sliding Away."
It seemed to take forever, but finally I was heading up the cement switchbacks for the second time of the day. Poor Craig had been waiting nearly an hour
Said "hi" to Tina and friends and had a very quick beer before grabbing the next tram down. As we were heading to his car, we ran into two hikers who needed a ride to the museum. Turns out, these gentlemen were the Angels who had broken in the trail on Skyline. Talk about Karma. Craig headed home and I fueled up at Las C so I could make the drive home.
Absolutely my hardest C2C ever.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
