Skyline - 11/19/11

[PatrickSupra]

I went up yesterday with two friends, one of them being a first timer. We left the museum at 7:20am and rocked the first few miles. Before we knew it, we had hit the first rescue box and continued on after stopping for a second and leaving some water. We passed three or four groups of two/three hikers between the rescue box and flat rock.

Our time to flat rock was 3:02, where we ran into Ellen and Jim. They continued on and we stopped to enjoy our turkey sandwiches and some beef jerkey and fruit rolls. I knew my sub-5 hour was within grasp, but the ice on the trail had me worried. I had no idea...

So we start again after a 40 minute break at flat rock (the longest I've taken there). The mile after flat rock is what always kills me but this time I had good legs and made great time to the traverse. My friend Len bought new shoes the night before and decided to "break them in" on Skyline. Needless to say his feet were killing him at this point and he started to fall back. His girlfriend Laura and I pushed forward. We turn the corner after the TYJ rocks and immediately regret not bringing spikes. The ice was slick and more than I had expected but with careful footing we pressed on and hit BFR in no time. The last few switchbacks up to the notch were no fun but I kept looking at my watch and knew I wasn't only going to go sub-5, but I was getting damn close to sub-4. After a few close slips we finally reached the top where Ellen and Jim, and two Korean guys doing the full C2C, were just finishing as well. First thing I do when we finish is check my watch again and couldn't believe it. Final time: 4 hours 22 minutes. 3:02 to flat rock and 1:20 from flat rock to finish..... Without spikes.

Crappy TR but I'm sure Ellen will post one of hers soon.

[Ellen]

Howdy Patrick

CONGRATULATIONS on breaking 5 hours in less than stellar conditions and great trip report Thanks so much for the ride back to the museum.

It was great to see you looking so good at Flatrock. My eyes about popped out when you told me your time at the tram As I was going over the math, I realized that you could have easily gone sub-4 without the snow and a shorter break at Flatrock. I knew you were a greyhound

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[PatrickSupra]

I guess I cheated because I didn't count the time spent on my break at flat rock. My time was strictly time spent hiking. 3:02 to flat rock and 1:20 to the tram. Absolutely not a problem giving you two a ride. Any time!

[Sally]

Good job Patrick! You and the Craigmeister are getting me all fired up! I'm setting my next goal at under 5:30 (that's counting my rest breaks). If I can keep my break at Flat Rock to under 20 minutes, and if Ellen cracks the whip on me, I think I can do it.

[TDGillam]

Another Alien! in our midst! Thanks Patrick hope to see you again soon.

[PatrickSupra]

For the record, are breaks at Flat Rock (or any lunch breaks on Skyline for that matter) included in total time? If so, no more turkey sandwiches!

[bluerail]

...this is how it starts.

[KathyW]

I would think one would count their total time, not just their moving time. Of course you can't compare one person's time to another's on that trail because the mileage isn't consistent due to all the different paths.

If you run an official race, do they subtract out your break time from your total time?

I didn't realize hiking or running up Skyline had become a competitive challenge. Probably because I'm too slow to be one of the contenders in the competition.

[bluerail]

I use skyline to gauge where I'm at....not in competion with other people. It has become a very good way of keeping track of what shape I'm in (or not in). I do have personal goals though and I keep track of my yearly total just because it usually amazes me and makes me realize I need to get a life.

[PatrickSupra]

I'm competing with no one but myself. I just wanted to make sure that when I post times on this forum, they are accurate and on the same "scale" as everyone else.