Cactus to Clouds Hiking Guide is Back Online!

[Hikin_Jim]

Did you see the snake joke at the end of the snakes section?

if you do stumble across a snake, then the rush of adrenaline may help you set a personal-best time on Skyline...

There's hope for me yet.

HJ

[Ed]

Thanks, Perry. Your previous hiking guide gave me the confidence to do the Skyline for the first time at the age of 69, and the prudence to wait for ideal conditions.

[bluerail]

I spent a bit of time going over the original....it was a big factor in calming my fears.

[Ellen]

Howdy Perry

I fell in love with this board when I first read the hiking guide and posts by the regular Skyliners back in the spring of 2007.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

[rwjlovestohike]

Thanks so much for your post and guide. I wanted to find out if you thought that a full round trip is advisable/feasible as a precursor to a Whitney day hike. I am doing Whitney June 18th.

Mileage would be same, elevation gain is an extra 6k with C2C, but I Whitney has and extra 4k of peak elevation.

I'd appreciate yours or anyone else's thoughts who has done Whitney.

Thanks much.

[Hikin_Jim]

Thanks so much for your post and guide. I wanted to find out if you thought that a full round trip is advisable/feasible as a precursor to a Whitney day hike. I am doing Whitney June 18th.

Mileage would be same, elevation gain is an extra 6k with C2C, but I Whitney has and extra 4k of peak elevation.

I'd appreciate yours or anyone else's thoughts who has done Whitney.

Thanks much.

Whitney is a good training hike for C2C.

HJ

[zippetydude]

I've done both, and to me they feel almost the same. For example, climbing Whitney takes me only about 10 minutes longer than going from the museum to Grubbs Notch (where Skyline tops out at the tram). The effort feels very similar too. The energy required for Skyline is slightly more, but the lack of oxygen on Whitney - especially above Trail Crest - saps the energy out of you just about the same.

Of course, coming back down Whitney is much harder than taking the tram back down, but it's more time consuming than difficult. The last 2 miles coming back down from Lone Pine Lake kinda seem like they take forever because you're already tired by then. It's a great experience overall. Good luck on your adventure!

z

[rwjlovestohike]

[/quote]Whitney is a good training hike for C2C.

HJ[/quote]

[rwjlovestohike]

Thanks Zips...I was kind thinking along those lines. And, at least it would give me a proper timing gauge.

[bcrowell]

I've done C2C (riding the tram back down) and Whitney (crossing from west to east, after two weeks of altitude acclimatization). I suppose that descending Skyline would be similar to descending the Whitney Trail: an extreme form of physical punishment on your feet and knees, which may be necessary but will not be enjoyable. The difference is that in the case of C2C, the extra torture is optional -- so why would you subject yourself to it?

If you're already in good enough shape to do C2C the normal way, then you're in plenty good enough shape to do Whitney as a day hike, although you'll have the total lack of altitude acclimatization because of choosing to do it as a day hike. You could see your doctor for a prescription for diamox. Personally, when people say they're thinking of doing Whitney as a day hike, I always ask them why they would want to do such a thing. Lack of backpacking equipment and skills?