Skyline help

[bamm321]

Hello everybody. I just found these awesome boards, and registered, as i was doing some research on the skyline trail

I am 36 years old and have been an avid hiker for around 2 years now. Right now i do about 18 miles of hiking a week for exercise. Mostly on the bump and grind, and Murray peak. much of it in the sun and heat of the afternoons for conditioning.

I am feeling ready for something much bigger and I find myself gazing to the west and skyline calling to me lately. Really feeling the itch to take the trail up and ride the tram back down. I realize how serious this trail is though, and am hoping to find somebody that has done this before and wouldnt mind some company and showing me the ropes

My ideal day to do it would be a saturday so as to have sunday to recover before work.

Please Let me know if you might wanna help me out here. Maybe we can set up a short hike to meet and get familiar beforehand

[bluerail]

make sure it cools off, i was doing it with someone yesterday that has done it many times and easily does 30 a week and sometimes 100+ miles a week, the heat got to them and i ended up carrying their pack the last 3000 '

dont take it lightly, this trail kills. seriously, let it cool down.

[bamm321]

Thanks Blue. Yea, was thinking no earlier than first saturday in october.

Pretty crazy there. This trail definately has me nervous. Really feel i need to do it though

[Perry]

Bump n' Grind and Murray are nice workouts, but have you considered doing something longer to get ready for Skyline?

[Hikin_Jim]

The Vivian Creek Trail and Momyer Creek Trail (straight up to the divide; not to Alger Creek) are both good ones for high gain practice.

HJ

[bamm321]

I havent really looked into any long training hikes. My thinking is there would be plenty of day if a break was required every now and then. I am hoping to do it in good time though.

I work on my feet all day, along with all the hiking i do, so i'm fairly sure my legs will hold up. But i definately will be taking your advice if you guys think otherwise.

Like to do that pre hike or something, also to get familiar and a bit of evaluation. I should also give you a heads up that i do all my hiking in sandals...hehe. But i will have a set of shoes along just in case.

Thanks,

[Hikin_Jim]

I havent really looked into any long training hikes. My thinking is there would be plenty of day if a break was required every now and then. I am hoping to do it in good time though.

I work on my feet all day, along with all the hiking i do, so i'm fairly sure my legs will hold up. But i definately will be taking your advice if you guys think otherwise.

Like to do that pre hike or something, also to get familiar and a bit of evaluation. I should also give you a heads up that i do all my hiking in sandals...hehe. But i will have a set of shoes along just in case.

Thanks,

Let me give you one word: Gain. It's not about being able to be on your feet, it's about being able to handle 8000' of gain. The Vivian Creek or Momyer Creek hikes are about 6000' of gain. If you can do those, then you can probably do Skyline. Until then, who knows. Mileage is no indication if you haven't done gain.

HJ

[bamm321]

Thanks Jim, your advice is much appreciated! I'm gonna try to plan one of these for the sept. 28th.

which of the 2 would you recommend as the safer route to do solo? like clearly marked trail to follow.

[Hikin_Jim]

The Vivian Creek Trail is more clearly marked. You might want to arrange for a wilderness permit in advance. No big deal, but to my mind it's more convenient to take care of it in advance.

HJ

[cynthia23]

Bamm, since you are a local, why not just do what everyone else does to prepare for Skyline--do 'partials'. That's where you go up on Skyline to 2000 feet, come down. A few days later: go up to 3000 feet, come down. A few days later: go up to 4000 feet, come down. A few days later: go up to 5000 feet, come down. If you feel good (i.e. not tired, dizzy, etc. ) on the 5k day and make decent time (not more than 3 and half hours to 5k, same amount of time coming down), you are probably ready to do a complete Skyline. The other advantage of this is you'll get a familiarity with the route.
Make sure that on the days you are doing the longer hikes, you get a very very early start, so you don't descend in the heat. That could be dangerous.

Doing B and G and Murray are fine, but they definitely aren't enough to prepare you for the sheer length and gain of Skyline. You haven't conditioned enough yet. You need to do hikes that last many more hours and involve much more gain. HJ's suggestions are also very good.