full Skyline Trail (without tram)

[jamesgiel]

I'm interested in doing the entire Skyline Trail, but not relying on the tram for the return down the mountain. I've done Mt. Whitney in a day and R2R2R (Grand Canyon) about six times in the past two years with a combination of trail running (downhill and flats) and power hiking (up North Kaibab and South Kaibab). My best time for R2R2R (42 miles/10,000 feet of altitude gain) is 12.5 hours. I'm from Phx and generally used to the heat and I would plan to do the round-trip Skyline in early-May. Also, I'm comfortable hiking in the dark and would probably start around 3:30am. Finally, I use hiking poles for the uphills and very familiar with my water and nutrition needs on long hikes.

Do you see any problems with my plan or can you offer a comparison to R2R2R or Mt. Whitney?

Thanks, Jim Giel