Hiking C2C soon?

[NathanBrown]

Is there anyone out there looking to hike the C2C route this summer? My name is Nathan Brown, I'm a reporter with The Desert Sun looking to do a story on anyone's personal account doing this hike in the summer?

I know that despite the extreme heat, people still make attempts at starting from the desert to get to the summit (I did myself less than three weeks ago). As an avid hiker myself, I know there's plenty of appeal to complete a rugged hike like this and conquer it in extreme heat, just like the appeal of extreme sports like BASE jumping to others, illustrated in this article by John Branch of The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/sport ... -jump.html

Even if you aren't planning on doing this hike in the coming months, but know someone who has tried during the summer and has had to be rescued or has unfortunately died in the process, I'd love to hear from you too.

I know many people think the thought of hiking in this heat on that route sounds absurd, but those that continue to try have a reason, and I would like to tell their story.

If you can help me in any way, please comment below or send me an email at nathan.brown@desertsun.com . Thanks in advance!

[Hikin_Jim]

Nathan,

I'm just wondering out loud here, is it a good idea to publicize people hiking Skyline in the summer? Could it not draw more people to what is already a "rescue intensive" route?

I'm not saying I have all the answers. On the one hand, perhaps if people saw an article describing a summer ascent as daredevil thing to do wherein one risks death, then people would realize how dangerous it truly is. On the other hand, that very same publicity might draw thrill seekers.

I would say the matter requires some thought.

I'm wondering what your thoughts regarding this might be.

HJ

[NathanBrown]

HJ,

You raise a great point. My goal certainly isn't to publicize or draw more people to do something very dangerous. As John Branch did in the NYT article I posted, I want to find out the "why" of hiking this intense route, in the summer no less. It is of course very dangerous, and my hope is that anyone considering doing this route at any time of the year would do enough research to decide if they are capable or not.

We so often read about people doing borderline dangerous things in sports, such as BASE jumping or extreme hikes, and so much of what we hear is only that they've had to be rescued or that they died. In those stories, we don't hear the step-by-step struggles of their journey, or what motivated them to do something so daring in the first place. That's what I would hope to uncover, so that people who think such a thing is crazy or people who are considering undertaking the C2C route this summer know what the experience is truly like.

[Hikin_Jim]

I encourage you to avoid ways to glamorizing it and to portray the risk of death realistically.

Should be an interesting article, though I shall never attempt Skyline on a hot day.

HJ

[zippetydude]

Hi Nathan. I've done Skyline more than once during each of the months of the year, so I can at least understand the desire to do so. I think the key to success is not so much to avoid the summer months as it is to already have experience with the trail during the milder spring and fall seasons. I had already done the trail perhaps 20 or 30 times before I did hot weather ascents. That means I knew exactly how long it took me to get from one spot to another, the places where I generally began to feel a bit worn down, and I had hidden several caches of water along the route so that I had ample water not just for drinking, but for keeping my head and body damp with my Misty Mate the whole way. In fact, it was 89 degrees when I started on one August climb, and I made sure to keep myself sprayed down the whole way. It turned out to be very hot outside, of course, but I felt cool to chilly the entire way.

Of course, it has been pointed out by the kind souls on this board that the lack of a retreat due to the extreme heat in the valley is a danger that can't be reversed, so the peril remains. I would not have felt it a reasonable risk if I did not already know the trail forwards and backwards beforehand, but since I already knew the trail very well, I did not find it to be particularly risky at all. For a first timer, it would most likely be a very unpleasant experience, quite potentially ending in death. That's why you are going to receive a torrent of negative responses on this thread. No one wants deaths, and no one wants the trail shut down because of the bad judgment of others.

Over the years there has been considerable talk about putting any number of signs and warnings along the trail and at the trail head to keep people from taking foolish risks. Your article might well serve that purpose better than any sign could. If you don't mind living on the edge just a little, you might have a description by the coroner of what the deceased person looks like when they are found under the scorching desert sun (Cynthia had provided a glimpse of this in a previous post) or even a picture if your editor would allow such a thing. Along those lines, it might be instrumental if you could interview family members of those who don't survive just as you mentioned. My thought it that you would have a perfect opportunity to make it clear that what may appear to the risk taker as a brave or even heroic attempt to take on a huge challenge, may in truth really end in tragedy, with family members looking back not with admiration and respect, but with anger and frustration that someone they loved would do something so ignorant and disrespectful of the people who loved them. While most of us take on these challenges simply because it's doing something exciting and fun out in the wilderness we love, for those who suddenly take on more than they can actually do the motivation may be in part to impress those they love. It the result is just the opposite, it may serve to prevent such ill-conceived attempts.

Did you want to go along with someone who's about to do the trail, or just chronicle their experience? I'll probably be out that way myself once or twice before the fall season, so I'd be willing to give you some feedback. Even better, I know bluerail has probably done the route during the summer more than anyone else on the planet. If you want a summertime expert, he would be your man.

z

[cynthia23]

By simply writing the article, no matter how neutral you try to be, you'll inevitably be valorizing summer Skylines, which will, also inevitably, lead to people who shouldn't be trying it, trying it. Many studies have shown that most people greatly overestimate their fitness levels.

The reason people do Skyline during the summer months is, bluntly, because they are stupid. It's not some heroic act or Triumph of the Will, for God's sake! There is no heroic, 'daring', narrative here. It's just people being dumb. They possess a cluelessness the size of Jupiter. They simply don't grasp how dangerous it is to themselves or OTHERS. It's no more impressive or admirable than someone who smokes cigarettes. In a house filled with toddlers. It's just a stupid action that puts your own life and the lives of others at risk, in a really pointless, selfish way. I speak from my own personal experience of being stupid about it, and doing it several times during summer months, years ago. I dimly knew it was dangerous, but I didn't think through the implications. I came to realize there is no valid reason to do it during these months. It's a sluggish, lousy work-out which leaves you sick and drained, and you put your own life and the life of rescue personnel at risk. And the good part is ....??? Nothing. There is no good part here. Would you write an admiring article about people who 'choose' to drive drunk, because, you know, that's so 'extreme'? Thinking back to that summer, I feel ashamed of my foggy stupidity and selfish indifference to the safety of others. Deciding to do Skyline in summer is deciding that my cheap ego gratification is more important than the lives of SAR folks. Or, more charitably, it's simply not grasping the level of risk. I truly thank God that nothing tragic happened because of my foolishness.

Remember, this week's rescue involved helicopters having to make extremely risky landings. Imagine if one crashed.

I wouldn't write this article, myself. Something terrible could happen.

[halhiker]

I don't see the correlation between extreme sports and hiking Skyline (C2C) in summer. Most people see extreme sports and think, "that's nuts, there's no WAY I would ever do that", whereas an extreme hike seems doable, like a fun challenge. And it's the people who think that who get in trouble. We had three rescues this week on this trail. THREE. This is not Yosemite National Park or the Grand Canyon. This is Palm Springs where people come to hang by the pool, do a little shopping and maybe go on a Mid-Century home tour. Most people are not coming here to do extreme hikes in the heat. Three rescues in a week here is the equivalent of 100 rescues in Yosemite. It's really gotten out of hand.

Just like there are very few individuals who are able to successfully do extreme wing suit base jumps, there are also very few hardy individuals who are able to successfully hike the Skyline in summer on a regular basis. The difference is that Joe Weekend Warrior is not going to read about base jumping and go try it next weekend. He will, however, go attempt this hike and inevitably require rescue, or worse.

I think at this point that any article, no matter how many warnings it contains, is only going to encourage knuckleheads to come out of the woodwork and get themselves in trouble. And if the article gets picked up on the wire, it'll only compound the issue.

I can think of several other topics for articles that would be just as interesting that won't put ill-equipped novices in harm's way. We've had three rescues just this week but we are lucky we haven't had any deaths. More publicity for this trail is not what we need right now.

[Perry]

Is anybody interviewing the rescued hikers? I think it would be helpful to learn how they originally heard about Skyline in the first place, what resources they read or did not read, and maybe figure out what motivated them to do it in the way that they did.

[Ed]

Perhaps the article, if there is going to be one, could emphasize the difference between summer Skyline hikers like zippetydude and bluerail, who know the trail well, have temperatures and their times, water consumption and fitness levels well-calibrated, and know they aren't going to have to turn around, and the naive people who blunder up there in the summer and require rescue. An article depicting a summer Skyline as an epic one-time event for would-be heroes could be dangerous.

I think knowing the trail, yourself and the effect of temperature are everything. When I started, I only hiked the trail when the Palm Springs high was below 82. Now I'm quite comfortable at temperatures up to a PS Low/High of 68/94, and probably could do it on warmer days than that, though I have not done so yet. But like HJ, I would not hike it in the summer.

[cynthia23]

I hope there's no article at all, but if there is one, I hope there is little to no mention of those few regulars who safely do Skyline in the summer. The basic premise of the OP--of summer Skylines as some kind of 'epic' adventure or '
'man conquering nature' story--is totally false. Trudging slowly up Skyline in the summer, nauseated and dizzy, is hardly some kind of pulse-pounding exciting adrenaline rush adventure on a par with base jumping.

And I've only ever met two groups of summer Skyliners--a few regulars who are so devoted to their conditioning (or so addicted to the trail) that they (cautiously and carefully) continue to do the trail during summer months--or, Group Number Two, the Benighted Idiots--utterly clueless poor fools who really have no idea that what they are doing is extremely dangerous and irresponsible. Sometimes they manage to make it--though they're usually sick and worse for wear--or, they get rescued like the three groups this week.

If the original poster does feel he has to write this article, then I think he should change the focus. Instead of some fake Outside Magazine grand-adventure narrative, it should be about how all these rescued people made their ill-fated decisions.

Like Perry, I would very much like to know how these folks end up out there.