C2C Friday 11/6

[NYdan]

Hi,

We are 3 NYers heading to San Jacinto to attempt C2C on 11/6 leaving from Art Museum at 3:30 AM. Wondering if any other folks are hiking that day. We have never done C2C and are in town specifically for this hike.

[zippetydude]

Sorry for the silence! You're in town at a great time. Years ago when I started doing this crazy hike it might have been tricky but you'll be fine, there will be a bazillion people on the trail. Once you finish the first bit up to the picnic tables, you'll find the trail easily (though I can't say you'll climb it easily!) and you're on your way. From there, follow anything that goes UP and you'll be fine. Um....you do know there's a little bit of UP in this trail, right? You're from NY, so I know you do because you've done your homework to even find this trail. Have fun! You may run into some of us locals who do this now and again....

z

[laughing_alpenglow]

My friend and I will be hiking this Friday! We hiked the Skyline portion last year in mid-Oct from the Ramon Rd start. This year the plan is to start from the Museum, and complete to the peak this time. We lost the trail a few times last year in the lower portion, but as is it get going it becomes mostly clear. I recall there being many cairns and many "path blocks" of rocks/sticks/etc for wrong-way-trails. We have not solidified a specific start time, I think 3:30-4 is the plan, we are not speedy hikers, more the steady-pace type so early is good. Perhaps we'll see you at there!?

[birgezici]

Hi NYdan,

As zippetydude mentioned, it is not an beginner hike... with couple of friends we hiked on Skyline trail 4 times in Oct and quite a few hikers on the trail, we even met Andy Hollinger, John's son, he is in his mid 60s and he and his buddies are still hiking on the Skyline trail, he said, it was his 217 attempts to Skyline, pretty impressive...

If you don't take shortcuts, Skyline is about 9+ miles and 8K elevation gain. The last two miles (right after flat rock) can be brutal, because it gains about 2500ft within 2-miles or so. The rest of the hike, from ranger station to summit is 12 miles (6 miles each way) and it gains only 2500ft...

We're taking break this weekend and planning to hike to C2C on the 14th... I have multiple .GPX and KMZ (Google Tracks) file for Skyline and if you are interested, ping me I can share it with you.

Small storm is passing and expected snow 6K and up elev on Tues-Wed, however the weekend looking great - see below link for more information.
http://www.pstramway.com/weekly-planner.html
http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/ ... casts/3293

Additional Resources:
http://hikinjim.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-skyline-trail.html
http://ironhiker.blogspot.com/2014/04/cactus-to-clouds.html

Happy Hiking!
/Bir

[NYdan]

Thx, Zippety. Yes we know it will be tough. Did Grand Canyon Rim to Rim a couple of years back and I figure this is 25% tougher based on vertical alone. It is hard for us sea level people to get used to altitude....I'll let you know how we did.......NYDAN

[TahoeKine]

I'm looking at going on November 21 if weather holds. Did you say a "bazillion" people on the trail this weekend? I look forward to seeing your TR for an 11/6 trip

Thanks,

[mstange22]

Did the hike yesterday. Perfect conditions, even starting from the museum at 6:30am. Supposed to get some snow this week.

Not many out there on Skyline. Caught one group of 3 early on and then another group of 4 that had broken up in the last 2 mile ascent to Long Valley. As you might expect, many more people coming back as we were making our way to the peak.

We were just about 6 hrs up to the Ranger Station. Spent close to a half an hour refueling and headed to the peak just before 1pm. It took about 2 hours to get the top. Hung out up there for a bit, but it started to get chilly. Hands were cold on the way down (but not enough to stop to put on gloves). We ran a bit on the way back and just got to the tram before it started to get dark around 5:30.

[drndr]

Because you brought up the comparison to R2R I'll offer my two cents. My first C2C was twelve hours, R2R was 10.5. And as a bonus my first Mt Whitney was 12. Hope that helps and have fun. You should also check the Tram and peak weather. Getting a little chilly up there, at least for me.

CaDan

[hawkbill666]

Oh wait, is this a contest on the length of time for your first C2C? - I might win that, I'm in!
18 hours or so from museum to tram - barely made the last tram...didn't quite make the summit either, but close. It was amazing! But it can get quite cold coming off that mountain when the sun is all the way down, pack accordingly. Or better yet, don't take 18 hours .
I look forward to your trip report!

[NYdan]

Trip report 11/6 Cactus to the Clouds.

So first off, thank you to all you So Cal Folks for sharing your wonderful mountain with us. We fell about one mile short of the San Jacinto Peak but we are three happy dudes. It was a great time! We pulled the plug with about one mile to go at around 10,000 feet at 3:30PM . With a 1- 3 inch coat of ice on the ground and the sun setting quickly we decided that there are old hikers and bold hikers- but no old & bold hikers.

As it was, getting back to the tram was a bit hairy as we all occasionally slipped on ice. Hiking poles did help here.

We Started at 3:09 AM from Art Museum, we had done some recon the day before to familiarize ourselves with the beginning of the trail since we knew we would be traveling in the dark for the first 3 hours. That certainly helped, but we did lose the trail at times since it was easy to mistake white spots on the rocks for actual trail markers in the dark. We finished Skyline at 11:50 AM, rested a bit, filled out our permit at the ranger station and headed towards the peak. The trails in the state park are well marked but if I did this again a GPS would probably be a handy crutch to have as it is easier to make a mistake when you are tired.

* A little tip for those of you who may attempt this for the first time in cooler temps....make sure you have a space blanket with you, they are light and could save your life if you get lost on top as the temps fall - especially if you have expended all of your energy. Consider it a cheap life insurance policy! A cell phone is also a must. There is spotty cell phone service, but make sure that you have a charged cell phone if you are up there. Getting lost in the dark with no space blanket and no cell phone would be a stupid disaster that is easily avoided.

As far as training for this, I would just stress that this is not something an occasional hiker, jogger or weekend warrior should try. I have done multiple marathons, century bike rides, 20 mile hikes ect and this was by far the toughest thing I have attempted. As I suspected, it was about 20% harder than Grand Canyon RIm to Rim which is the second hardest hike I ever did. Since if do not live near any 5000 foot mountains my last training day(2 weeks prior to C2C) was 12 hours of hiking and climbing wearing a 30 pound weighted vest. Conditioning was not a problem....just ran out of time.

Thanks again and keep that trail clean....I was very impressed with the lack of litter and graffiti. I hope that it will always remain that way! Happy Tails from NY.

Dan