A Saintly Trifecta 11-6-10

Dave G · Post by **Dave G** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:49 am

The “3 Saints in a day”, aka “Triple Crown”, aka “8000 Meter Challenge” hike is something that I’ve wanted to do for awhile and I had a feeling that hiking 37 miles with 12,000 feet elevation gain/loss in (hopefully) <24 hours would appeal to my friend Phil (lik2hik) as well, so I asked him to join me in the adventure.

Phil got right on board and in working the logistics, we decided to switch the “usual’ order around a bit and do San Gorgonio first, followed by San Jacinto and finally Baldy. Even though we knew Baldy (the steepest of the three) would be tough at the end of the day and we’d have a few more road miles, we would be getting the biggest hike out of the way first and would be able to start later while still having plenty of time to catch the “down” tram on San Jacinto. Plus, since we were most familiar with Baldy, we figured we could crawl/feel our way up the trail in what would likely be a state of bleary-eyed fatigue, and also be closer to home when it was finally over.

Stats:

Start Vivian Creek TH: 4:20a 11-6-10
Finish Manker Flats 3:15a 11-7-10
Total elapsed time: 22:55
Total hiking miles: 36.9
Total elevation gain/loss: 12,079

Climb San Gorgonio via Vivian Creek: 5:03
Descend San G inc. summit break: 3:36

Climb San Jacinto via Tram/Round Valley: 2:12
Descend San J inc. summit break: 2:18

Climb Baldy via Ski Hut/Baldy Bowl: 2:36
Descend Baldy (no break-too cold!): 2:20

Pix are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 216501187/

RyanB · Post by **RyanB** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 12:53 pm

Hey Dave, i think my brother and I rode the tram up with you and Phil, we saw your register entry. Great Job!

turtle · Post by **turtle** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 2:47 pm

Congratulations!!!

That's indeed an interesting order... How bad was it finishing in the dark? On our recent trip I found the wee hours of the morning to be the most challenging, and I was quite relieved to have them behind me as we finished in the warm sun. I can't imagine having to pull the last miles in the cold darkness...

TracieB · Post by **TracieB** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:10 pm

Congratulations Dave and Phil! Better you than me

lik2hik · Post by **lik2hik** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:19 pm

Turtle:
Thanks for the congrats -
It was definitely interesting doing Baldy in the wee hours. It was quite cold, but no wind at all.
The cold provided ample motivation to keep moving! It was my first night time ascent of Baldy and I enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, we didn't experience much in the way or warm sunshine all day, except when we were on the road!

lilbitmo · Post by **lilbitmo** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:38 pm

OK now you're showing off

Nice work Dave and Phil

We now need to get the lopers out and cut a trail between Rattlesnake and South Hawkins and get the death march back on the menu

Those are some great times, I'll bet the drive to Manker after doing the other two was a bit of a challenge mentally, once you are on the trail the body takes over and ignores the mind.

That's very impressive - looks to me like all the woes of leg problems from last winter are gone, very,very nice - I'm jealous and the finger is healing quickly

went to the gym for the first time today since the slide and slice event

So.BayMark · Post by **So.BayMark** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:11 pm

Nice 22hr. hike you guys..Congrats Dave, good to see ya any time day or night, I was 20min behind ya to the car..

mark

norma r · Post by **norma r** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:52 pm

damn, my feet hurt just reading the stats!!

congrats my friends on an epic sized hike!!

one for each Saint!

obie · Post by **obie** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 6:06 pm

Dave G wrote: ... we figured we could crawl/feel our way up the trail in what would likely be a state of bleary-eyed fatigue, and also be closer to home when it was finally over.

That should be on a bumper sticker.

Very cool stuff.

mve · Post by **mve** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:36 pm

That is an impressive stamina and dedication -- WOW!

Congrats!

MattCav · Post by **MattCav** » Mon Nov 08, 2010 9:47 pm

GREAT JOB!!!

Post by **Taco** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 12:36 am

Excellent work! Sounds like "fun" was had!

Dave G · Post by **Dave G** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:41 am

Turtle: Even though I've done quite a few all-nighters, the Baldy leg was a whole other level of weirdness. I felt like I was starting to bonk just below the Ski Hut and told Phil that I thought he should go on ahead because I was convinced that my pace was going to put us over 24 hours. I drank some Cytomax, started to feel better and pushed on in what seemed like slo-mo. As it turned out, the Baldy time was 2:36 which is pretty fast for me, but it felt almost like I was hiking backwards and had no hope of ever reaching the summit.

Patrick: Thanks! I'm glad to hear you're healing up--it'll be good to share an adventure with you again sometime.

Mark: It was kinda surreal seeing you sitting on the summit in the middle of the night, but it was good for my psyche to talk to another human (no offense, Phil

)

Tracie, Norma, obie, Vitaly, Matt, Taco: Thanks, guys!

turtle · Post by **turtle** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:55 pm

Dave G wrote:Turtle: Even though I've done quite a few all-nighters, the Baldy leg was a whole other level of weirdness. ... it felt almost like I was hiking backwards and had no hope of ever reaching the summit.

That sounds more than a little familiar!

snmtbaldy · Post by **snmtbaldy** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 8:58 pm

Hi Dave and Phil,
Congratulations!!!
Now I understood why you were punishing yourself climbing Baldy's South ridge
up a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to hearing about your next adventure soon.

Shin

snmtbaldy · Post by **snmtbaldy** » Tue Nov 09, 2010 9:08 pm

Hi Mark,
Don't you hike during the day any more?

Shin

EManBevHills · Post by **EManBevHills** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:02 pm

Trifecta indeed!
You guys raised the bar yet again.
Congrats on an awesome achievement.

And by doing Baldy in the wee hours, you missed the hordes...