Skyline trail to Long Valley

[mattmaxon]

Wanted to do at least this for some time

Skyline Trail

Like Iron Mtn a month or so ago "The reputation of this trail greatly exceeds the reality" (for the well prepared hiker.)

We had cached some water a mile down from Grubb's Notch 2 weeks ago. and felt more than confident we'd get to Long Valley with little trouble.

The plan was start the evening before, hike up part way, bivy and get to Long Valley the following morning well before the heat of the day.

We got to the trailhead about 7:00pm along with a parade of emergency vehicles.

A person had died about a mile or so up and a recovery operation was in progress. What the circumstances are is unknown let alone if the person was hiking the infamous Skyline Trail. But it put a point on it... The Skyline Trail Bogeyman lives on.

We got off about 7:20pm passing the tables about 8:05pm we got out our headlamps and pressed on.

Palm Springs weather had been clear, 90°, windy, with a marine layer that ended around Beaumont, so high temps where not expected nor encountered.

It was warm and early on little wind aided in evaporation to help cool us. We passed one of 2 Rescue Boxes placed by the Palm Springs Police Mounted Police Search & Rescue team, the folks who where doing the recovery. This was at 2.43 miles 2450 ft about 9:11pm, the second on Saturday about 7 miles up.

About another mile on we passed several snakes laying out on the rocks...weird.

Past here our goal was a saddle about 5.3 miles up but it was decided to go until 10:30pm and bivy until about 3am.

We arrived at a spot short of the goal but close enough @4.67 miles 10:45pm One of the numerous flat areas suitable for bivy.

I had a new TYVEK ground cloth but it has seen it's last/only trip as it makes a lot of noise (it is kinda like sleeping on potato chips). I had debated bringing a light jacket but left it behind. About 12:30pm I regretted that decision. Cool air descending from above, a touch of dehydration and wet clothes conspired to make me very uncomfortable, I fitfully slept until 2:30am when 2 hikers passed and got up at the appointed hour of 3am.

Got moving about 3;40am and caught up to the 2 hikers at sunrise after crossing dry Tahquitz Creek at 7.9 miles and the water cache at 1 mile from the top.

I recovered the unneeded water, refilled my hydration sleeve with water I had, and mix some electrolyte solution. I left the two 1.5L water bottles on the trail ENJOY!

With the end in sight I pressed on and arrived at Grubbs Notch @9.9 miles 7:29am, 3hrs 50min after leaving our camp.

My conditioning and planning paid off. "The Mountain Says pay me now, or pay me later" I made daily payments over the weeks since Iron Mtn.

[Tim]

Nice job, Matt. That was an interesting approach you had to the hike--bivying halfway though it. If I did that, I don't think I'd have the will power to wake up!

I agree that in the grand scheme of extreme hikes, Skyline isn't really too bad if you're a very prepared hiker with a lot experience doing hikes with big gains.

But for the average hiker, 11 miles and 8,000 ft of gain in a desert environment is pretty formidable. The 8K of gain is twice what most people are use to in a single hike. In the past, people have gotten into trouble when they dehydrate, cramp up or just become exhausted. Now they can't go up or down.

Btw, some follow up on the fatality on Friday: http://www.mydesert.com/comments/articl ... identified

Some comments posted in the story:

Mark was my co-worker, and good friend. A few of us were training together with Mark for a long time to do this hike (C2C), but due to injuries, schedule conflicts, and other reasons, the rest of us opted out and didn't go. This was supposed to be one of two hikes... the first to the top of the tramway, two weeks later the second all the way to the peak. Mark was the strongest of all of us, extremely fit, and the shining example of discipline when it came to diet and exercise. An elite athlete who had paddled his stand up surf board all the way to Catalina. Highly experienced and always prepared! He decided not to wait for us, and to do the first hike alone (to the tramway). His plan was to start at 3-4am on Saturday morning to beat the heat. I can only guess the reason he was out there Friday night was to scout out the trail conditions in advance while there was still light the evening before, so he had an idea of what to expect while hiking the trail in the dark early the next morning. Mark was such an excellent example of a good person in so many ways. Like everyone that knew him well, I'm in shock and grieve his loss. People should stop assuming that just because something bad happens to someone, it's because they brought it on themselves... (like they are the only "smart and experienced outdoor enthusiast out there")... how about thinking before posting for a change...

This was my uncle... we are pretty sure he had a heart attack, just waiting on the autopsy to confirm. He was a very experienced hiker and knew "basic hiking and safety skills". I wish people would realize that its inappropriate make assumptions like this when a person has died. Have a little respect.

[Hikin_Jim]

Congrats, Matt.

I've been curious about that one for some time but have never worked up the courage (or worked out the time to train).

HJ

P.S. I've found the Tyvek actually gets better (less crinkly noise) with time. The "standard trick" is to run it through the washer a couple of times.

[mattmaxon]

That was an interesting approach you had to the hike--bivying halfway though it. If I did that, I don't think I'd have the will power to wake up!

HA HA You have the specter of hiking in the blazing sun & heat hanging over your head, to motivate.

Yeah I agree about the average hiker, but this isn't your average hike. If you don't take this seriously, or really any outdoors trip you could find yourself in serious trouble quickly

Btw, some follow up on the fatality on Friday

too bad about the insensitive boorish comments, but it brought the real story out. (Insensitive boorish comments on the internet??? I'm shocked =:O)

Sad, but bad things happen every day. We don't know many of the facts still and never will, it seems he had the bad luck to have a heart problem in a bad location.

Here again we don't have any facts, did he have a massive coronary and just drop dead or was a rescue / evacuation possible? we'll likely never know. Could a spot or a partner have made the difference? Maybe Maybe not. He was in cell service range for sure so I presume he was quickly incapacitated

It seems it's one of those inherent risks with outdoors activities. Something happens we are far far away from advanced life support care.

On the same weekend an elderly man was located off highway 73 who had a stroke while driving and went of the road. He died sometime after. So the take away according to the clods would be to stay home in case you have a stroke .

We have to live our lives, none of us are getting out of this life alive! Lets have some fun while we're here.

[mattmaxon]

Congrats, Matt.

I've been curious about that one for some time but have never worked up the courage (or worked out the time to train).

HJ

P.S. I've found the Tyvek actually gets better (less crinkly noise) with time. The "standard trick" is to run it through the washer a couple of times.

Courage?

None required. Confidence is what's needed. Confidence in your skills and confidence in your preparations.

Many wags would scoff that we didn't do it all in one continuous hike. Or I should have done it in daylight or I should have hiked with a 50lb anvil, they did it faster, they did it better yada yada yada

I congratulate anyone who can put one foot in front of the other for the whole length of this trail.

HYOH!

These people are looking for validation of their point of view and are quite insecure IMO for seeking this validation.


I'm looking to do Badwater (Shorty's Well) To Telescope Peak. This fall would be the first opportunity, C2C seems to be an ideal training ground for this other Southern California epic.

Here again I don't plan the average hike, still haven't formulated a final plan. I thinking of eliminating the shuttle and making a point to point hike

Thanks for the Tyvek tips... My cohorts and others have suggested the same. All I have to do is sneek it into the washer without my wife seeing it! This is a REAL death defying feat...