4/26/11 Exactly two weeks after my successful Cactus to Clouds summit in the snow, I was back again. This time the goal was to get my Dad up the Skyline trail to Long Valley. 10 miles and almost 8500' of elevation gain is a tough day for anyone. And he made it!
1 Leaving the desert floor from the Art Museum. All of the following pictures are geo-tagged, so you can click the "Map" button to see exactly where the picture was taken on the topo map. You won't see any indications of a trail though, since Cactus to Clouds isn't an official trail!
2 Palm Springs from about 1500'.
3 The foreboding trail sign.
4 I have officially taken a picture of this cactus on every trip up here.
5 Interesting rock formations.
6 More interesting rocks.
7 A panoramic look at Palm Springs from 2000'. View Full Size
8 I have since learned that these are called Beavertail cactii.
21 This was a challenging section in the snow, but there's no snow here today.
22 The first official patch of snow at about 7600'.
23 The last couple miles to Long Valley are brutal and our pace starts to slow. We're now at around 7800'.
24 Another pic at around 7800'.
25 Coffman's Crag with a little different lighting than past trips (a little later in the day).
26 We made it! A self picture of us in front of the Skyline trail warning sign on the edge of Long Valley at 8400' above sea level, 8000' above our starting point, and almost 8500' of total elevation gain. Around 11 hours total time (about double my fastest solo time), but not bad for an old man!
27 No snow left in Long Valley today. The weather has been hot since my trip here two weeks earlier.
28 Dad in front of the Long Valley ranger station.
29 We walked around for a little while in Long Valley. The temperature is probably in the 40s, but still comfortable. We've had perfect weather all day.
30 There's lots of water up here from the recent snow melt.
31 Sand to snow. Hard to believe we were posing in front of the sandy desert earlier in the day.
32 A view of the summit as we head up to the lodge. The summit will have to wait for another day.
33 Dad on the lodge balcony looking down at Palm Springs 8000' below. View Full Size