Training #4 - Skyline to the Sea -or- Pills and Poles

We are getting closer to the big hike.  We now have less than a month and a half to go.  Time to put in some serious miles.  The plan is to go long every other weekend leading up to the Grand Canyon.  Yesterday was one of these long hikes - Skyline to the Sea, with Gary and Greg.

The hike starts at Saratoga Gap, where Highway 9 and Skyline cross.  You can also start from Castle Rock Park or if you are really ambitious, you can leave from Sanborn Park (longer and more elevation gain).  The distance of this hike is approximately 27 miles.  When you first read about the hike, you assume it is all downhill.  It is not.  The altitude gain is nearly 3000 feet!

Pam dropped us off at the top at just before 7 am.  As we pull our day hydration packs out of the back of the car, it is all wet - someone is leaking.  I assume it is me because I had a problem filling up at home.  It turns out that it was Gary.  His hose had pulled away from the bladder and all the water leaked out.  He reattached, reassembled and filled it up again.  Water started leaking out again.  A bit of panic as we refilled his bottle from what was left in the bladder.  We cut the tube and reattached again, but decided not to refill the bladder until we reached Big Basin.  Luckily it was not very hot.

With that out of the way, we took off.  The pace was good.  The conversation was great.  The weather was perfect.  With a couple of short stops along the way, we reached Big Basin in the middle of the beautiful redwoods.  This was a good time to refill our bladders, empty our bladders:), and have lunch.  One of the things that we have all talked about a number of times was that the Rim-to-Rim hike is not the time to try something new.  Eat what you have eaten before, wear what you have worn before, drink what you have drank before.  So to my surprise, while we are sitting at the picnic table, Greg pulls out three cold beers.  We are planning to stop at Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon to have a beer before continuing.  Greg smiles and says "In the spirit of trying things out ahead of time...".  That beer tasted really good:)

The rest of the hike was really nice.  The terrain changes multiple times as you make your way through the remainder of the redwoods, along the creek and toward the ocean.  You can feel the onshore breeze well before you can see the ocean.  Gary and I thought that you could see the ocean well before you actually can.  Maybe it was different 13 years ago when I last did this hike.

I am sure you are asking - why does the title include "Pills and Poles"?  My two hiking buddies were both popping pills along the way in order to save their knees.  Gary the red pills, Greg the blue pills (Ibprofin and Aleve).  That together with all of us having poles, seemed to do the trick.  With the amount of downhill that this hike has, there is real risk of knee pain.  We made it and all felt good - tired, but good at the end!

Back to the hike.  We reached Waddell beach at around 4:45 pm.  Julie and Suzanne were waiting for us with sandwiches, fruit, snacks and beer.  Thank you so much - what a great way to end the hike!

With this long hike done, we still have two more long ones, along with regular shorter hikes in between. Gary will be on vacation so will find some good hikes on his own.  Greg and I are likely to do Mt. Diablo next.  I am looking at some routes that will get us more than 500- feet of elevation and more than 20 miles of distance.  And then one more super challenging killer hike.  We plan to do the hike I just wrote about - but in the opposite direction, Sea to Skyline.  This will be the same ~27 miles, but with almost 6,000 feet of elevation gain.  Wish us luck!

Rim-to-Rim - What to Eat

We expect the hike to take 14-16 hours.  That is a lot of time on the trail.  We need to make sure we eat and drink right.  I will talk about eating first and drinking in another post.

The first thing to think about is what to eat the night before the hike, and in the morning before leaving.  My approach is always to have a good balanced meal the night before, making sure that you get a mix of protein and carbohydrates.  I don't totally buy into carbo-loading, but some good carbs will be included in what I eat.  I will also lay off the wine and beer.  And I will make sure that I drink a good amount of water.  All of that will leave me in the best state when I get up.

Breakfast is about eating what I have eaten lots of times before.  I will not try something new.  My go to meal is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, on toasted whole wheat bread.  My stomach likes this.  And I think it is a decent combination of protein and carbohydrates again.  I will drink water.  And I will have coffee (I am a bit of a coffee prude so will bring my own to the hotel).  I am not sure coffee is right for everyone, but I am a big fan and have it all the time before I hike or bike.  It will not cause any problems, and I think the caffeine gets me going!

As an aside, I will make sure I am up at least an hour before we start hiking.  I need that time to enjoy my coffee and to give my body time to wake up, shower, go to the bathroom, and be in the right state of mind to enjoy the day. 

Once we get moving, I like to eat something every 45 minutes to 1 hour.  That can be a gel or bar.  I like to mix it up a bit, but mostly eat bars, making sure that I have one that is high in protein.  This is not an advertisement, but I am a Clif fan.  I like the ingredients, the way they quickly disappear from my mouth, and most importantly the way they make me feel.  I am not a fan of the blocks.  They stick to my teeth.

I have read a lot on nutrition and hiking.  I know that some people eat dried meat, dried fruit, crackers, cheese, etc. I will likely bring along a bit of fruit.  In the end, it is your own preference.  The main thing is that it be something that you are use to eating, in similar conditions (long day of exercise), and that you eat regularly.  It is really hard to recover if you bonk!

Last thing. When we get to Phantom Ranch, there is a good chance we will have a beer.  I don't typically drink beer on a hike, but it may happen this time:) Lets hope the carbonation is not a problem!