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| Home > Hiking in U.S.A. > Cactus to Clouds |
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CACTUS TO CLOUDS (C2C) by Alex Chen This famous hike was rated #5 on the list of the toughest hikes in the US by backpacker magazine. We decided not to let it go that easily. Three of us headed to Palm Springs Museum at 2AM to start our hike at 4:30AM. We were surprised to see Cy (Cyril Kaicener)’s Civic and his friend(Sofia)’s Saturn. Quang took his time getting ready while Jack and I charged up the slopes. We wanted to get as much altitude as we could before daybreak. The temperature was about 65~70 degrees, so we only carried 4 liters of water. After more than 2 hours at a good pace; we finally heard Quang’s reply. This was also when we saw Cy waving at us from far ahead. He could not figure out why we knew his name. Cy and Sofia took a break at mid-point and we caught up to him. We were surprised that he started hiking at 3:30AM. This was his 197th time doing C2T; he hikes it every other week. Cy and us passed each other a few times throughout the hike, which made the hike more interesting. We reached the tram together a little before 11:30AM. Jack treated me to hot soup at the tram cafeteria as we waited for Quang. He had blisters and was feeling sleepy and tired. I was determined to get to St Jacinto peak and return in daylight, so I continued on while Jack hiked with Quang at a slow pace. The wind picked up and it started to get really cold. I reached the peak before 4PM and radioed Jack to let him know that I was going to wait for him at the rock shelter. Once again, I ran out of food. Luckily Jack had extra bars and spared them to me. On our return to the tram, we saw Quang coming up. Apparently he had a good nap and wanted to peak too. So we wished him luck and told him we would wait for him at the car. We reached the tram before 7PM, and I asked 2 people for a ride back to the car before getting a nice man who squeezed me into his car with his family. Driving back to LA was not hard at all. I was glad that I did very well on this hike. Read about other hikes: Strawberry Pk Clamshell Pk Cactus to Tram Sugarloaf Mt. Whitney MR Mt. Russell Cactus to Clouds Iron to Baldy |
© copyright 2006 Hester Han. All Rights Reserved.