Cactus to Clouds and Iron Mountain

[Philip Y]

I did the Bridge to Nowhere a few weeks ago. Certainly not as hard as Iron Mountain, but the weather was not too bad. The starting point for both hikes is in the same place. If a group steps off at day light and has plenty of water the heat shouldn’t be an issue. I think this hike would be a great training hike for C2C.

[Trina R]

Hi Philip,

I would like to discuss more with you. Can you send me a quick message via email so we can continue the conversation there? [email protected]

Thanks!

[Brad H]

Hello

Completed the 6-pack and Whitney in June and want to add C2C. I was planning on hiking it mid-October and taking advantage of the full moon. I would like to train at least one strenuous trail a week until mid-Oct. Some variety other than the 6-pack trails. If anyone wants to hike/train for the C2C, I am available any day of the week. I am planning on starting next Tuesday Aug 2 somewhere local but flexible. [email protected]

Brad H

[Philip Y]

So, as I read through the various posts from “team Girl Power” and Brad, I see an opportunity for all of us (Carisa, Trina, Jennifer, Rose, Brad and myself) to get together and tackle C2C in Oct/Nov timeframe. I personally am doing San Jacinto on Sep 16 (Fri) to complete my six pack and the 52 hike challenge. In addition, I want to do Iron Mountain as a training hike for C2C (late Sep / early Oct). If you are interested in doing a group hike or joining me on any of the other hikes please let me know. “Strength in Numbers”

[Philip Y]

Well fellow hikers, I didn’t realize the tram for San Jacinto is closed from Sep 15 to Sep 30 for annual maintenance. I was planning on doing this hike from the tram on Sep 18. This news has forced me to adjust my hiking schedule so that I can complete the Six-Pack of Peaks and the 52 Hike Challenge on the same day. So, if anyone is interested on hiking San Jacinto from the tram I am now going on Sep 4th. I’ll call this the T2C (Tram to Clouds) hike. A few weeks after, I plan to hike the Skyline Trail from Palm Springs to the tram. This will be the C2T (Cactus to Tram) hikes. Both of these hikes will serve as data gathering and familiarization before doing the C2C (Cactus to Clouds) hike.

[Nancy R]

About Iron Mountain – Recently learned about this hike. I welcome any pointers.

[Philip Y]

Nancy R. I was unable to respond to your post, so I will respond here. Iron Mountain is no joke! I was suppose to hike this with another SoCal Hiker on Oct 8th, but I rolled my ankle on a previous hike (Heaton Flats Trail to the Allison Mine Trail just two mile short of Iron Mountain) and my partner injured her foot on Mt Whitney. We are planning on hiking Iron Mountain in November. Looking at Veterans Day weekend. You are welcome to join us if you like.

[Nancy R]

Curious as to where you are now Philip with each leg. And, how much water you will need to complete the entire C2C hike. I completed both legs and contemplating doing the entire hike soon. Currently working on more conditioning. Any information helps, thanks!

[Mehmet]

Not sure if the people on this forum completed the hike, but I’ve done this hike, if you need info let me know. Amount of water you need to take depends on time of the year. Do not attempt in summer months. Do it late October to early November before days get real short (it will be a 12-14 hour hike). Start about 3-4 hours before sunrise. Once sunrises, the entire 2-3 hours of the hike is east facing and the sun will be bearing down on you. You will go through water real quickly. After about 3 to 4 hours the elevation gain and a turn into mountain gives you a break from the heat. But the climb starts. After about 2-3 hours of that you hit Long Valley. At this point you can go into the tram station and refill. Rest of the hike is very pleasant compared to what you just completed. As for the initial water pack, I would say 5-6 liters minimum. If you go with people discuss ahead of time and carry enough for the group as different people consume water at different rates and stronger hikers can take extra for the others. Good luck.

[Philip Y]

Mehmet,

Thanks for the information and advice. Trina R., Brad, and I completed C2C on October 23rd. We never got to do Iron Mountain together though. Trina completed Iron Mountain recently. Not sure about Brad. I am going up on May 6th with a few other hikers.

[Natalie C]

Wow I got so excited when I saw this thread as I’ve been wanting to do C2C as well! And then I realized, this is from last year LOL!! Congrats to all ya who were able to summit your goals! I plan on doing this in October 2.0.1.7. Philip your plan for data collection helped the loose ends of my own plan come together so a HUGE THANK YOU for sharing the detail! 😀 Ladies Jeff is sooooo right, GIRL POWER ROCKS <3 ! I’m throwing some Old Chick Power into the mix and it’s sssceeerry!! Hahaha. “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!!
I just stumbled upon this thread as I was perusing this spectacular forum Jeff has created (heart felt Thank You Jeff <3 ) and the tidbits gathered here are all filed for reference. You all are very appreciated!
See ya on Trail!
Natalie.

[Natalie C]

Mehmet,
Your summary is great to add to all the great input here thank you and I may message you here when questions start cropping up.

Natalie.

[R W]

I also really want to do C2C and hope by October will have hiked enough big hikes to be ready for that. I’ve done much research and completely understand its difficulty. I am new to mtns and know almost 0 about Iron Mtn., but I am familiar with desert hikes and am up for new challenges! A girl group would be so much fun 🙂

And having lived in and hiked in AZ, I completely agree with waiting until the fall. Even then, the aridity can really suck the water out of you – my group of xp hikers all ran out of our 3L water doing San Jac 2 weeks ago – it was a lesson of the power of an arid climate and the importance of pre-hydration. It was close to end of trail and we were fine, but it really was a good reminder of the harsh climate.

Also, there was a potable water spigot coming out of ground when we did San Jac from winter snows, but don’t count on that in the fall. The tram station does sell water though. And I agree based on my xp with peak trail alone, you need at least prob 6L just up to tram and then top off with a min of 3L for the peak trail if not more if it’s a warm day.

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