This one definitely goes in my top 5 most difficult physical challenges nearing 50km (31 miles) in length and 3500 meters (10,800ft) of climbing and descending. We started the day on Museum Trail a little after 4am on a spring Sunday morning. Spirits were high, vests were bulging and legs were fresh but that didn’t last long.

After a few hours of up, up, up we took a short break and admired some of the gorgeous views of the Coachella Valley.

The higher up we went the more the vegetation changed and before we knew it we had gone from cacti to bushes to black oaks, Bristlecone Pines and gigantic pine cones.

After around 2200 meters of ascent up the Skyline Trail we finally reached a plateau and made our way over to the picnic tables in Long Valley. We had a quick lunch, refilled our softflasks and got back on the trail up to Wellman’s Divide. When we stopped at Wellman’s I realized that my watch and my new Garmin InReach Mini2 had been syncing constantly and my watch had died! Instead of turning around and going home I managed to start a Strava track on my phone so that the exercise still counted 🙂 After a short break we hit the trail again for the final push.

There was enough snow to wear spikes but it was possible to get away without them so we did. Just when we thought we couldn’t possibly ascend anymore the summit came into view. We passed an amazing historic stone cabin and took our final steps to the top of San Jacinto at 10,804 ft above sea level. After some photos and sugary snacks we split up into two groups. Two of our group decided to hike back down to the tram while Eric and I took on the challenge of completing the 3rd “C” of C2C2C.

The views of the Salton Sea, El Toro and San Gorgonio were amazing on the descent. It was hard to watch where we were going but the technical descent required our close attention. As we descended, the valley floor seemed less and less distant but not soon enough.

It was the first time in my life that I had descended so far for so long that I was actually hoping for a brief ascent if only to use some different muscles for a change. After many hours we finally reached the valley floor, said our goodbyes and limped to our cars victorious but sore. I never wore those shoes again.

Awesome! Very cool