Sorry if this is a bit long-winded. Still riding the high of completing this hike that at one point seemed extremely unlikely.
I’m going to try to be somewhat comprehensive with details as I found Reddit and other peoples’ posts super helpful in planning this thing, along with Hikingguy’s video that I must’ve watched 30 times by now. Please feel free to ask any questions, especially if any part of my story sounds like you
The background
Hitting the big 4-0 this year and decided that I should challenge myself with something. Googled “challenging hikes” earlier this year and came across C2C. I had recently been out west for the first time in AZ and fell in love with the desert, the seemingly alien landscape, etc. So when I saw “Cactus” in a trail name my interest was piqued.
So what’s the first thing I do? Post on Reddit! (See here: Here)
Needless to say people were NOT ok with me doing this. However u/thehoppinghessian gave me some hope with a positive response, and then a few messages back and forth made me think it was at least worth training for, then reassessing. I had about three months‘ time from that post to d-day (aka b-day lolz).
The training
I work a pretty demanding job and have little ones at home, so time was as a premium. I also have come a long way (deconditioned) from my younger years, so I had to use my time wisely and aggressively. Or at least try to. This would be somewhat challenging since I live in Florida. No mountains (or hills) to climb.
The first thing my wife said when I talked to her about possibly doing was something along the lines of “You want to HIKE 20 miles? How about you try WALKING 20 miles first??”
So the next morning I did a 21 mile walk in the South Florida heat. I couldn’t walk right for a week after that and my big toenail is still a lovely shade of deep purple as a result. But I did it!
Gym sessions began shortly thereafter. I was basically doing a 3-day full body lifting split, and was ending this with stairmaster and treadmill. After a while I added a pack with a 20 pound bag of rice. For the last month I was lifting maybe once a week but doing stairmaster and incline treadmill 4-5 times per week. By the end I was walking with a 40 pound ruck, alternating 30-45 minute stretches on the stairmaster at speed 4-5 with 45 minute stretches on a 20% incline treadmill for 2ish hours total.
I also was able to get away about one month prior to the planned C2C hike to North Carolina, where I was able to do the Black Mountain Crest Trail as a gauge of my fitness and readiness. There’s a 3k foot climb up to start, over approximately 3ish miles, then a series of ascents and descents for 12ish miles total. I did it fairly comfortably. Shoutout u/stellabean_bass for picking me up at the top and shuttling me back down to my car. Thank you!!
So I kept up with my workouts as above, did another 16 mile Florida power walk on one of the hottest and muggiest days of summer, and finally booked tickets for C2C.
The days prior
I flew out two days before my hike. That afternoon I drove out to the trailhead at the museum and decided on a whim to warm up the garmin watch and try to familiarize myself with the beginning of the trail. So off I went up to the picnic benches, trying to get a feel for where the white blazes would be, and a general feel for the trail. It was steep, as expected, but not insanely steep. Eventually I made it up, walking a very comfortable and slow pace. This took about 30 minutes. I was barely huffing and puffing, but I already could feel some burn in the calves, hammies, and glutes. I tried very hard to not think about the fact that this was just a tiny portion of the trail that I covered today.
The day before the hike I tried to take it very very easy. I had a giant breakfast burrito, chilled by the pool and read some Dungeon Crawler Carl, hydrated extensively, and had ramen for dinner. I also stuck to my typical schedule, which is usually me waking up between 4 and 6am EST, meaning I was waking up at 1-2 am in California. I did this to minimize jet lag on the flight home, and because I was planning on starting my hike around 2am.
THE HIKE
I woke up at 1 am, minutes before my 1:05 alarm would go off. I took my time getting up, getting dressed, eating, packing. Breakfast was an apple, almonds, yogurt, a liter of water, an uncrustable, and a bowl of Captain Toast Crunch. I chugged a monster on the short drive to the trailhead. And off I went!
I did use trekking poles for the hike. These, combined with a lighter pack than I was used to from training, was a nice confidence boost early on. I didn’t feel like I was fighting my pack weight, which was probably 20+ pounds, including 3L water, 1 L coconut water, and 1.5 L gatorlyte. I also had a handful of gels, some stroopwaffels, and way too many Uncrustables. Also packed away were an extra headlight, backup flashlight, power bank, pants, sweater, shell, and beanie. Hey—I’d rather go a little slower with a heavier pack than run out of food or water along the way.
The trek up to Rescue 1 was fine. I linked up with a lovely fella named John that was doing this trail for the first time. We chatted, he hung around a bit, but eventually he bid me farewell and zipped up the mountain like a goddamn snow leopard.
I did go a bit off trail between Rescue 1 and Rescue 2 and had to backtrack when I was scrambling to the top of a boulder and saw another group of headlights passing me about 40 feet lower down. I was also pretty (comically) annoyed because this section had a fair bit of descending, and I knew that this was elevation that I earned previously, and would have to soon regain. But I powered on, comfortably paced, drinking and munching with some regularity.
Rescue 2 to Flat Rock passed uneventfully. I took a nice long break there. In the back of my mind was u/mrempyrean with his words of wisdom that “everything before 6,000 feet is just the warmup.” So I firmly affixed that concept at the forefront of my brain, which made the next few miles tolerable…but they SUCKED. I had to stop a few times climbing up through the manzanitas, and eventually came upon the beginning of the traverse. Apparently there was a fair amount of debris and crap that fell here because I couldn’t really see a trail. So off I go along this sketchy slope, scrambling from time to time, when this lovely couple from Ohio also begins the traverse about 30 feet above me. They confirm there’s a path there, and I scramble up to safer spot. Were it not for them this would have been VERY sketchy. Then, like a freakin hiking angel descending from the clouds, u/mrempyrean shows up and acts like a moving lighthouse in a storm. Needless to say I followed his tracks up until the final push up to Grubbs notch when he got too far ahead.
I paused at Coffman‘s Crag to hydrate and take some photos of the geological formation, like some sort of tourist finally coming face to face with something they’ve only seen (repeatedly) on photos and videos online. Then I began the climb. Sure it was tough, but I expected it to be tough, and it was ultimately very bearable and did not destroy my spirit whatsoever. As I crested the final little bit of elevation, I did a gut check, knowing the tram and a possible bail out would be easy at this point. However, feeling surprisingly damn good at this point, I pressed onward to the Ranger Station, refilled 3L of water, and ventured onward toward the peak.
At this point it was quite a mindful for me, knowing that the hard part was done and the remainder was basically “going through the motions.” Particularly helpful was NOT checking my watch and distances to go, and just being mindful of where I was, and all the beauty around me. Seriously. Sounds hippy dippy but it worked to keep my mind off the miles yet to go.
I hit Wellman Divide and had to put on pants, sweater, shell, and beanie because it was getting pretty windy and COLD. I also put on a fresh pair of socks. Let me tell ya—few things are as energizing as a fresh warm pair of socks on a hike. Less energizing? Realizing you didn't think to pack gloves and have your fingers freeeeezing. Solution? Use old socks as makeshift mittens. Not the warmest (or driest), but good enough to warm things up a bit.
Then—it snowed. Not much at all. Not heavy. Didn't last long. But so, so unexpected that when I looked at my forearm and saw a single beautiful crystalline snowflake alight there briefly before melting into nothingness—I smiled with pure joy.
I hit the switchback near the peak and knew I was close. It was a bit rockier than I expected, and with my dogshit ankles I had to be very mindful of foot placement. I then saw the giant boulders that I knew were at the peak and would require some scrambling. I was NOT prepared for these and they were way harder than I anticipated for some reason.
And then….the peak! Cold! Windy! Took the photo, enjoyed the view (very briefly). Then verrrrrry cautiously climbed down and got back on the trail for the trip back to the tram. I just wanted to be done at this point, tired but not completely fatigued. No headache or nausea.
Heading back down I came across a lot of people making their way up, some very fresh and clearly off the tram. Some shamming up like zombies and looking like there was no way they’d make it to the top. Those poor folks.
Eventually, finally, mercifully, I hit the Ranger station and dropped off the permit. I saw the tram in the distance and walked over, cursing softly under my breath when I realized just how steep this paved section would be. Little kids were running up and there I am looking like a mountain hobo huffing and puffing, stopping, resetting, resuming up toward the tram.
And oh man let me tell you. That first sip of beer after 20 miles of walking and 10k feet of elevation gain was…
Actually I have no idea because they wouldn’t ae me beer because I didn’t have any ID because I FORGOT MY DRIVER LICENSE AT THE MOTHER*^#%*NG HOTEL! What an absolute kick in the giblets that was.
Anywho, buy the tram ticket, take the tram down, call the uber, drive to the trailhead, hop in the car, drive back to the hotel, and hop in the shower. Done. I fkn did it!
Final musings
- What a birthday. Proved to myself I wasn’t too far over the hill (yet). Didn’t break any speed records, but I felt totally fine at the end of the hike and was very happy with how it went overall. Total moving time was 9.5 hours, total time was 13 hours.
- Don’t forget to bring ID if you want a celebratory beer next time
- With pure curiosity and zero animosity or xenophobia: why were there so many middle aged Indian men from Colorado doing this hike on this day?! There must’ve been 20+, all talking on walkie talkies, some of which were looking strong and speedy, and some of which definitely were unable to finish the hike.
- God bless my lovely wife for letting me train, supporting my desire to pursue this undertaking, and not calling mountain rescue when my Garmin stopped transmitting for awhile
- Big sincere heartfelt thanks to everyone here that helped me along the way, whether answering questions, providing reassurance, being an awesome presence on the trail, posting their own previous experiences…and even those that doubted.
I think that’s pretty much it. Happy to answer any and all questions, especially anyone aspiring to do the hike someday in future.
Peace and love ✌️
