Hike #24 - Skyline Trail or "Cactus to Clouds", Palm Springs, CA

Paul and I returned to Palm Springs in May of 2015 to hike the Skyline Trail to the Tram also known as Cactus to Clouds.  We had hiked from the tram to the top of Mt. San Jacinto last year and loved it despite a lot of snow and ice. The 8 mile Skyline trail has the most elevation gain of any trail in the United States!  Both of us being avid hikers with multiple work outs per day/week, felt we were in decent shape to do this trail. The initial ascent was very steep and we were both breathing hard in no time! We started out around 6 AM since the temperature that day would be near 100 degrees and we always like to get an early start. We had 3 litres of water each and were aware of there not being any water after the first mile. We took several breaks and had the surprise of our life when a coiled rattlesnake came out from behind a rock after mile 3! We continued on and decided to turn back at mile 4. Our water was dwindling fast together the heat and sun zapped our energy. The hike down was awful with the temperature at 97 degrees! We both ran out of water at the last mile. We had one more surprise, this time a naked man came around the corner! I could not believe he was hiking in the middle of the day and fully exposed. Really not a smart thing to do even clothed to be starting this trail at 1 in the afternoon.