sign on top of Mt. Baldy

Hike: Mt. Baldy

Date: 7/2/98
With whom: solo



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Manker Flat to Baldy Notch, Devil's Backbone, to Mt. Baldy

Distance: miles roundtrip
Elevation:

This is one of my more memorable hikes. I drove down to LA for the holiday weekend and had the itch to get on the trail. Driving to the Mt. Baldy area takes me through areas very familiar to me when I went to school at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. I always experience a tinge of nostalgia when I drive through the area.

San Antonio Falls The drive up to the Baldy ranger station is a fun one, typical of a mountain road. I tried taking some of the turns very aggresively in my car, but I experienced some unusually severe wheel hop. When I later stopped, I checked the tires and realized that the last time I had my car at the dealer, they put my unidirectional tires on the wrong side of the car!

I finally arrive at the ranger station (6000' elevation) to buy my Adventure Pass and pick up a trail map. The ranger informs me that there is still just a bit of snow on top. Cool! I've never hiked in snow.

This hike starts out at more than 6000' elevation and climbs to the summit of Mt. Baldy (aka Mt. San Antonio) at 10,064'. It's a 13 mile round trip hike with 3800' of elevation gain. On the weekends, you can take the ski lift to cut out some mileage and elevation. This was not a weekend and I wanted to take the extra distance and elevation anyway.

view back towards Upland looking down the ski lift Early into the hike from Manker Flat is a bit of treat, San Antonio Falls. The hike along the fire road is uneventful and I encounter a couple runners. The trail continues to wind up this fire road as I gain a good amount of elevation. As I get closer to the ski lodge at Mr. Baldy notch, there are some nice views back out towards Upland. Mt. Baldy ski lodge
I stop at the ski lodge to have my lunch. I brought along some Starburst that are packaged with 2 Starburst sealed in an airtight plastic wrapper. The wrapper is fully inflated and looks like it is going to burst because of the altitude. I eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and was it down with some Gatorade.

Little Baldy trail on Devil's Backbone When I start on the trail again, the directions aren't perfectly clear on how to proceed. I know I need to end up near the end of one of the ski lifts which I can see. I start following what seems like a trail (ruts from a car). It turns out that this is the ski run and the hill becomes very, very steep. I'm in decent shape, but the altitude affects me and I rest frequently. My heart is beating very hard.
gnarled tree
Once I pass the ski lift drop off, I enounter bits of snow for on the trail. This is the first time I've encountered snow on a trail and it's exciting. I hike on Devil's Backbone trail and there are some fun sections with drop offs to both sides. I see no one on this section of the trail.

peaks to the east trail with snow The stretch of the trail up to the top is completely covered in snow. There is no visible sign of the trail. I just need to bushwhack it up to the summit. It's not too bad and the summit is clear of snow.
view from the summit self-portrait of me at the summit in my favorite Mickey Mouse T-shirt and Timberland flannel shirt view from summit
I know it's very cliche to say, but it is breathtaking at the summit (and not just because of the elevation ;-). This is the tallest peak in LA county and it's exhilirating to think that I am literally looking down on every other peak in the county. The summit affords a view in every direction. t's not often that I have the opportunity to this far into the Los Angeles National Forest. It's quite a treat.

San Antonio falls on the return hike the trail back from the summit It's very windy up here and I take some time to enjoy being up here. I set up the my camera and the timer so I can take a picture of myself. It's a long hike back, but it goes faster because I jog a bit of the lower section on the fire road.


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