Stoney Point (2005-2)
Stoney Point (2005-1)
Millard Falls (2005)
Strawberry Meadow (2005)
King's Canyon (2004)
Ojai (2003)
Hiking Mt. Baldy
Topo map and guide to Baldy.
The original plan: take the ski lift provided by the Mt. Baldy ski resort, then do the easiest way to Mt. Baldy: along Devil's Backbone, ~2500' of elevation gain and 3.5 miles one-way. It's narrow, dry, and desolate in most parts, but the gain is modest and it's suitable for everyone. If you skip the ski lift it's 3800' of gain and ~7 miles, which makes it a strenous hike according to the guidebook.
We got there at 8am, but found that the ski lift doesn't open til 9am. Billy flipped through his trail book, said instead of Devil's Backbone, we can do Manker Flats (the base camp for Mt. Baldy ski area) to San Antonio Falls to Baldy Bowl to the top. 4.5 miles one-way and 3900' of elevation gain. It's an equally strenous hike according to the guide book, but at least it's prettier.
Oh, yes, Mt. Baldy from Manker Flats is one of the ten most difficult hikes in California. We knew, but did we remember or care about that little detail when we decided to go up Baldy Bowl? Of course not!
The first walk to San Antonio Falls was nice and easy. Pretty flat. Encountered several other groups of hikers, some large, some small, after we got there. We had plenty of company the whole way up. Walked past the falls a little ways, saw a steep switchback to the left. Yes, that's the trail. Umm, sure, that looks steep, but let's go.
On the topo map from the site above, you can see what we got into. 3800' of elevation for the remaining 4.25 miles or so. Up to the old green ski hut about halfway up, then keep going... the last 0.85 miles we covered 1200' of elevation. HOLY CRAP!!! To their credit, Bill and Jianhui held up infinitly better than I did. I can handle flat ground pretty quickly... but constant slopes that were probably 15-20% the whole way, I'm a complete wuss.
The summit of Mt. Baldy (Mt. San Antonio) is quite large, flat, and devoid of trees, hence the name. It took roughly 3.5~4 hours to get to the top, where we took a break for 20 minutes and admired the view. The Los Angeles Basin was covered in clouds around 6,000 feet, but the San Joaquin Valley wasn't too hazy. Bill unpacked his Lil Smokies for a snack, while Jianhui had some beef jerky. 20-30 other people were at the summit at any one time, including several experienced hikers who had done other hikes in the area, including Baldy in bad weather (yikes!).
We took Devil's Backbone down Mt. Baldy, as going down Baldy Bowl would have been brutal, particularly since we lacked poles. Aside from the steep initial descent right from the summit, it was a very moderate hike along a fairly narrow ridge. Several places had steep drop-offs on both sides, hence the name. In comparison to the greenery almost the entire way up Baldy Bowl, the Devil's Backbone was bare of trees and cover in most spots, and was not nearly as pretty. Being much more flat did help a little. ;-) Once we got into the ski area, the vegetation returned and we had a fairly leisurely hike down from the ridge to the high camp. The final descent down the access road to the ridge was a bit steep (hello toe blisters), but not too bad. After looking down from the top at the lousy view (compared to Baldy Bowl), we were quite happy to pay our $5 for the ski lift ride down the last 1300'.
Mt. Baldy was the most crowded trail we'd seen in Southern California. We saw a fairly large group of older Japanese (?) hikers on the way, a good-sized group of younger white and asian people (maybe close to us in age?), plus quite a few other groups. No small children at all going up Baldy Bowl, as it's too difficult. We did see a few at the top and going up via Devil's Backbone. The mix of hikers was pretty good, about 50:50 male:female.
