Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Conditions On Baldy

OMG Randy so sorry to hear about your accident! You are SO FORTUNATE!
What a cluster it was last w/e up there! I know a bunch of other people that were in the Icehouse area & had to be rescued also. They were also very fortunate.
I know how conditions can get & that's why I stay away until things improve...
Much luck in your recovery. You will learn ALOT about yourself in PT.
Take good care & hope to see you soon ;-)......

There was an another fatal accident on DBB trail near Mt. Harwood last Saturday according to LA Times.

Several sections of trail,the tree section beyond the rock garden, west facing slope above 9000 feet, and under any trees, were very icy early in the morning. Please be careful.

Micro and trekking poles will be very helpful.
The summit plateau was iced up so please stay on south side of the summit.

Hi Shin,
Really sad.. I called the ranger station about 10am Sat. to
check on conditions. The ranger said there had been a third fatality and the recommended on those experienced with the crampons and ice axe arrest go into snow/ice areas. Were there any notices posted to that effect?
Safe Hiking
Rick

Hi Rick,
There is a notice written in English and Korean posted on the white steel gate at Manker flat.
But the pictures of crampons is a microspike and the picture of ice ax is ice climbing ax on the notice. It is not well prepared at all.

Posting the notice will not help at all because most of the weekend hikers don't have a clue about the trail condition and ignore the notice and even kind caution from other hikers.
It may be a good idea to have one park ranger stationed at the gate to caution or remind the public about the trail condition from 7:00a.m.-11:00a.m. on weekend while the trail is in treacherous condition. I have never ever seen a single ranger on Mt. Baldy trails in last 11 years. Preventing the accident is better than assisting the rescue.

Randy, glad you're OK and at least we know it wasn't you last Sat. who slipped because you are in rehab! I know exactly the location you described because I was hiking with you one day in that area. Anyway, be careful everyone!

Hello all, I'm planning on taking my 13 y.o. son up Ski Hut trail as soon as possible. If anyone could give me some info on ice or snow conditions that would be great. I noticed Shin was up there recently so it must be OK for this coming weekend, right?

-Dan

Mt. Baldy forecast

Thx for the link, I already checked the weather but I'm looking for recent hikers and the ice conditions above rock garden mostly. Any recent info would be nice!

Hi Halfdomer,
This was the snow condition of last Saturday:
Below 8200 ft: Dry all the way to Ski hut.
The tree section: Hard consolidated snow to the ridge.
It will be icy but all right in the
afternoon. Micro and poles are must.
8600-9200 ft: Dry
9200-9500: West facing hill side is a bit icy. Micro and
poles are must.
9500-10064 ft: Thin snow on gentle slope. Icy under the
tree in the morning.
The consolidated snow is still there so stay on the existing trail with micro and pole will make your hike very safe.

Please look some photos on my album.

Since the trail is icy in some spots, and several people have slid out of control over the last few weeks, how about bringing along ice axe and crampons?

Hi Mescalito345,
Everyone has own idea about the safety issue. I respect everyone's opinions and experiences.
You can bring or use any gears you may have for the hike.
If I may say, I prefer using microspike and trekking poles over crampons and ice axe combination with one reason.
Reason: Since most of the trail is dry and snow covered area has been consolidated and the snow covering got thin, it is much easier to put microspike on and off and trekking poles for getting much better body balance on the trail as long as you stay on the established trail. Using ice axe and crampons is just overkill for this trail condition.

Have a safe hike.

I’m not going to Mt. Baldy. I think that Halfdomer is planning to go.

I’ve done Shasta six times, and winter Whitney six times. So I have ice axe, crampons, microspikes, trekking poles, etc.

It might not be too icy on Mt. Baldy today, but conditions could be quite a bit different by next week. After reading the news stories about Baldy recently, I keep wondering why nobody brought an ice axe.

Thx everybody for the info, I really appreciate it.. I was thinking microspikes and poles for sure but according to this morning's weather it looks like the snow showers are moving in tonight instead of tomorrow afternoon. Darn I thought I could sneak it in but oh well.. maybe next weekend. Thx again everyone for the info!

-Dan

My view yesterday morning from my co-workers balcony. I'm staying with him and his wife until I move to NH (start my cross-country trip next week ).


San Gabriel Mountains Sunrise Photos & Time-lapse , Feb 8 2016

Hmmm no Baldy pictures to go by yesterday for today's hike.
Tracie and I did Bear Flat today warm in the beginning until we got some wind and el. we carried mircos and pons but only used the mircos on the way down. Down low on way up when we hit ice the footsteps were frozen so we just stepped in them, up higher deeper snow 3" to 6". Heading up to summit was icy we almost stopped to put mircos on close to summit but found some grip and put them on at summit for the way down which at times was slippery. 38deg. on summit with 30+mph winds.

BTW: we saw a lot of crampon tracks/people wearing today on the ski hut trail coming down. No helicopters today

Just another bitchen day on baldy

mark
pictures here

I kept waiting for someone to update this thread. Yesterday l decided l had to check it out for myself. The trail is clear, the weather was beautiful, there were very few other hikers. My new knee is about 90% of it's normal strength.

Awesome, I opted for Mt Wilson on Sunday because even the Baldy visitors center didn't know the trail conditions. I will be up there hopefully April 30th or so with my 13 y.o. son who wants to hike with me. I can't this weekend because my Devo tribute band is playing in Santa Ana on Saturday night (shameless plug). Cya up there!

-Dan

Hi Burt,
Meant to Post Sunday night. Very.... windy Sunday Made the top
of the West Bowl, but the wind was miserable, I expected it to
be a lot warmer and hadn't brought any "winter" gear, so called it
a day. Be up again weekend after next.
Safe Hiking to All
Rick

Does anyone know how much snow is on the Devil's Backbone trail these days?

You won't find snow on the Devil's Backbone trail. There are some snow fields on the north facing slopes if you are looking to ski, but they are off the trail and shrinking.
You might encounter high winds after Harwood.