Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board mt. baldy after the rain

i know this is a whitney board so please hold the flame but i know there a lot of southern cal hikers here and if anyone hears what conditions are currently like going up baldy, please let me know. 4 of us are planning a saturday summit but 1 is very concerned about the snow and mud. i said it should add to the challenge. thanks.

I have a good view of the San Gabriel range's North Side from my house in Apple Valley. Baldy, Pine, Dawson, & Baden-Powell seem to be loaded with snow from 8,500 ft on up. Cucamonga & Ontario peaks have snow on their topmost parts. Although I can't imagine the snow hanging for long unless we get more storms. On the other hand the snow may condense and become very icy by this weekend.

Please keep in mind that icy conditions on Baldy killed hikers last year. Stay safe and good luck.

I drive down the Cajon pass every morning on my commute and the snow on Baldy is the most I have seen in October for the past 15 years. Usually you don't see this amount of snow on the peaks until after Thanksgiving. Mt. Baden Powell also has significant accumulations. This is very early to have such snow on the peaks.

Baldy Village was reported as having 12 inches of rain on Wednesday, so you know the summit was hit with much more snow than that.

Summiting Baldy in snow/winter conditions is a crap shoot. I've summited in December where you start in short and short-sleeved shirt and after the bowl it's 20 degrees with wind gusts of 60+ MPH. Be careful!!

<strike>Actually, they closed large portions of the Baldy area on September 27th due to extreme fire danger. Text that I saw follows.

One might think that this storm would have alleviated that, but as you might imagine it's up to the powers that be to decide whether or not they want to lift the closure. (I haven't heard)

If you go up there and find out otherwise, please post back and let us know!

"Effective today, Monday, Sept. 27, there is an Angeles National Forest closure because of the extreme fire conditions. As a result of this closure, Highway 39 will be closed above mile marker 28.96 (Curve Fire gate). GMR and GRR are also closed. East Fork River above Heaton Flats is closed. The West Fork area, 1/8 of a mile west of Highway 39 is closed. Rincon Shortcut Truck Trail and all side roads are closed to all uses.

All private property land, including Camp Follows, Camp Williams, Whispering River, Hudson Bay and the River Community, are open to residents and visitors. All other residents who live in the canyons, including San Dimas Canyon, who are on leased land, are required to have a valid U.S.F.S. permit to remain in the area during this forest wide closure. Hunting and hiking are also prohibited.

Mt. Baldy area. Ski lifts are open, but all hiking trails from the "top of the notch" are closed. The San Antonio Falls Trail and Ice House Canyon Trail in San Bernardino County are also closed.

The OHV area on Highway 39 will remain open.

This closure will remain in effect until the first substantial rain fall.

The U.S. Forest Service will be the agency responsible for enforcing these regulations. However, mountain patrol units should actively patrol these areas and advise violators of this closure. If further enforcement action is needed or required, U.S.F.S. personnel shall be requested to respond to take appropriate action."</strike>

I stand corrected! Never mind!!!

The fire closure for Angeles National Forest was lifted on 10/20.

I hiked this morning (10/22) from Manker Flats to the summit of Baldy via the ski hut trail and descended the Devil's Backbone. There was a bit of snow on the trail through Baldy Bowl, and a few inches (perhaps 4-6) up to the ridge. The first part of the ridge was melting out, but from ~9400' the snow was fairly firm. On the descent there was very little snow after the saddle near Mt. Harwood. If you ascend to the ridge past the bowl, you might encounter ice, since the snow was melting and that area stays in the shade most of the day. Mud wasn't a problem.

mac

wish I would've seen your post earlier! regrettably we canceled after one of our party called the baldy visitor station friday at 4:30 pm and they told her that ice is a problem halfway up the ski hut trail and "crampons were essential."

obviously with that kind of advice, and after heeding richard's ice warnings about last year's tragedies, we decided we'll live large another day. one of the guys has a severe vision problem and if it were slippery, he'd have a devil ('s backbone) of a time. he was ready for mud, but not ice.

anyway, i didn't see your great post until 11 pm and i know the others have already rearranged their saturdays. oh well! hmmm, maybe sunday.

thanks to all.

With an extra day to melt and freeze Sunday will probably be icier than today. If I were hiking tomorrow, I'd carry an axe and crampons for the ski hut trail or stick to the Devil's Backbone in the middle of a sunny day. There was no snow at all on the part of the backbone with the steep drop off.

Dang, I tried to go up Baldy yesterday too, but encountered a road block on the San Antonio Heights side of the dam. Was the road on the West side of the dam open?

The road was open and I was able to get to the Devils Backbone on Saturday, Oct 30.

http://www.summitpost.org/images/116538.JPG

The snow was great earlier in the day, but by mid afternoon it was getting slushy.