Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Baldy - Kelly's Camp

Hi all, I apologize for this being off topic, but I was hoping some of you could give me some sources for info.

I took a group up Mt. Baldy and we camped overnight at Kelly's Camp. It was really interesting to look at the remnants of what used to be a resort. You can still see the concrete floors, the footings, the steps and a lot more.

I understand that this was an upscale resort/restaurant years ago where people came up on horses/mules.

I, and most of my group would love to see pictures of what the resort looked like while it was in it's heyday.

Again sorry for the off-topic request. I've been up Mt. Whitney 14 times now, 9 times with groups on the Main Trail, and 5 times on the Mountaineers route. I have followed this board for a while, and my group talked me into asking for your help on researching Kelly's Camp.

Thanks in advance.

When was your Kelly's Camp trip and is there still a water supply? If so, where will I find the spigot and would it be running in winter? I plan to spend the night there (Kelly's) on this Friday night.

A link to the forest service information about Kelly's camp. It doesn't say much other then it used to be there.

<a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/angeles/recreation/hike-icehouse.shtml">Kelly's camp</a>

Jackalopes, I don't have my maps in front of me right now, but I remember the spigot to be about 100 feet to the right of Kelly's Camp, then about another 25 feet up the hill.

The Forest Service wasn't willing to even tell us about the spigot and I can understand because of water quality issues.

We were there last April, the spigot was flowing, but not much of a flow then. I still think you will be able to either find enough water from the spigot to filter, or enough snow to melt for water on your hike.

Thanks Andrew for your result from the same Search Engine that I accessed.

We were hoping for others with access to deeper research sites.

I was reading in 1996 Edition "Trails of the Angeles" by John Robinson....hike #97 "Icehouse Canyon to Icehouse saddle, Kellys camp and Ontario peak".

This is what it says about Kelly's camp

"Kellys Camp - established as a mining prospect by John Kelly in 1905, turned into a trail resort by Henry Delker in 1922, and now an unimproved wilderness campsite and one of the best in the eastern high country."

"....by staying the night at Kellys camp. If camping overnight you can use the cabin foundations or sack out under the pines. A large campfire ring bespeaks the frequent presence of Boy Scout groups. Just beyond the camp is a small spring, flowing in early season, but sometimes drying up in late summer and fall."

Kashcraft, my 1973 edition of John Robinson's Trails of the Angeles shows the log cabins were still there at that printing. John wrote: "You can do this trip in one day as a rather strenuous up-and-back hike, or you can make more leisurely outing by staying the night at Kelly's Camp. If camping overnight you can use as shelter one of the three log cabins--remnants from resort days--or sack out under the pines...." It looks like the 1988 fire (or a previous one. I remember a horrific fire in the mountains in 1979.) finished off the three remaining log cabins.

Wayne: thanks for the information. That would have been very interesting to see....cabins up high on the mountain.

Did you stop by the Ranger Station in Mt. Baldy Village? They have some pictures of early Mt. Baldy camps. I remember some Icehouse Canyon Lodge images but don't remember if they had any of Kelly's Camp. Might be worth while to drop in and ask.