Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board The Opening of Spring Training in SoCal

Most of the folks who hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney are from SoCal, this is let you know a major trailhead is clear of meaningful snow to about 8,900'.

I was up to Timber Mountain today and there were only two small patches of snow in the 4.4 miles, +3,300' to Timber. Both these patches were covered with debris and slipping on them was not an issue, if the heat keeps up they will be gone by next weekend.

From Timber, it appears there trail to Telegraph is totally clear and Baldy looks wide open. However, Cucamonga Peak still has snow on it northern flanks.

If you are couch potato and will be doing Mt. Whitney in the June or July, there is no time like the present to get started with your training. San Antonio Canyon is about as go as get when it comes to training for Mt. Whitney with hikes that have gains up to 6,100'...just like Mt. Whitney. Now, if we could just figure out how to get Mt. Baldy to grow 4,000'.

Thanks for posting this info. I like the hike from Icehouse Canyon to Telegraph Peak. The saddle between Timber and Telegraph makes the total vertical gain about 4400 feet.

I have been looking at a loop hike from 95-1 Manker Flat to Baldy Notch, Thunder, Telegraph, Timber Mtns., Icehouse Saddle, Icehouse Canyon via San Antonio Falls Road and Chapman Trail. This is described at the web link http://tchester.org/sgm/hikes/tc/95-1.html. It takes you around the 3Ts trail and Icehouse Canyon section for about a 14 mile loop. I've seen the posts that say the weather/trail conditions are decent around part of that area but not sure about the entire loop. I am going to be visiting San Diego in early April and may have a chance to do this hike around 7 April. Any info is appreciated.
Is anyone else interested in doing this loop. I'd prefer to do the hike with someone that is familar with the area. Thanks.

As things look now, it's hard to believe that you'll have trouble with that route being clear in early April.

No offense, but everyone local is hoping for a whole lot of snow -- soon! Right now, things are terribly dry and we are facing the possibility of one of the worst fire seasons ever. People are talking about how soon the National Forests will be closed to use.

Rick Kent has some photos of this section, from Icehouse canyon saddle over to the Mt. Baldy notch.
These pictures are in the middle of his 11 peak hike.
http://www.rickkent.net/ViewerPlus/viewphoto.aspx?ID=72256

muttdog - for some more info on the lack of snow in the local mountains, see these posts:

http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1780

http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=1778

The trails that you want to hike are well maintained and easy to follow. Tom Harrison has a nice map of the Mt. Baldy area that you might find useful (tomharrisonmaps.com). If you do not arrange a car shuttle, then you will have a 2 mile walk with 1000 feet of gain to get from the Icehouse Canyon parking lot to the Manker Flat parking area. Good luck!

Also started spring training with a baldy hike. Was on the ski hut trail yesterday and very very dry. I drink like a fish, so I like to refill my bottles instead of carrying a huge sparkletts bottle. The trickle of water at the ski hut is just about that. I hate to see what we're going to see this summer.

Muttdog,

I'd do that trip in the opposite direction. Up Icehouse over Timber, Telegraph and Thunder. This gives you the ability to stop at Notch for a Coke before heading down the ugly a$$ fire road...or taking the ski lift down like manly men with $10 in their pockets do.

You will need two vehicles for the trip.

If you want to loop, Go up Manker to the Ski Hut Trail...and it is easy to miss if you don't know what you are looking for, then go up over Baldy, there you can do a couple things to add distance, descend to the lower saddle and to Pine Mountain then retrace your steps to Baldy then down to Harwood/Baldy Divide, then up over Harwood and down the Devil's Backbone to the Notch...and the ski lift or ugly a$$ fire road.

There is about 1/4 mile walk to Manker Flats from the Ski Lift.

What are the 11 peaks? Sounds like a good hike.

The 11 peaks hike starts at Icehouse Canyon:

1. Sugarloaf Peak
2. Ontario Peak
3. Bighorn Peak
4. Etiwanda Peak
5. Cucamonga Peak
6. Timber Mountain
7. Telegraph Peak
8. Thunder Mountain
9. Mt. Harwood
10. Mt. Baldy
11. West Baldy

Parts of the hike from 1 to 4 are cross-country. Only the super fit need attempt.

A friend of mine and I just did Baden Powell on Sunday in about 4 hours. Nice little warm up for Baldy, San Jacinto, And Gorgonio which we are hoping to add before the Whitney trip. As for Baden Powell. There were a few considerable snowfields up towards the top and we missed a switchback because some were still buried. Not hard for more experienced folks though. One trekking pole would have been enough. Now just waiting to hear about our Whitney permit!!!!

Few people could pull off this full 11 peak hike straight. Most break it up in three sections.

- Ontario Peak to Cucamonga peak area.
- The three T's between Icehouse canyon saddle and the Mt. Baldy Notch.
- West Baldy, Mt. Baldy and Mt. Harwood.

To tell you the truth, doing the whole loop at one time would require being very strong and very motivated. Certainly way out of my league.

We did 9 peaks last summer (Richard's list in reverse order, minus #s 1 and 4). Our hike was 32 miles and 12000'. Good, clean fun.

People (read "Rick Kent" and/or "Rick Graham") keep upping the ante. Why not throw in Pine and Dawson for 13? How about Iron Mountain? Why not the entire San Gabriel range? :-)

Thanks for the info. I've got Baldylocks and the 3 T's in my radar, maybe late April. But definitely for training for this summer's adventure! Good times!

-L

muttdog, I will be glad to hike with you on any of the peaks or sections in the Mount Baldy area, I do those sections as least 5 times a year, icluding some snow conditions. Send me an email at pmoran@assurancecapital.com and let me know your schedule for early April. 90% of the snow melted in one week up there from all the high temperatures we had over the last two weeks so it will be clear of snow most of the way with small patches on the North facing slopes. If I don't hear from you I will assume you've made other arrangements. Thanks

Is there any water on or near the trail from Baldy Notch to Kelly Camp via Thunder Mountain, Telescope Peak, Timber Mountain and Ice House Saddle? The topos I have looked at indicate streams below Ice House Saddle to the east and to the west. I am planning to go early and mid April.

There is a reliable stream below Ice House Saddle. The hike from the Notch is not all that long, though (10 miles?). We always just carry water.

Thanks Alan, I was planning to start at Mt. Baldy Village, fill up at Bear Flat and then at the Notch after Baldy, then camp overnight at Kelly Camp. Below Ice House Saddle is an ideal place to fill up for the night before making camp. I'm figuring this will approximate a good solid day on the JMT.

Tim -- your plan for an overnight hike sounds great.

Here is our Three T's trip report from Dec 2006:
Three of us from Riverside parked one car at the bottom of the Mt Baldy ski lift and one car at Icehouse Canyon. We left the Icehouse Canyon parking lot at 8 AM on Saturday. Hiked up Icehouse Canyon, took the Chapman trail detour and ended up at the Icehouse Saddle at 11:15. From there we went to Timber Mountain, then to Telegraph Peak and then to Thunder Mountain. An absolutely beautiful hike. Could see Arrowhead, Big Bear, San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, LA skyline and Catalina Island. Cool and at times pretty windy, but not too bad. We got to the top of the Baldy Ski lift at 4 PM and made my greatest $8 investment ever (rode the lift down) saved the three mile down hill fire road trek. 10.9 miles in 8 hours. Great uphill training hike, almost no down hill at all. Water most of the way up Icehouse canyon, but after that only what you had carried with you.