Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Baldy hike on 12/23

I grew up in Claremont, virtually in the foothills of Baldy, in
the 40s and 50s. Few people made the effort to climb this Mt
and probably only a handful in the winter. (pre ski lift days) I am amazed at the popularity of this Mt now with so many climbing it year around.

I have to admit, I only climbed it once, via the Hogsback Route
and figured, "done that, end of story". I now regret that I
passed up so many opportunities to make the effort as many have that I read about on this forum. Jealous and in awe !!

Mark - Good to meet you, Shin and Cheryl today. We also met GigaMike on the summit.

Did you hear about a possible rescue yesterday? About 1/2 mile above the Hut (we took the same down route you did) we saw a Sheriff's helicopter make multiple circular passes in the bowl - at least 50, I'd guess during the next hour or so. We met USFS, and SAR staff heading up, and Sheriff/SAR staff were interviewing everyone coming off the mountain at the trailhead. Apparently someone had witnessed a hiker, perhaps 2, fall in the bowl, and had called in a report. Apparently the various agencies have to respond even when it's not clear someone has actually been injured/needs evac.

Hi Kevin, it was good meeting you yesturday.

While I was climbing the bowl, I passed a women and a man about 3/4 the way up. Before I reached the women, I noticed that she seemed to be having a hard time with her footing and I was a little concerned. I stopped and talked with her for a few minutes and she told me this was her 3rd time clmbing the bowl and that the guy ahead was her climbing partner. I told her I would see her on the summit and continued up. I went over to West Baldy first and then over to Baldy where I ate lunch and waited a while, but they never arrived. I assumed they were taking a break below the summit or turned around, so I headed over to Mt. Harwood and that is when I was buzzed by the SAR Helo and was informed via intercom that they were looking for 2 climbers. Since I had planned on watching the sunset from the summit of Baldy, I hiked around the top of the bowl looking down all the chutes, but I didn't see or hear anyone. The SAR helo was gone by now so I hiked back up to the top of Baldy and waited for the sunset.

Btw, the upper portion of the bowl where I exited had very hard snow and ice and I had to climb straight up using only the front points of my crampons. My axe was basically useless and I don't think a self-arrest would of been possible.


Catalina Island


Sunset on Mt. Baldy


Inland Empire from the Devil's Backbone Ridge

The rest of my photos are here.

Hi Mike -

Good meeting you as well. I heard the intercom, but was too far down in the bowl to hear what they were saying.

Nice pics - I thought it was neat that you could see Olancha and Telescope to the north, both snow-capped.

It was a really nice day on Baldy yesterday and it very nice to see and meet folks from this board and our meetup group on the mountain - the wind died down before we got to the summit, so it was beautiful up there. I don't think I've ever seen the pacific so clearly from Baldy before. It was a bit icy in places and not perfect conditions for climbing the bowl. Search and rescue said someone reported seeing the climbers fall and said they had helmets on - I hope they were found and are okay.

Sounds fun but can't make it. Have fun, be safe, take pictures!

James

Nice pictures Mike, if you were going up the bowl at noon there were 2 people close to the top and 4 going up the middle, from your pictures it looked like you were the that fourth person, we commented at the time why that person on your pictures #27 was headed to the left,rocks I imagine, we watched one rock come bouncing down near you guys....mark

Thanks, Mark.

Yes, I was one of the four people in the middle of the bowl. Upon reaching the upper portion of the bowl, the two people up above were knocking down chunks of ice, one of them narrowly missed the women with the pink helmet. I headed left (west) to get out of the line of fire.

Wow Mike. Congrats on 60 summits this year. That is amazing. I love the pics and you are crazy. That looked pretty nasty coming down in the dark. Brave man.

Great Job on 60+ summits Mike. From OC you could see San Gorgonio, Downtown La and Catalina on Saturday. Just getting back from a 2 week trip to Mainland China I really appreciate our clean air here. Sure we have pollution but compared to China our air is pristine. I arrived in China on a "good day" and you couldn't see for more than 10 miles. Hopefully our Wednesday MC hike will be clear as well.
Mike you have to step up next year and aim for 75 summits.....

Great photos Mike, that ice on the summit does indeed look treacherous.

Thanks for the info on the meeting place, mark. Wish you could go also...

Regarding the meeting place: There are two signs, first one reads 'Manker Flats' (DON'T WAIT THERE). Go 2 tenths of a mile up the road to the second sign that reads 'San Antonio Falls Road'. That is where we will meet. We should be geared up and ready to hit the trail at 6:00 am.

The plan: Ski Hut trail on the 23rd. Meet at Manker Flats for a 6:00 am start time. This will be a day hike. We can monitor conditions closer to the 23rd. After the hike/climb, the plan is to meet at the Lodge for those who are available...

I'll have my ice axe, crampons & helmet and depending on updated weather forecasts, possibly snowshoes.

So far it's:
Jeff Scofield
MC Reinhardt
Nick Rice
Norma Ryan
Shin
summit scott
David Bosman
Greg Lukenbill
Jackalopes
Simon Bentley (tentative)
Tracie (tentative)
blakemiller (tentative)
Joshua Buchan (tentative)

Gonna be a fun day!

Great pix, Mike... Wish you could go for another summit on Wednesday to add to your outstanding record this year...

Sorry you can't make it JamesL. We'll take lots of pix...

I am sorry to have to miss this one. I was hoping to find a way to sneak it in , but I have family obligations. I did manage to head up Baldy today. I went up Register Ridge and down the Ski Hut Trail. It's lovely our there. The visibility was good enough that I could see San Clemente Island from just above Manker Flat until I got back down there. No postholing at all. I also saw no one at all until well below the Ski Hut on the way down. You'll have more company on the 23rd, even if you have to bring it all yourselves. Have a great time out there!

This hike is getting so much publicity that The Mountaineering Review wants me to cover it. Could I tag along?

The current conditions on Mt. Baldy are like nothing I have seen before. Have a look at the photo on this thread. You'll know the one I'm talking about.

Thanks everyone.

MC- I wish I could join you on the Baldy hike, but I'm a little too far away at the moment, about 2000+ miles in the flat lands aka Florida. Have a great climb and I'll keep an eye out for the TR.

Sam... Absolutely! Look forward to seeing a TR in The Mountaineering Review.

GigaMike and AlanK... you will be missed! Mike, hope you're enjoying Flordia. AlanK, next time...

The plan: Ski Hut trail on the 23rd. Meet at Manker Flats for a 6:00 am start time. This will be a day hike. After the hike/climb, the plan is to meet at the Lodge for those who are available...

Regarding the meeting place: There are two signs, first one reads 'Manker Flats' (DON'T WAIT THERE). Go 2 tenths of a mile up the road to the second sign that reads 'San Antonio Falls Road'. That is where we will meet. We should be geared up and ready to hit the trail at 6:00 am.

I'll have my ice axe, crampons & helmet. Snowshoes not needed (thanks Dave G for responding to my question).

So far it's:
Jeff Scofield
MC Reinhardt
Nick Rice
Norma Ryan
Shin
summit scott
Greg Lukenbill
Jackalopes
Tracie
Sam Page
blakemiller
Simon Bentley (tentative)
Joshua Buchan (tentative)
David Bosman (tentative)

Gonna be a fun day!

I was awaken by pouring rain . . . I'm at the base of the SG mountains, in Upland. Went out for my coffee run and got slammed with rain and even a lightening strike. Car thermometer noted 44deg. Weather on news just said it is supposed to clear through day, but remain cold.

Oh, better news . . . I'm pretty certain that I'm a go, so move me into the "YES" column Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Weather snapshot at 6:30am.

Hi MC; definitely no need for snowshoes, but make sure your crampons are reasonably sharp if you're planning on climbing the bowl.
Wish I could join you, but the kids are on winter break and they're demanding their "Daddy time"!

I can't wait to see photos! My wife and I were just saying we wanted to do a winter Baldy climb and I pop on the board and there it was... Too bad we can't make it with you guys but have fun and be safe!

Great! I'll plan to be ready at 6:00 AM. According to the Mt. Baldy website, the road is open but chains are recommended.