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

I was in attendance at the ShinSan 500 today...
Couldn't ask for a better day.

(No Mark, this isn't some secret NASCAR event.)

Hi Richard,
I am glad that you still remember how to breath deeply at higher elevation. Mt. Baldy is a good training ground for Sierra. Please come down more often.
https://goo.gl/photos/qMeioynnDFsDiFYz5
We had a good hike with Richard P., Rick G., Phil B., and Marta L. Missed GigaMike today.

Hi Doug Sr., Can I get an extra bonus for getting Richard out to the mountains again?

(Mark doesn't like Ski hut trail. I will catch him on Register ridge trail someday soon.)

Congrats Shin-san on tagging #500.
So now what's next???....inquiring minds would like to know

It was good to see a number of the Baldy Hiking crew (RichardP, Marta, PhilB), up on Baldy to help celebrate Shin's 500th ascent, and I know there are many others that were up on Baldy with us in spirit.

Funny story, as we were taking Shin's 500th summit photo, one of the other summit-ladies saw Shin's 500th sign and yelled out "I've heard of you.....I want to have my photo with you'

Congratulations Shin on 500 summits!!
You're like the energizer bunny, you keep going and going.

Shin about the trail report.... Richard is alive and still climbing maybe time for a Sierra trip.

Thank you for all the things you do for the mountain family We all love you like a brother.

500 wow! Shin is a rock star up there...

Congrats!!!

-Dan

Shin,

Big congratulations on your 500th. Sorry to have missed it, was there in spirit. Will be there for sure for 1000.

JamesL

Congrats to you Shin
Shinanigan 500 that has a Southern NASCAR ring to it...

Whats next??? just keep going up ski hut trail

See you sometime somewhere

mark

I hiked up Register Ridge yesterday. It looks like many hikers are using that route. It's in worse shape now than it was about 6 weeks ago when I last did it. There's a lot of loose scree and some deep ruts on the trail, especially on the top third, and that makes footing harder. But it's a lovely route especially if you like solitude.
B.

This is the problem with use trails. Not being built by experienced trail builders, they are subject to erosion and end up being ugly scars.

Wait... wasn't this an incredibly stormy year... water runoff probably has nothing to do with it...

Hi Richard. Yes, it was a very wet year. But I was comparing the condition of the RR track over a period of about 6 weeks this summer, not before and after the storms. But maybe the wet winter softened the soil so it was more liable to damage from hikers. Add the effect of more hikers and I think your point about use trails is valid. But I would hate to feel I should stick to official trails in the mountains. I usually include at least one off-trail segment when I backpack in the Sierra.

There was considerable monsoonal moisture the first week of August. When I went up Register Ridge on 8/5, the trail was in much worse shape than 7/1. I don't know whether there were monsoonal storms during July, since I was out of the country.

It's those Damn people going down RR messing up the trail

FYI, there might be a few more folks up on Baldy this weekend......

2017 M.A.F.F. GATHERING at Mt. Baldy Sept 1-3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3bsauminag
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-maff-gathering-photography-clinics-tickets-37109220678

Congratulations Dan!!!!
Dan,aka "Ranger Dan", did his 1000th Mt. Baldy summit hike today. It took him over 30 some years to do it.
Many senior members of Mt. Baldy regulars shared this very special day with Dan.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2K6UM854tIWZoHhs2

Congratulations again.!!!

We have to thank you, authorities or agencies or trail builders or volunteers, for rebuilding the section of 9300-9500 ft elevation of Ski hut trail with installing several metal sign posts.
The new trail is wider and smoother with good erosion protection for the trail shoulders. The trail is on the original path. No more taking a short cut trail below.
They worked on some part of rock garden, too.
Thank you for your hard work.
I took some pictures today.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7eEuNkDrd3Aqb1UR2

On Friday I spoke to the 2 guys who are doing that good work on the trail and did thank them. They are FS volunteers. When I was headed up they were making rock trail borders on the west side of the bowl to indicate where the trail goes. I think that will keep some people from heading downhill there and getting into trouble. When I was headed down from the summit they were planting poles to indicate the route off the top down to the easy stretch before you go down through the trees. They were numbering the poles but then took the numbers off because they said some people thought they were mileage.

I went back up to the summit today (Monday) via the Bear Flats Trail. There has been a lot of new work on that trail, too, mostly below the Flats and on the overgrown part of the trail right above the Flats. There's been a lot of cutting and removing tree limbs and shrubs which makes the trail wide open, also a little rock work to define / reinforce edges. I'm assuming this is also the work of FS volunteers, and thanks to them.

Also, I forgot to mention in my earlier post that on last Friday morning I stopped at the Visitors Center to use their superior rest room. Right outside the RR there was a biiig pile of bear scat. The man staffing the VC said it was fresh from the night before. Based on the location, I wonder if the bear was trying to get in the cubicle to use the toilet. In any case, an animal that can produce such a prodigious pile of poop deserves respect.

I went up the ski hut trail again yesterday. There is a serious problem on the steep section above the trees, the section I have seen referred to as the hardscrabble. The guys doing the trail work have put markers in a straight line up that section. I thought it looked strange so I followed it up. It is a dangerous route, much worse than the various user tracks. I met a family who had come up the Devils Backbone and were headed down the ski hut trail. It was their first time on Baldy. If they had followed the newly marked route they would have been in serious trouble so I advised them to go down one of the use trails to the right of the new trail.
I just spoke to Fred Duncan, the Forest Service person responsible for this work. He explained they had to follow the designated route or else get a new EIR. I suggested it would be safer to take out the new markers on that section and just let newbies follow the use trails.
Your comments?