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

Good times, great photos Mark!

I went for a hike before work on Dec 18. I only had 5 hours, so I just did part of Register Ridge.

Some highlights:











The rest of the photos and a trip report can be found here:
http://www.hikinggeek.com/2014/12/22/register-ridge-trip-report-december-18-2014/

Wow it is beautiful up there right now. Great pix. Thanks for sharing them. Merry Christmas!

Mark and 63ChevyII - GREAT PIX! Oh how I would love to hike Baldy for Christmas!!
Mark, what a great idea to camp below the summit and watch the sunrise. You were treated to a beauty. It was magical!

Anybody been on Baldy lately? I'm headed up in a few days and wondering if there's any snow around.

Driving from OC to Sierra Madre yesterday to visit my grandmother (almost 101!), I saw very little snow on Baldy.

It was in the high 80's in the foothills.

I hope this helps!

Kurt, I was up there on Saturday. It was a slushy thin film of white in the trees above the hut, then dry to the Noodle Bowl where the pathetic thin spread of mashed potato continued on to the summit.
I met an overly optimistic person on the descent who was carrying his skis and boots down the road from the lifts.

Right on... thanks you two. Wow not much snow up there. I was trying to decide on footwear and it looks like my Lowa Ferrox GTX LO's should do the trick. I'm guessing the snow that Tracy saw on Saturday is melting off quickly.

31ruecambon: What a blessing to have a grandmother who's over 100yrs old. Glad you're able to enjoy her company. Good on ya!

I just saw this story too. I hope they find the other guy: 1 of 2 Missing Hikers Found In Mt. Baldy Area

San Antonio Falls area ? it sounds like they went missing near the start of the trail hope they find him soon .

Someone got a new sponsor...?

Actually, those shoes look interesting. Do they have a good toe bumper?

Actually I've been an ambassador for Lowa Boots for a few years now. I've used their boots on everything from the summit of Everest to day hikes in the Sierra and So Cal .

I've been using the aforementioned Ferrox's since last August. It's been an excellent shoe. As far as the toe bumper goes I wouldn't call it "beefy" but I've found it has good toe protection. Overall it's a very comfortable shoe though.

I've seen these 2 gentlemen a number of times on the Ski Hut trail. We don't really know one another but we salute each other as members of the fraternity of hiking geezers. I'm very glad they're OK. I'm not that surprised that they got off route.

In the 100s of times I've hiked Baldy by different routes since 1988 (nobody told me I was supposed to keep score) until recently I only got off trail once - my very first time. I headed down the use trail towards the plane wreck before I realized my mistake.

But a few weeks ago I was coming down the Ski Hut trail well below the hut, not paying a whole lot of attention except where my foot was going to land next, and I realized I was off trail - way off trail. I had followed a clear use trail and was headed down towards the falls. My only recovery was to go back up to where I had gone off trail.

I don't know if that is where these gentlemen went astray. But the general issue is that the Ski Hut trail is used by so many people, with so many different objectives, that new use trails get cut all the time and the route should never be taken for granted.

source: http://members.boardhost.com/sgva/msg/1423747192.html

The SG Trail workers have tried their best to block off this trail with logs, but there is a well worn path which many take on their descent....eyes only on their feet and the few inches in front of that. Must be a natural inclination to turn to the right (?) I've seen folks do this. Even when they see others going on the correct trail (LEFT), they continue on their wayward course until they reach the cliff/dropoff. Glad the two gents are home safe and sound.

Yeah I've seen people take that right hand use trail too. I've been trying to figure out how that trail got started. I'm guessing it happened from wintertime use. When there's snow I've seen many people cross that terrain lower than the trail goes. As the snow melts people still follow that route that was kicked in on the snow.

According to my friend who lives in Baldy village, other hiker was found in Goode canyon. Glad, they are all right.

There are two sections of Ski hut trail which many new hikers take wrong turns. Going up: It is around 8700-8800 feet elevation area. If you keep on going straight to west, you will be ended up in Goode canyon. You have to make quick right turn to stay on the trail. Going down: It is located around 8000 feet elevation area below Ski hut. If you hike down to the right direction, you will be ended up in very steep San Antonio fall canyon and no easy way out.

Every week, there are many hikers get into some kind of troubles but never been on TV news.
Last week, I met one hiker got separated from his friend for several hours waiting at Manker. He sprained his ankle over Ski hut and turned around but his friend took off himself somewhere and never been seeing. Ranger station was closed.... I asked him why you didn't stay on the trail. His response was that it was his first time in the mountain.
Last month, two GI camped out right next to Ski hut and made an open fire at night. Later in a day, one of them broke his foot and unable to walk right at all. Other guy was very much careless about the seriousness of the situation his friend was in. Their pack was filled with 6 pack of beer.... We offered help and left the area.
There is some who took out any flyers or register note from the metal register box and tear them up and spread them all over the area. My friend already contacted the organization not to leave anything in the metal resister box.

There are hundreds of people share the same trail for hundreds reasons. I seldom offer any information or help voluntarily unless I am asked. Because they know more than I do and they are 1000% better than me because they have better clothing and gears. But, I never hesitate to say "You will die if you......" if the hiker is doing 1000% wrong things on the trail. Hiking in mountain has become like driving on 405 freeway.

They must be good - my daughter is still using the same pair of Lowa boots I got her for her first Sierra trip in 2002.

Climbed Baldy on Friday. It's almost bone dry. There's a few icy patches in the trees on the left side of the bowl. Near the summit there's a few random patches. It was a very pleasant day of shorts and short sleeve shirts the entire day. Wishing there was more snow though. Here are a couple pix:

The Baldy Bowl


Near the summit


Dry on the summit

Here's the spot I'm guessing those guys got off route last week on Baldy. There's several tree branches over the area now that will hopefully help people stay on the route.

Everybody says it was a beautiful day on Baldy yesterday and everybody should know - they were all there. The ski hut trail was so crowded it could have used lane control. It's raining now in downtown LA so there should be precip in the local moumtains.

I carried an Alpine Lowe pack I bought at the hostel for the first time. I never had a frameless pack before. It's the most comfortable day pack I ever had.