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

Did the Skii Hut Trail today in absolutely perfect conditions. 57 degrees at 6:30am and probably 65-70 degrees with a light breeze on top at 11:30am. A TON of people on top but no big deal really. A trickle of water at the ski hut to easily refill your bottle.

So last night was interesting, after I topped out at R/R at 8:30p I could see that Baldy was socked in with fog at the upper El. The wind was blowing on the back bone trail so I stopped and put my light jacket and gloves and cap on, I knew it was going to be a chilly one. The wind was blowing about 30mph at the notch and now I'm starting to get into the fog making my way up its at this point I can only see 8-10ft in front of me, a little higher up I lost the trail looking around nothing looked familiar I backed track to the trail went up again everything looks the same nothing looks familiar I know I have to head west and up hill but I wanted the trail so I take my glasses off and squint at my light but this is not the way I'm turning in 360deg looking for a land mark and nothing but white so I backtrack to the trail and on the 3rd try I go slow and look at the ground and see I need to make a hard right turn going up.I hit the summit 47deg. and have a snack with my light off it is pure darkness no stars no desert or city lights, people are talking in there tent as the baldy run is the next day.

Going off the summit there is no way I'm going down the main bowl,within 15min off the summit it starts to improve with droplets hitting the dirt from the wet pine needles. Right before you drop down going west before you head south the fog came in again and I could see down below I could lose the trail so I headed up and walked the rim around as the ceiling was higher, when I got though the trees I looked up and said WOW! stars and no fog to be seen anywhere.

No matter how many times I do that night hike it is so easy to lose your way in fog. As I walked back to the car I said to myself a couple of times "everything looks the same nothing looks familiar"

mark
pictures here

Mark,

Of particular interest were your pictures of the large cache of oranges, bananas, and water jugs at the summit of Mt Baldy taken during your hike yesterday evening. A few hours later they were enjoyed this morning (Sept 7) by the finishers of the 50th Annual Mt Baldy Run to the Top. The runners enjoyed fine weather and good trail conditions.

Jim

To the 6 or 7 other hikers I saw on the Bear Flat trail on Sat, you're welcome for me breaking all of the spiderwebs across the trail in the morning. I started out pre- 4:00 AM and made it to summit by 9:00 AM. I was completely alone on top for the first time in 19 summits. Strange for a weekend @ 9:00 AM. Trail was in great condition tho!

Going for #20 this Sat. up Ski Hut. Hope to see some of you there!

Our 3rd and toughest training hike, leading up to our Cactus to Clouds hike on Oct 24.

Stats as tracked by my GPS:
Dawson Peak, Pine Mt. and Mt. Baldy via N. Backbone || Distance: 13 mi || Duration: ~9 hours || Gain/Loss: ±6,000′ || Net Elevation Gain (at Max Elevation): +2,040′ || Max Elevation: 10,068′ || Difficulty: Strenuous

Here is a link to the full trip report and photos:
Dawson Peak, Pine Mt. and Mt. Baldy via N. Backbone, 10/11/15

and some highlights:


A few minutes before sunrise, near the summit of Pine


The moment I realize where the trail was


The climb up from Baldy-Dawson Saddle


On the summit


Photo op with a SnackingBear


Back at the trailhead. Pine Mt in the large mountain behind us, Baldy or West Baldy can be seen in the distance (SB will know which one it is)

Was hiking up Register Ridge on Sunday 11/1/15, and at the start of the hike I was able to smell smoke. About half way up I observed heavy smoke and a small area on fire in the area. I was hiking with Joe and he was able to call 911. When I got to the Back Bone Trail I started to head to the Notch to notify them. By that time I saw a County Fire helicopter and they saw the fire.

When I got to the peak I saw Frank and SoBay Mark. It was a good day up at the peak as usual.

I summited Baldy today (Thursday). For me, that's the big story (more below). But as for conditions, it was cold, 34 degrees at the parking area, sunny, a little snow and ice in the trees after you cross the bottom of the bowl and more above the sign. I used spikes above the sign to the summit because I was carrying them but they weren't really necessary. There were several prints of naked lug soles going to the top.

As for my story, the last 2 times I was on Baldy before today I didn't make it to the top. I thought that I was done with Baldy, or maybe Baldy was done with me. But today, although I was slow, deliberately because I didn't want to burn out and ruin my chance of making it, I felt good all the way to the summit. That's a relief - losing the ability to hike Baldy would be a serious loss in my life.

Monday is my Birthday and I will follow my long-standing B-day ritual (started last year). Sunday, while I am still young, I will hike into a campground and spend the night. Monday, the old geezer I became overnight will hike out.

What campground? I am thinking of staying somewhere overnight on the 21-22. Hoping to be on Harwood or Baden-Powell for sunrise.

Hi, I didn't camp on or near Baldy for my b-day overnight. This year I just went to Little Jimmy (Mt Islip) because I had an appt early Monday afternoon so I had to get back to town early. Last year I went to Kelly Camp (Mt Ontario). I have never camped on the Baldy ridge. Sorry for the confusion.

A few sections of trail under the tree area were iced up and very slippery. Microspike may be helpful. The rest of the trail was nice and dry.

Frank A., Phil B. and I had a good time behind the bush below the summit. It was very cold, about high 20s, at the summit.
Looking forward to seeing you next time.

Great to see you Shin, Thanksgiving morning on Baldy and a light dusting of snowfall most of the walk back to the car, not bad.

DSCN0094 by Frank Asbury, on Flickr

On top with Shin and Frank, Cold but Fun.

Awww... Missed you by about 3 hours. Missed the blue skies by about 40 minutes. When I got up, the summit was totally socked in. No wind but light snow.

No view at the summit, unless you count this mostly naked guy.

https://flic.kr/p/BAvsma

Poor Baldy, middle of December and naked
Hope it looks better this morning

I was on Baden-Powell yesterday... not much snow, but PLENTY of wind:


Trail & Snow Conditions: Mt. Baden-Powell, Dec 13 2015

Hi Mark,
Mt. Baldy got some snow last night.
I could see fresh snow above 8000 feet or higher this morning from Bolsa Chica ecological reserve.

Let's hope that the snow will stay there for a few days.

Yes Shin lets keep the cold weather here for a while instead
of a high pressure coming in the next day that happens so often

we need ft instead of inches of snow, but even a little is fun



Question: do these look like claw marks on top from a bear or other animal, the tree is West of Etiwanda Pk



Question II: Do bears hibernate in So.Cal. with are fair weather and yes some don't because a couple are always in Baldys trash cans. I would like to know if they have done study's on this

1 year ago today, the Mt. Baldy area had just received a fresh layer of snow. I told my boss that I would be into work late and I hit the trail at 3:30 am. I hiked for 4.5 hrs, then got in a full work day.

I wish more of my work days could start off like this!

I was hoping to do something similar this week, but not enough snow.

Sit-rep from Mt. Baldy...

Climbed Register Ridge today.

Patches of snow, most of which can be walked around.

I carried crampons but did not put them on.