Badass on Baldy

Peak	Mt Baldy
Group	Team SoCal Hiker: Climb for Heroes
Trailhead	Mt. Baldy Ski Lift Parking Lift

I did this hike last year as part of my Sixty60 Journey (sixty hikes to my 60th birthday, which actually turned in to 180 hikes,) it was hike #47 and was supposed to be a training hike for an impromptu 4 day backpacking trek over Kearsarge Pass ending on Mt. Whitney. For various reasons, the Mt. Whitney part didn’t happen, making that hike last year part of the Six Pack of Peaks Challenge that I didn’t complete! Argh!!! Instead I ended up hiking both islands of New Zealand.

It was great to have a comparison for how far I have come in under a year, between last year’s summit and this one. I felt pretty great on this hike, distance, feet, altitude – all great! I think my birthday trek in Peru — Andes to the Rainbow Mountain had a little something to do with the altitude part, as I was anywhere between 13,500′ and 17,300′ over the course of four days. In addition, I can’t ignore the fact that climbing for heroes can give one a different perspective on climbing this mountain from the start. So it begins another attempt at the Six Pack of Peaks Challenge. I made it to three last year… this year: one down.

The weather and trail conditions were great — that was a big help for sure!