| Peak | Mt Baldy |
|---|---|
| Group | N/A |
| Trailhead | Mankers Flat - Devils Backbone |
Cucamonga Peak was still very snowy and we decided to spend mother’s day hiking Baldy. We began hiking at 7am, it was a chilly start. We could see our breath and we needed our gloves. I’ve hiked Mount Baldy many times before, but I was used to going up the Ski Hut side. It was strange for me to go up Ski Lodge side, but some of us were not ready for the steep climb therefore we went counter clockwise from Manker’s Flat.
It was a very nice stroll to the Ski Lodge, we wanted to order breakfast, but they were setting up for a mother’s day buffet which did not start until 10 am. We were there too early so we ate what we brought. Toni, whom we befriended at Mount Wilson brought some chocolate covered strawberries she bought for her mother, but snag a few for us. We spent about an hour lounging at the lodge before we decided to continue our summit. It was very windy, and made our faces feel like they were frozen. Eventually the wind stopped and we pressed on. We took a chute after the lodge just to try a different way up, we won’t do that again as it was so much work and took a lot of energy out of us.
By the time we reached the Devil’s Backbone, we thought we were seriously closer, but we were not at all. The climb after the devil’s backbone was where all the struggling began. There was a chihuahua that made it up passed our group, it was pretty fascinating to see how strong that dog could be when its not always barking at you.
Reaching the summit was exhilarating. We all took a 30 minute nap and then took our photos. I laid there and thought to myself of how much I like the Ski Hut route better since the way up is shorter, I had to mentally prepare myself for the step way down back to Mankers Flat parking. The way back wasn’t too bad. Fortunately, I had my hiking sticks. We hugged as a group, and went our separate ways home. I will be back to hike Baldy from the Village one day, this hike is my personal favorite as it is local, challenging, there’s toilets, there’s options to make your hike short or long. I love Baldy… just not taking it counterclockwise again.
