| Peak | Mt Baldy |
|---|---|
| Group | Mt San Jacinto Hiking Club |
| Trailhead | Manker Flats |
The plan… to join our group at Manker Flats at 6:30am take the ski hut trail and then split off on to Register Ridge to Devils Backbone just below Mt Harwood and then summit from there. Temps were expected to be in mid 40s but due to wind reports of 40-45mph w/70mph gusts my friend (Peggy) and I decided to get a head start and reached Manker Flats about 6am, due to winds some thought was given to taking Register Ridge because of exposure on backbone and once there options (going back down register…steep or heading back to the notch) weren’t too appealing in high wind conditions.
When we reached the Register Ridge cutoff we made the decision to take Ski Hut due to the some of the wind gusts we encountered on theh drive up the mountain, anticipating that it would be pretty windy at the summit. We also thought we might have a better chance of summiting via Ski Hut and if we had to turn around due to winds there was better protection coming back down the Ski Hut trail v turning back on backbone.
The trail conditions on Ski Hut were good, we did encounter some wind but it was not difficult to hike in. There was still patches of snow on the way up but we did not need to use our microspikes. The challenge was when we reached the last climb up to the summit, winds were very strong and many times we had to stop to keep our balance…then we would head back up to the top. The winds were the worse I have encountered in the past on the peak and immediately upon reaching the peak I took cover in once of the rock shelters. Fortunately a friendly hiker grabbed on to my friends (who is quite petite) and led her to one of the shoulder fearing she might get knocked down by the wind.
We later learned that the rest of our group who took register ridge had to turn back as the winds were just too strong to summit from backbone.
What made our summit especially memorable was that Peggy was able to leave the flowers she had brought in memory of Sam on the peak. What was unexpected was that a fellow hiker that was sharing the shelter with us happen to be one of the members of the San Bernardino Search & Rescue team that looked for Sam, when he realized what Peggy wanted to do but was concern she couldn’t make it to the marker on her own due to strong winds.. he offered to assist her in placing the flowers.
I am sure the 3 remaining peaks I have yet to complete will also be memorable but this one will forever be etched in my mind.
