Mt. Baldy via Manker Flats

Jon and I left the trail head at 5:50 A.M. from Manker Flats; hiking the service road to Mt. Baldy Notch. Spent some time at the Notch enjoying the sunny, but cool morning. We spoke to fellow hikers and swapped some stories. We fueled up, hydrated, re-applied sunscreen and ‘natural’ bug repellent for the trek up the ski hill, Devil’s Backbone and summit Mt. Baldy. Many pictures taken during the hike. We summited about noon. While on the peak we were entertained with a glider ‘buzzing’ the summit. After taking in the sights, picture taking, eating lunch and talking with a fellow hiker we began our decent via The Baldy Bowl. Very steep and rugged trail; the knees held strong due to our Cho-Pat knee braces. We heard there was spring water by the Sierra Ski Hut; craving cold water, so we put our Sawyer Squeeze to use and filtered 2 liters of water. Relaxed at a picnic table for 1/2 an hour basking in the sun, re-fueled, hydrated, applied sunscreen and repellent for the final decent. We arrived back to Manker Flats about 6:00 P.M and arrived at the Baldy Lodge for dinner at 6:30. What better way to spend the day!