| Peak | Mt Baldy |
|---|---|
| Group | Natalie C from socalhiker |
| Trailhead | Ski Hut up to Devil's Backbone down loop - no chair lift |
After a crazy end of summer with my last summit San Bernardino 7/20, I DEFINITELY EARNED this peak bag! Jumped right back into it with Ski Hut up to Backbone down – 11.3 physically and mentally strenuous, amazingly beautiful and exhilarating miles! Once again the mountain spirits gifted me wonderful weather – cool, fog cleared at sunrise, a cold wind at the summit that felt like a/c on max – which was looooovely after all our recent heat (and broken but now fixed a/c, like everyone else’s it seemed!) – and not one monsoon cloud in the sky! Also Backbone was dead calm – a very nice and MUCH appreciated surprise!
I have to say after reading so many hike reports and guides, poring over photos of Backbone online, having my local hike guide know every person who died or had to be rescued this winter and had to cancel several hikes for going to funerals, I approached this hike with a healthy sense of foreboding and dread but knowing Baldy had to be done for my fifth summit of the six pack. I found a fellow socalhiker who had done the route before, and she was nice enough to join me, and I will help her do Jacinto soon. She is a very strong hiker btw and a great guide! Ty ty!
When we turned up onto the more obvious than I was expecting Ski Hut trail, I was figuring to encounter at least a 45-degree-plus angle scramble of a climb and the route in general to resemble a double black diamond ski chute after reading about how steep it was. I actually kept asking my hiking buddy, “Where is the steep part?” as it just did not seem all that bad, relatively speaking. To me, the Winter Creek 2 mi of switchbacks on Wilson seemed worse. But my weeks off hiking and still recovering from a mild case of a nasty cold going around really showed after the Ski Hut itself, when we got around 8000 ft, and I had to take several little “acclimitization” breaks when my calves started burning or heart started pounding a bit, signs I needed to stop and do some deep breathing for a minute or two and pop an apple slice or Stinger electrolyte chew. But like the Energizer bunny, I kept going, and going, and going up that mountain!
Btw there was an Angeles Forest trail crew working up by some boulders a mile or so before the summit. They had planted trail markers as well as painted yellow downhill directional arrows along Ski Hut and were also doing some general trail maintenance. Hopefully that will be a big help for those who take Ski Hut down. They all liked my day glo hiking gear, especially the SAR guy who was helping with maintenance that day. He said he wears similarly bright stuff, and we had a nice talk. They were all super cool, and I thanked them a bunch for all their hard work!
I kept waiting for the scree and thought we would be going straight up the Baldy Bowl and it would be an unending grey scree rock field like coming up that scree section of Whitney I have seen in photos of friends who did it (I hope to maybe next year). And I thought we’d have to traverse that scree field as steep as a bowl you ski down in black runs at mountain peaks. So to see tan little rocks and bushes and scattered trees and what compared to my wild imagination was a VERY tame trail, I just couldn’t believe it but was happy! I was AMAZED the top of Baldy was as green as it was – I was expecting a grey scree wasteland after seeing the photos and even what it looks like from down in the flatlands.
The wind was blustery and cold – I put on my jacket – but people coming up from Backbone (and there were very few when we were out on a Thursday morning) said winds there were calm. I was like yeah, right, but Ski Hut was steep enough and more important loose little rocks slippery enough that I said with trepidation we could do Backbone, esp as my hike partner said her knees would be sore and Backbone was a much gentler and forgiving descent. She even graciously offered to hold my hand if needed, which was so sweet. Heights don’t bother me, but Backbone was so notorious given last winter and just all I heard about it. I pictured it as a ridge you had to walk foot before foot like maybe 12 in wide at most, with a gaping maw on either side as sheer and steep as that cliff with the bench almost hanging off it a mile or two before the peak at San Bernardino. And I thought the ridge top section would be like a mile or more – it looks so long in the photos! I was shocked just how wide – and short! – it was, how not so jaw-droopingly steep the mountain fell away, just how beautiful it was with the desert stretching clear to the horizon on the left and a sea blanket of fog with only Jacinto and Gorgonio showing like islands to the right. Just amazing! And this sketchy corner a friend told me about must have been fixed, as it was so wide I could lay down and make snow angels if I wanted to! And the Backbone itself was so different I actually said, “OMG it is so cute!” though I know it can be a fatal drop, so I still crossed it mindfully and gave the ridgeline respect. I was VERY VERY proud of myself, though, for overcoming all the craziness I had spun up in my head about that mountain and being brave enough to give the dreaded Backbone a go!
I was bummed when we got down the lodge and found open restrooms but neither food/drink nor a working ski lift. I took it in April when I did a first intro trip to the mtns. So I was excited to ride it again – the chairs are so old school and fun! Even though we went pretty quickly down the gravel trail, it still cost enough time I had to drive back in rush hour and husband was gracious about picking up our school age daughter. I had no idea we would be out as long as we were, but we did not rush and took lots of photos and breaks. I think just the fact it was so rocky with loose rocks also slowed the pace; you just can’t move as fast as you can through packed dirt.
So it was a full, full day, as we took long breaks and lots of photos and admired the several bluest I have seen blue jays, a couple woodpeckers, a robin (I have not seen one out here ever!), and a squirrel with the bushiest, fluffiest tail either of us had ever seen!
I got home utterly exhausted after my traffic-filled 1/5-2 hr drive (idk it was a blur at that point) and just all the not knowing what to expect and how utterly different and enchantingly beautiful Baldy really is! I am so grateful to my hiking partner for waiting for me to pokey pokey get up the mountain and pick my way through the slippery rocks going down – this was very much a recon and taking it all in hike for me, so I was deliberate and cautious, and it was just a beautiful day! I am so happy I bagged this peak! The most rewarding on a personal level for me, though the Jacinto summit is still by far my favorite, and each mountain has its own special qualities. Thank you, Jeff, for creating this challenge and getting me out to some of the most beautiful mountains right in our backyard!
