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Peak Mt Baldy
Group SoCal Outdoor Adventures
Trailhead Manker Flats

Met up with a few hikers from a meetup group. I had hiked Mt Wilson solo the previous Sunday and was looking forward to some company on this hike. We met at the trailhead at 6:00am and were on the trail by 6:15am. The weather was perfect for hiking, as the sun was out but it wasn’t too hot. We headed up the trail and stopped to take quick photos at the waterfall. After continuing on, we were all chatting and ended up missing the turn off for the Baldy Bowl trail. We had intended on taking that up and then descending down the Devil’s Backbone. Since we missed it, we decided to reverse our hiking plan. We headed up the trail to the Mt Baldy ski area to take a quick break to enjoy the view. We continued on and the terrain became much steeper. I felt like my pace had slowed to a snail’s pace. Slowly but surely, I reached the summit and my group of hikers took a break to take some photos and have lunch. We headed back down the Baldy Bowl trail and it was much more difficult than expected. Much of the trail felt like a layer of rock and sand over hard packed dirt so there was repeated slipping and sliding over the terrain that frequently shifted underfoot. Inevitably, I took a spill. Other than a little bruising, no real injuries were sustained. It was pretty embarrassing though. Luckily I made it down the remainder of the trail without another fall. At one point I did get very upset though. Coming down the trail, we stopped when one of our group members noticed two young men hiking up the trail. They had a small dog off leash with them and were carrying no water. Dennis, our group organizer, had two extra one-liter bottles of water that he gave each of the men. I asked that they not forget to share it with the dog. I hope they all ended up OK. I’m not sure taking a small dog on a 10 mile hike is such a good idea. It certainly isn’t with no water. Anyway, we ended up finishing our hike and were on the road to head home by about 2:30pm. It was a great hike with great company!

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