Reversing the Loop

Peak	Mt Baldy
Group	N/A
Trailhead	Manker Flats

This hike was a rather unusual one for several reasons. For one thing, contrary to my usual practice I started this hike at 1200H instead of 0700H as my usual practice. Second, this hike was supposed to be only a hike to Ski Hut Trail rather than a reverse loop and yet, around 2100H when I got back to my car at Manker, I actually did the reverse loop of my previous hike: going up on Ski Hut/Baldy Bowl Trail and coming down Devil’s Backbone. Third, this was a hike I was doing solo unlike the previous hikes where I did it with a group. Last year’s hike to Baldy also started out as a solo but I ended that hike as a group hike with a new friend–this time, it was a solo hike all the way. Finally this hike was also unusual in that in my previous hikes to Baldy I had always gone up Devil’s Backbone after hiking to the Notch from Manker. This time, from Manker I took the Ski Hut Trail to the summit and came down Devil’s Backbone. The hike itself was perfect other than my late start. The weather was perfect. When I got to the summit there were fewer hikers than in my previous visits: the benefit of getting to the summit late afternoon instead of noon. I stayed up there with the obligatory picture-taking and summit nap before heading down to Devil’s Backbone and then to the Notch where I had a sunset dinner before heading down the fireroad back to Manker Flats. It was late at night but it was good. And different too for a change. And here I completed the Six-Pack of Peaks for 2017.