| Peak | Mt Baldy |
|---|---|
| Group | N/A |
| Trailhead | Manker Flats |
Me and a couple friends from school decided to attempt to summit Mt. Baldy in the winter (my 3rd time summiting and a 1st time ever for both of them). We started at Manker flats and headed up around noon after getting our packs ready as we were planning on spending the night on the mountain. A first hike for both of them it became tough when we realized they had overpacked and one of my group members pulled a leg muscle around halfway up. Me and my friend helped lighten the load by carrying his pack and our own. We made it to the Ski Hut late in the afternoon and set up camp at the just below baldy bowl around sunset. After cooking some quick pasta, we rested up and the next morning 2 of us made headed out while the other stayed and rested up for the descent later that day. We grabbed our daypacks, ice axes and strapped on our crampons and began climbing straight up baldy bowl. There was little snowpack in certain portions which caused me to slip and just barely self arrest safely as it felt like the ice axe was trying to dig into solid rock. After a long and tiring climb, we continued the rest of the way up to the summit. It became even more difficult at that point as the snow was several feet deep and we continuously would sink into the snow. Finally we summited around 10am and got pushed around by some very heavy winds. We took in the view, took a few photos and began our descent down to base camp to pack up and return home.
