Route Climbed: The central Bowl Date Climbed: December 24th 2002
On the Christmas Eve day of 2002, Michael Gordon, Joe LeMay, Babu Sherpa Long Chen and I, all of us from SCMA, hiked up the central bowl from San Antonio hut. We found some soft snow, breakable crust, frozen snow, touches of hard ice and steep terrain up the gully. Beautiful, cloudy day in Southern California and nobody else on the mountain. Had very "interesting" descent down the bowl without ice axes and crampons. A bit sporting, even for very experienced group of alpinists. My 130th time on the top.
Route Climbed: Baldy Bowl from Manker flat Date Climbed: 17 NOV 2002
Attempted baldy a month ago via the blue ridge trail and failed to make it. last time stoped at pine mountain and turned around. this time i decided to take a more direct route. The baldy bowl trail was steeper than i had expected and my wife didn't let me forget about that. sure is a nice feeling to get to the top. Beutiful day, lovely skies and views for miles.
Route Climbed: Various Date Climbed: Between 1973 and 2002
My home Summit Logs indicate, that I climbed Mt.Baldy some 129 times between 1973 and 2002.
Some trips I remember, in 1983, Miguel Carmona and I skied the South Ridge to the summit, slept there, then did the traverse of the 3 "T" peaks to Ice House Canyon and from there climbed Ontario Peak and back to car. This was overnight skiing trip in late December. It was some 10,000 feet of elevation gain and 27 miles of skiing and snow hiking.
In December of 1999, in incredible wind and snow storm (60mph?), Miguel and I crawled on all four to the summit, only to see two other guys do the same. Michael Gordon (see the Baldy Main Page photo) and Johny (Downtown) Brown were the other insane people on the summit that day.
We climbed the mountain in just over three hours via San Antonio Hut in 1994, with 50 lbs packs, preparing for Himalayan Expedition.
That hill is an incredible training ground for all of us in Southern California. Love it!
Route Climbed: Bear Canyon route, Ski hut route, Baldy Notch route. Date Climbed: 3 times 2000, 2001, 2002
The Bear Canyon route is the most strenuous and arguably the most rewarding. An excellent route to measure your personal ascent capabilities in terms of elevation gain per hour.
Route Climbed: Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: July 20th, 2002
An all inclusive trip, we went up Devil's Backbone on the ascent and decended through the Sierra Club Ski Hut Trail. On the way back we took an extra special detour through Manker Cutoff, not recommended. The trail is a proposed advanced bike trail and is not maintained, the trail has a lot of loose rocks and you can fall down easily.
Route Climbed: Baldy Notch/Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: July 13, 2002
Mike Dornheim and myself reached the summit from Manker Flat, hiking in the afternoon and coming back after dark. It took us about 7 hours, car to car, and I used about 3 liters of water.
Route Climbed: San Antonio Ski Hut Trail Date Climbed: 07/13/02
This was my second attempt at Baldy. My friends and I made an attempt in May, but the entire mountain was covered in clouds/fog. When we made that attempt everything was covered in ice and we even got caught in a small hale storm. Eventually the cold got the best of us and we called it a day after passing the boulder field.
Two months later and we went for it again. We hit the trailhead at about 8:30 and made very good time getting to the ski hut. Some menacing looking clouds had started forming over the summit. Luckily the clouds blocked the sun for most of our climb past the boulder field. As we neared the top, some climbers on their way down advised us that there was a lot of lightning coming from the clouds.
We hit the summit at about 12:30. We ate lunch and watched the lightning strikes hitting across the valley between us and the Baden-Powell area. We left the summit at about 1:30.
Moments after leaving the summit, I was shocked to realise that I had drank all of the water in my 3 liter bladder. Luckily we had a spare 16 ounce bottle of water to last me for the descent.
The descent was rather trying. The heat of the day was in full-effect, and there was no cloud-cover to protect us. Heat became a major factor as we passed the ski hut. It made for very slow going.
We made it back to the car at 4:30. If you plan to do this hike in the summer, be sure to bring plenty of water.
Route Climbed: San Antonio Ski Hut Trail Date Climbed: 02/23 - 2/24
Troop 883 bagged another peak. We spent the night with a group from the Sierra Club at the hut(Great Hosts) on Saturday night and climbed to the top by noon on Sunday. We had three rookies with us making their first peaks. Way to go guys! Snow on the trail up from the hut and clear once we reached the notch. The group included 2 adults Scott and Mike and 7 boys Kyle, Pat, Shea, Kevin, Danny, Georgie and Kyle M. We were joined at the hut by a mom and her 7 year old son (Kat and Zaid) they went with us to the top.
Route Climbed: San Antonio Ski Hut Trail Date Climbed: 2-23-2002
Very nice and warm day. Windy and a little cool on the summit. Climbed with friends Dan and Gary. Some snow beyond the ski hut and near the summit but nothing major.
Route Climbed: Baldy Notch/Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: Feb 2, 2002
After cold temps and snow falling during the previous week - thought this would be a great time for some winter climbing and views from Mt Baldy. I started from Baldy Notch about 10 AM. With breaks and moderate pace - about 2.5 hours up and 1.5 hours down. Temps were warm most of the climb until above 9000 ft with Wind chill. Snow was fairly solid along devils backbone with little post holeing on the way up. Not so good on the way down in the afternoon. Sinking in to my knees in some spots. On the way up - didn't need cramps at all - put them on for some sections on the way down. Had ice axe out on the backbone both ways though. Great views from the summit in all directions. Coming from home at Sea level only a few hours before I was feeling the thin air at the top, but felt good all the same
Route Climbed: Up the Ski Hut Trail and down the Baldy Notch trail Date Climbed: Jan 5 2002
Nice day. Climbed with forjan. Crampons required in the chutes just above and west of the hut. Light rock fall in the chutes. Later in the day the snow softened up. Icy in spots.
Route Climbed: Backbone, Ski hut, Blue Ridge Date Climbed: various
A beautiful hike from all sides. In September 2000 my son and I, with some friends, did a traverse beginning in Wrightwood and ending by descending the Bear Canyon trail. Very enjoyable hike. Yesterday we ascended via the Ski Hut trail, though we went up the bare icy slope rather than the switchbacks through the trees (just past the Ski Hut). We got a chance to try out the new crampons and ice axe. Very nice.
agorokhov - Jan 3, 2003 3:09 pm
Route Climbed: Ski Hut Date Climbed: December 2001asmrz - Dec 31, 2002 4:21 pm
Route Climbed: The central Bowl Date Climbed: December 24th 2002On the Christmas Eve day of 2002, Michael Gordon, Joe LeMay, Babu Sherpa Long Chen and I, all of us from SCMA, hiked up the central bowl from San Antonio hut. We found some soft snow, breakable crust, frozen snow, touches of hard ice and steep terrain up the gully. Beautiful, cloudy day in Southern California and nobody else on the mountain. Had very "interesting" descent down the bowl without ice axes and crampons. A bit sporting, even for very experienced group of alpinists. My 130th time on the top.
stephenz - Nov 21, 2002 8:01 pm
Route Climbed: Baldy Bowl from Manker flat Date Climbed: 17 NOV 2002Attempted baldy a month ago via the blue ridge trail and failed to make it. last time stoped at pine mountain and turned around. this time i decided to take a more direct route. The baldy bowl trail was steeper than i had expected and my wife didn't let me forget about that. sure is a nice feeling to get to the top. Beutiful day, lovely skies and views for miles.
asmrz - Nov 14, 2002 2:35 pm
Route Climbed: Various Date Climbed: Between 1973 and 2002My home Summit Logs indicate, that I climbed Mt.Baldy some 129 times between 1973 and 2002.
Some trips I remember, in 1983, Miguel Carmona and I skied the South Ridge to the summit, slept there, then did the traverse of the 3 "T" peaks to Ice House Canyon and from there climbed Ontario Peak and back to car. This was overnight skiing trip in late December. It was some 10,000 feet of elevation gain and 27 miles of skiing and snow hiking.
In December of 1999, in incredible wind and snow storm (60mph?), Miguel and I crawled on all four to the summit, only to see two other guys do the same. Michael Gordon (see the Baldy Main Page photo) and Johny (Downtown) Brown were the other insane people on the summit that day.
We climbed the mountain in just over three hours via San Antonio Hut in 1994, with 50 lbs packs, preparing for Himalayan Expedition.
That hill is an incredible training ground for all of us in Southern California. Love it!
notinkansas - Nov 1, 2002 9:44 pm
Route Climbed: Bear Canyon route, Ski hut route, Baldy Notch route. Date Climbed: 3 times 2000, 2001, 2002The Bear Canyon route is the most strenuous and arguably the most rewarding. An excellent route to measure your personal ascent capabilities in terms of elevation gain per hour.
pilz8 - Sep 14, 2002 4:58 pm
Route Climbed: San Antonio ski hut trail Date Climbed: 9-14-02A nice hike! We saw a nice healthy big horn ram on the way up. The views were good.
scottyb - Aug 26, 2002 11:22 pm
Route Climbed: North Ridge Date Climbed: June 1999Great Hike with Charles from BCCF
madclimber - Jul 23, 2002 6:36 pm
Route Climbed: Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: July 20th, 2002An all inclusive trip, we went up Devil's Backbone on the ascent and decended through the Sierra Club Ski Hut Trail. On the way back we took an extra special detour through Manker Cutoff, not recommended. The trail is a proposed advanced bike trail and is not maintained, the trail has a lot of loose rocks and you can fall down easily.
Glenn Campbell - Jul 17, 2002 8:20 am
Route Climbed: Baldy Notch/Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: July 13, 2002Mike Dornheim and myself reached the summit from Manker Flat, hiking in the afternoon and coming back after dark. It took us about 7 hours, car to car, and I used about 3 liters of water.
43moon - Jul 13, 2002 6:49 pm
Route Climbed: San Antonio Ski Hut Trail Date Climbed: 07/13/02This was my second attempt at Baldy. My friends and I made an attempt in May, but the entire mountain was covered in clouds/fog. When we made that attempt everything was covered in ice and we even got caught in a small hale storm. Eventually the cold got the best of us and we called it a day after passing the boulder field.
Two months later and we went for it again. We hit the trailhead at about 8:30 and made very good time getting to the ski hut. Some menacing looking clouds had started forming over the summit. Luckily the clouds blocked the sun for most of our climb past the boulder field. As we neared the top, some climbers on their way down advised us that there was a lot of lightning coming from the clouds.
We hit the summit at about 12:30. We ate lunch and watched the lightning strikes hitting across the valley between us and the Baden-Powell area. We left the summit at about 1:30.
Moments after leaving the summit, I was shocked to realise that I had drank all of the water in my 3 liter bladder. Luckily we had a spare 16 ounce bottle of water to last me for the descent.
The descent was rather trying. The heat of the day was in full-effect, and there was no cloud-cover to protect us. Heat became a major factor as we passed the ski hut. It made for very slow going.
We made it back to the car at 4:30. If you plan to do this hike in the summer, be sure to bring plenty of water.
daniellwu - Jul 7, 2002 9:41 pm
Route Climbed: From the top of the ski lift Date Climbed: July 29, 2001easy day hike from the top of the ski lift.
timibe - Jun 24, 2002 3:03 pm
Route Climbed: Manker Flats to Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: May 11, 2002This was my first solo hike, and my first real elevation. It was exciting and scarey, and I loved it!
Chotski - May 4, 2002 9:59 pm
Route Climbed: ski hut traul Date Climbed: april 27 and may 4thapril 27
Nice day, some falling ice from the trees.
May 4th
hazy view from the summit, a bit warm, some bugs now but nice hike
Chotski - Apr 14, 2002 11:24 pm
Route Climbed: sierra club ski hut trail Date Climbed: 4/13/0270 degrees at the summit. Clear skies, no snow or ice. great conditions for a hike.
aidclimb - Mar 15, 2002 3:15 pm
Route Climbed: devils backbone Date Climbed: december of 2001summited twice in december, once with my daughter and once with my wife. we climbed the devils backbone both times. the trips took roughly 6 hours.
Troop883 - Feb 28, 2002 4:42 pm
Route Climbed: San Antonio Ski Hut Trail Date Climbed: 02/23 - 2/24Troop 883 bagged another peak. We spent the night with a group from the Sierra Club at the hut(Great Hosts) on Saturday night and climbed to the top by noon on Sunday. We had three rookies with us making their first peaks. Way to go guys! Snow on the trail up from the hut and clear once we reached the notch. The group included 2 adults Scott and Mike and 7 boys Kyle, Pat, Shea, Kevin, Danny, Georgie and Kyle M. We were joined at the hut by a mom and her 7 year old son (Kat and Zaid) they went with us to the top.
mdostby - Feb 23, 2002 5:40 pm
Route Climbed: San Antonio Ski Hut Trail Date Climbed: 2-23-2002Very nice and warm day. Windy and a little cool on the summit. Climbed with friends Dan and Gary. Some snow beyond the ski hut and near the summit but nothing major.
kdonaldson - Feb 11, 2002 10:54 am
Route Climbed: Baldy Notch/Devil's Backbone Date Climbed: Feb 2, 2002After cold temps and snow falling during the previous week - thought this would be a great time for some winter climbing and views from Mt Baldy. I started from Baldy Notch about 10 AM. With breaks and moderate pace - about 2.5 hours up and 1.5 hours down. Temps were warm most of the climb until above 9000 ft with Wind chill. Snow was fairly solid along devils backbone with little post holeing on the way up. Not so good on the way down in the afternoon. Sinking in to my knees in some spots. On the way up - didn't need cramps at all - put them on for some sections on the way down. Had ice axe out on the backbone both ways though. Great views from the summit in all directions. Coming from home at Sea level only a few hours before I was feeling the thin air at the top, but felt good all the same
mdostby - Jan 5, 2002 6:03 pm
Route Climbed: Up the Ski Hut Trail and down the Baldy Notch trail Date Climbed: Jan 5 2002Nice day. Climbed with forjan. Crampons required in the chutes just above and west of the hut. Light rock fall in the chutes. Later in the day the snow softened up. Icy in spots.
tonyo - Jan 5, 2002 12:01 pm
Route Climbed: Backbone, Ski hut, Blue Ridge Date Climbed: variousA beautiful hike from all sides. In September 2000 my son and I, with some friends, did a traverse beginning in Wrightwood and ending by descending the Bear Canyon trail. Very enjoyable hike. Yesterday we ascended via the Ski Hut trail, though we went up the bare icy slope rather than the switchbacks through the trees (just past the Ski Hut). We got a chance to try out the new crampons and ice axe. Very nice.