Dead tree reference along on the San Antonio Road.
The Baldy Bowl Trail starts just past the little pine tree along the road on the right.
The Baldy Bowl Trail. There is a register about 50 yards into the trail to log in the date of your ascent and whatever comments you wish to make. Unfortunately, there was no pen or paper. By the way, notice there is no trail sign. Keep scrolling down for the new sign!
The Christmas Tree at the Ski Hut. This tree is adorned with Christmas ornaments. No one knows how it all got started. The ski hut is to the left in the picture.
The summit tree. Once you see this you are near the top of 10,064. You can see some of the trail to the right of the picture.
Summit time. Thank goodness for digital cameras!
Bagged again.
Kicking back at the summit and taking in the panoramic views. Santiago Peak (Saddleback) (5,687 feet) way in the background. It was very windy at the top. My estimate is that the winds were 20-25 miles an hour. It was an exceptionally clear late August day. I couldn't see the ocean due to the marine layer, but I was able to see the Sierra Nevada, Mt. San Gorgonio (11,501), San Jacinto (10,834), Edwards AFB. I did not don my cold weather gear. I decided it was best to take advantage of the rock windbreaks and sun dry myself.
Laura Bieser, Outdoors Club hiker. She joined me at the summit half an hour after I did. This is picture was taken along Devil's Backbone Trail on the descent. Mt. Harwood (9,552) is to Laura's left.
Look back up towards the summit. Going up to the summit from Manker Flats via San Antonio Road to Baldy Notch and then along Devil's Backbone is about 6.8 miles. There are steep sections along this route from Baldy Notch to the beginning of Devil's Backbone. Then as you make your final push to the summit, the last one-half mile or so is a very challenging climb. The Baldy Bowl Trail is 4.2 miles (add .9 miles from Manker Flats to the trailhead) and is somewhat of a challengin climb in itself with narrow trails with precipitous drops as well as large rocks and scree.
Laura at the "new" trailhead sign that wasn't there in the morning. So many hikers who are unfamiliar with the trail miss this trailhead. If you blink, you will miss it. The trail is well "camouflaged." This sign will help hikers who are new on the trails and are looking for adventure.
Me.My first "solo" hike of Baldy via the Baldy Bowl Trail. It wasn't planned to be this way. I do not like hiking solo, but since this trail is well-travelled with hikers and summit runners I didn't see any harm of heading off on my own. I waited for another Outdoors Club member, Laura Bieser, who wanted to hike with me. The leader of this ODC hike wanted to start at 10:00 a.m., but I felt this too late in the day to start. Laura emailed me and said she would like to join me.
I arrived at Manker Flats just short of 7:00 a.m. I parked my truck and looked around to see if I could spot Laura's Range Rover. I did not see it anywhere. I waited and waited. Figuring that she may have changed her mind about the hike, I hit the trail at 7:20 a.m.
I took some photographs to use as reference points for other hikers who may read this blog and may want to hike the BBT in the future. As I turned up onto the trail, I heard my name being called. It was Kandace Dunbar, a fellow hiker and soon-to-be Whitney hiker (09/08/05), who was with her hiking party. She yells, "See you at the summit!" I reply, "Maybe."
I stopped at the registry to sign in with my name and date and to make comments. To my dismay, there was a spiral notebook with no paper and there was no pen to be found. Oh well. I got a hill to climb.
Portions of the BBT are a bit difficult, but with trekking poles in hand, the ascent is not that foreboding.
I reached the Ski Hut at around 8:38 a.m. I stopped to take a picture of the Christmas Tree with its holiday ornaments. The tree is immediately off trail as you depart the main trail and head towards the hut.
After about a minute of rest and photo opportunities, I proceeded up the trail. At the rate I was going, I figured I was going to make great time. I paced my way to the summit. There are a lot of switchbacks from the ski hut to the summit. There was not snow on the ground near the summit like last time. Sometimes snowpack can be your best friend. Straight up instead of switchin back. The main drawback is that your calves burn going the direct route.
I reached the summit at 9:55 a.m. A little over two and a half hours! Not bad considering it took me and Mark Garvin 4 hours to hike this same trail back on June 25 (Garv is a slow ascent hiker). There wasn't too many hikers on the summit. I figured there would be more showing up at the summit around noon.
I asked a hiker to take my picture. I commented on how much snow was up here in the mountains back in late June. Many hikers inquired about the surrounding peaks. I obliged in telling them the landmarks. I pointed out to them the Sierra Nevada.
I decided to hunker down behind the rock windbreakers that can be found at the summit. I waited for Kandace to come up from DBB. About a half hour at the summit, I spotted Laura and invited her over my cozy spot.
I left the summit with Laura at 10:55 a.m. I was debating about going back down the BBT. But Laura was going down DBB so I went went with her. About 300 yards from the summit, I spotted Kandace and her daughter, Ashley. Borrowing a line from movie, "Silence of the Lambs," I said to Kandy, "We have to stop meeting like this...people will think we are in love!" Kandy will be making her first Whitney summit attempt on September 8, 2005. She is getting in the last acclimatization hikes in before her big day.
We saw a lot of hikers going up. Many were asking questions as to how much further. Instead of telling them the mileage, I told them they were "one hour," or "an hour and a half." Some hikers relished the challenge before them, others lamented.
We reach Baldy Notch a little after noon. After a "pit stop" it was time to make our final descent. We took a steep short cut from Baldy Notch down to the San Antonio Road. I was lead. Laura falls down but she is okay. I fall down and I was okay. As I was leading, I was kicking up dust that poor Laura was having to breathe in. I asked her if she wanted to lead, but she said that a little dirt is "good for you."
I was going to point out to Laura the landmarks that mark the BBT trailhead. Up ahead I spotted a brown sign that wasn't there this morning. Someone had put up a trailhead marker. This will be great for other hikers unfamiliar with the trail. I figure after the next winter storms, that this sign will be snowplowed over or destroyed.
We finished at 1:30 p.m.
The 11.9 mile hike took me five and one-half hours (not counting my one hour at the top)! Not too damn bad! The only post-hiking issue I had was that my right middle toe had a friction blister that broke. I remember the burn coming down to the steep descent the last one-half mile to Baldy Notch. That was strange. These are the same shoes I wored to Mt. Whitney in August 2004. I also wore the same wool socks and wool liners. I did not tighten my laces enough to prevent slipping within my boot. Lesson learned.
